We've had another great few days here in Chamonix with temperatures rising along with a lot of humidity. Thursday and Friday had some big storms in the late afternoon, which helped cool things down for a bit and a great help for the Cross and 10km runners on Saturday with slightly cooler air but it was all change for those running in the full marathon today with high temperatures and humidity.
With the lifts all open for the rest of the summer now, people are flocking to Chamonix to have some fun in whatever outdoor activity suits them.
On Friday we decided to go on a fairly large hike up to La Jonction where the Taconnaz and Bossons glaciers meet, noting the point above about storms in the late afternoon. It started off as a fairly good day with some suspicious looking clouds in the distance, but we decided to see how far we could get up before the weather closed in.
If you're walking from Chamonix it can be quite a trek before you actually get on to the start of this route. You can either walk along the road towards Les Bossons, or on the footpath from Les Gaillands, or just hop on the bus or train and conserve your energy for the gruelling hike up. We headed towards the chair lift in Les Bossons, where you can get the lift up, or you can walk up the footpath which runs just alongside it following signs toward Glacier de Bossons, then Jonction.
You can treat this as one big walk to the top, or if you feel tired there is always the option of stopping at either the chalet glacier de Bossons, or the chalet Pyramides, both boasting exceptional views and both offering food and drink.
We decided to walk the whole way from Chamonix stopping at the first chalet on the way up, for a spot of coffee, a quick look at the view and some of the photos of how the glacier has changed over the last century or so. Once we had a good look at the view and refuelled, we carried on to the next hut the chalet de Pyramides.
The walk has many switch backs with steep sections in them, but you get the opportunity to rest at some point on most of them with flat sections in between. On the way up you are walking one side of the ridge looking on to the Bossons glacier and the other side looking at the Taconnaz glacier. We also noticed the weather begin to close in looking over this ridge, but decided to carry on.
The chalet de Pyramides offered another opportunity for a rest and refuel, looking at some more photos of the glacier's retreat, before heading up the rest of the way. As we got on to the last section of the hike, the weather really closed in with hail above and thunder in the distance, so even though we were a short walk to the top we were unfortunately forced to descend.
On the way back down to shelter at the Pyramides chalet, the storm increased dramatically with lightning bolts hitting not far from where we were five minutes before! It was a good reminder that the weather can close in very quickly in the mountains and if you find yourself in a thunderstorm you need to seek shelter quickly. It was however amazing to see the lightning so close and so loud.
We made our way back down the same route, stopping at the huts for shelter on the way and as we were passing Le Vagabond decided to pop in for a couple of beers and dry off, watching the storm increase in intensity and feeling glad we decided to return when we did.
So another great few days, and some more to come. The weather is great out here, the town is fully functional and all the lifts are now open, so what are you waiting for? Book your flight over and have some fun!
Don't forget to keep an eye on our What's On Calendar for a full list of events taking place over the summer months.
