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After an unsatisfying breakfast from Auberge la Boerne, we peaked outside - the forecast called for rain today. This was alarming, because today was the passage délicat, the stage of the TMB with stairs and ladders. I didn't like the idea of climbing those metal ladders in the rain. We put the rain covers on our packs, got our umbrellas - and prepared to hike - but when we stepped outside, the rain that had just been coming down suddenly stopped. We left Tre-le-Champ immediately. How far could we get before the rain returned? It turned out that we were again fortunate with the weather - it did not rain on us on this day until we reach Chamonix! To leave Tre-le-Champ, we climbed up the mountainside through a forest, but soon we were up above the trees and had some views of the Mont Blanc mountain range. There were a lot of clouds in the overcast sky, so we didn't have ideal viewing conditions. Before too long, we reached our first ladder. For some reason, I was expecting there to be only 3 ladders, but there are more like ten. Plus a series of stairs, some with metal steps, some with wooden steps. The ladders are iron and are securely bolted to the rocks. The longest is no more than 20 rungs high, though some times you have to climb a series of them in succession. I took lots of photos on this section, trying to make the trail look dramatically dangerous and precarious, but in reality this is not a big challenge. I was, however, glad that we were going up rather than down these ladders, and that it was dry. Because of our early start, there were no other impatient hikers behind us pushing us to go faster. After the ladders, we found ourselves at Tête au Vents, which is marked by a large cairn. This is a junction point for several trails. One trail led directly to la Flégère, which was just another hour away. It was tempting to hike directly to la Flégère and finish the TMB, but it was still just morning, so instead we decided to continue hiking upward to Lac Blanc, which was supposed to have impressive views. As I was taking photos at Tête au Vents, Melanie spotted a couple of ibex to the east. The ibex were standing on the mountainside, just below another of the trails - there were hikers on that trail, less than 20 yds from the ibex. I was going to run over there and try for some closeup shots, but the ibex went down the mountain and disappeared. It is another 200 meters of climbing to get from Tête au Vents to Lac Blanc. Along the way, we passed a series of small lakes called Lacs de Chésery. We had one more iron ladder to climb, and then a long wooden set of steps, and then we found ourselves at Lac Blanc. The clouds at Lac Blanc were dense - we couldn't see the surrounding mountains. Sometimes we could barely even see the lake. But when the wind blew the clouds aside, we saw the unique milky blue waters of Lac Blanc. There are two parts to this lake - an inferior and superior half. We took a lot of photos here too. While standing here, I talked to a Dutch couple that had just started hiking - this was their first day of the Haute Route - they were doing the hike from Chamonix to Zermatt, which is supposed to be one of the most outstanding hikes in the world. Maybe some day Melanie and I will return... It was all down hill from Lac Blanc to la Flégère. We could see the refugio and the cable car station ahead of us, but it seemed to take forever to hike down there. The clouds really thickened and we heard several rumblings of thunder and even saw one flash of lighting. I wondered if the cable car would be operating if the weather deteriorated. At la Flégère, we took some victory photos at the very same spot where we took pictures at the start of our Tour du Mont Blanc. Unfortunately, because of the thick clouds, Mont Blanc is not visible in the background of our victory shot, but it still marked a successful end to an excellent adventure. We had hiked the TMB! We took the cable car down, and then walked the 3 km back into Chamonix. It started to rain, and the rain did not quit. It was a heavy rain, with low obscuring clouds. We had one more day in Chamonix for resting/exploring, but because of the poor weather, we couldn't see a thing and so didn't do any hikes or cable car rides. I felt sorry for the San Diego group, because they were scheduled to finish on that day, hiking from la Flégère all the way down to les Houches. Panorama Photos
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Click on any thumbnail to begin the slide show at that photograph TMB Stage 11
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