Also known as: the longer, harder route to Lac Blanc that most of you won’t have do because the cable car will be open, but we’ll try to convince you anyway because this amazing hike is now one of our favorites. Or just: not the easy way to Lac Blanc.
After spending a couple days in Zermatt, Switzerland, we drove about two hours across the border Chamonix, France, a bustling little alpine town at the foot Mont Blanc, the highest mountain in Europe. Hoards of hardcore mountaineers flock to Chamonix as a base for their summit of Mont Blanc – but not us! We set our sights on Lac Blanc, a much easier (but not easy) hike on the other side of the valley that would reward us with epic panoramic views of the Mont Blanc massif.
Admittedly, we were fully planning on taking the typical tourist route up to Lac Blanc: ride the cable car from La Flegere to Grand Balcon Sud, and then do the short 3.4-mile round trip, 1500-foot elevation gain hike. But on our drive into town, we were thrown a little curve ball when we noticed that the La Flegere cable car was complete blocked off and under construction (closed until Christmas 2019 – not sure how we missed that). So after settling into our hotel downtown, we started researching alternate routes.
There are actually quite a few trails throughout the Aiguilles Rouges Nature Reserve that lead to Lac Blanc, but we ultimately chose what we thought was the path of least (but still a fair bit) of resistance: Lac Blanc via Cols des Montets.
This route begins behind the Chalet d’Accueil de la Reserve, located at the top of Col des Montets. This way is about double the original intended amount of work: 7 miles and over 3000 feet of elevation gain (with most of the elevation gain in the first two miles). But when in the Alps, you hike. So up we went…
The first part of the trail was the steepest and switchbacked straight up the side of a mountain gaining 2000 feet in 1.6 miles.
This route does have its benefits: aside from the views, this is definitely the path less travelled to Lac Blanc. We only passed a few people on our way up in the section, and in a normal year when the cable car is open, this route would offer even more solitude.
Once the trail started to flatten out, the trees gave way to alpine meadows with a backdrop of jagged peaks and glaciers.
After meandering through a small valley, the trail crested the ridge on the left giving wide open views of the Chamonix valley and Mont Blanc massif across the way. This was the most spectacular part of the hike in our opinion – aside from the destination itself. Mont Blanc also makes its first appearance in this section; it’s the most snow-covered peak in the distance.
After 2.3 miles there was an intersection with a few other trails, but they are all well-labeled. We kept to the right on the path towards Lac Blanc. From this point it was another 1.2 miles with 770 feet of elevation gain, after a mostly flat previous mile.
Lac de Cheserys is a great place for a break and a photo op. The lake offers a beautiful reflection of the Mont Blanc massif.
There was a sign at the lake written in French that we (Alyssa) translated to an explanation of how there were previously attempts at stocking the lake with trout, but the trout were unable to create a self-sustaining population in the lake’s ecosystem.
The last little climb up to Lac Blanc was so steep that there were a few places that required ladders or stairs.
Finally we crested the last hill and walked by Le Refuge du Lac Blanc which was shutting down for the season but was still offering snacks and drinks, and most importantly, flushable toilets, for hikers.
We walked around the lower lake to the upper one, which offered stark alpine views to the mountains above, before plopping down and gorging ourselves on ham and cheese on fresh French baguettes that we hauled up.
After eating lunch we walked down the hill a little bit to take some more pictures of the spectacular Mount Blanc massif.
The hike back was a little different than coming up; the clouds rolled in around the mountain peaks but eventually broke into some sunshine. We passed a gentleman sprawled out on a rock just below Lac de Cheserys taking an alpine nap in the afternoon sun, which really is just #lifegoals.
Lac Blanc, despite the difficult hike via Cols des Montets, was definitely a highlight of our trip through the Alps. We wish we could’ve caught a glimpse of some iconic ibex (we definitely saw the poop!), but alas, they were hidden away on both our hike up and back.
We are definitely glad we didn’t opt out of this hike even though the easier way for our still-somewhat-jet-lagged bodies was no longer an option. This little adventure turned out to be one of our very favorite hikes ever, and let us feel like we deserved a few more baguettes and macarons for dinner.
