June 6 – 10, 2023
The ride there
Day 1
Day 2
Day 2.5
Day 3
The ride home
WARNING: Lots of Photos
Today we had a much firmer plan! We would take the Aiguille du Midi cable car (the highest cable car in France!) up to the top of Mont Blanc. We woke up to another beautiful day and walked the five minutes to the base station. We were early enough that it was a short wait for our assigned cable car. It was still chaotic, with some people not quite getting the idea of “assigned cable cars” and pushing to the front. Anyway, we were eventually in our own gondola and on our way up! up! up!
Les Bossons Glacier
The many levels of the mountain stop station
It was a quick trip to the top of Mont Blanc and our group almost immediately broke up and started to explore on our own. I was surprised at how big the Aiguille du Midi was, and it wasn’t long before I had lost everyone else for the rest of my time there.
Views from one of the many overlooks
What a great day and great views!
Looking up at the “Step in the Void” level
Looking down the valley
Chamonix (about 4,000 feet below)
A wild Dan appeared!
Absolutely gorgeous
Emergency helicopter pad
Tunnels that lead to “exit points” for the hikers and skiers that are starting their adventures!
I could not get enough of these views
Looking down on a lower observation level
The Step into the Void. It was kind of a silly little “tourist trap”, but hey, it was free and there was no line, so I thought I’d give it a spin. There were two assistants: one gave you a pair of over-the-shoe slippers, and the other took your phone (or camera, if that’s your thing) and took pictures for you. I slipped on my slippers and walked onto the clear glass floor. Easy peasy! But I really didn’t know what to do for the photographer, so I just stood there awkwardly…
View of the Void from outside
Me!
The view below my feet
Even icicles have icicles!
Bridge from the cable car station to the access tunnels and the Void
Mini lake in the snow
After eventually gathering at the cable station, we boarded a gondola for the ride down. But we didn’t go all of the way down – instead, we got off at the midway station, Plan de l’Aiguille, and hunted for the trail that would take us to Lac Bleu. Unfortunately, with snow still on the trail, it wasn’t the easiest trail to follow.
Is this the trail?
Trail!
Trail markers doing their best
Post-holing in the snow – not just once
Lac Bleu!
Now to get back to the station
A wild marmot sighting!
We made it back to the town and immediately headed for the second adventure of the day: a visit to Mer de Glace. As there are a lot more pictures that I want to share with this next section, I’m going to split this day into two parts.