French Alps

 

I have been writing about the highest mountain in the Alps: Mont Blanc, and the trail around the mountain for past several updates. I completed hiking the entire Tour du Mont Blanc trail 110+ miles in July 2014 with camera gear while photographing the spectacular landscape.

 

At the end of this story, I'm sharing more images of the Chamonix, France area. I stayed a few days in Chamonix, near the starting point of the journey of Tour du Mont Blanc, before and after the long hike.

 

The Flégère to Lac Blanc area, a high mountain range directly across from Mont Blanc Massif, is one of the most scenic landscapes that photographers could ever dream of. 

I could easily spend several days to just explore and capture the deep green alpine lakes, streams, and the front view of Mont Blanc.  The weather wasn't cooperative during sunset/sunrise, here are the some sunshine moments at Lac Blanc.

Reflection of Mont Blanc Range on Lac Flégère.

Alpen Rose's vivid pink flowers stand out in the Alps.

 

Chamonix area offers so many amazing view spots with easy access via public transportation. Mer de Glace, the longest glacier in France.

Bossons Glacier, the ice-fall directly down from Mont Blanc.  I just loved these colors!

Lac Bleu in the fog...  One of the many alpine lakes in Mont Blanc Massif.

Well, that's all from the European Alps.  I will add some images on my main website soon.

On my next blog, I will update some new images from Hawaii.  Please check back.

 

Tour du Mont Blanc #6 Trient, Switzerland – Les Houches, France (European Alps)

 

Leaving the small Swiss village of Trient in the early morning sunshine, I climbed up through the woods as the trail continued to an open meadow with wildflowers. The highest point of the wildflower hill, Col de Balme, (Balme Pass, 2,195m, 7,201 ft) is on the Swiss – French border above Chamonix Valley. My journey along the Tour du Mont Blanc trail 110+ mile (170 km) was approaching the end. I could see, in the distance, the picturesque mountain hut on the pass among the flower field. As I climbed higher, the massive Mont Blanc showed up again after a long absence!

I admired the white peaks of Mont Blanc at Col de Balme for quite some time… 

Unfortunately, the clouds over Chamonix Valley got thicker and darker so I packed up and got going, crossing the border back into France once again and it was all downhill through a flowery hill. The sky was overcast as I made it to the mountain refuge at Tre-le-Champ, a tiny village north of Chamonix, France for the night.

The last part of Tour du Mont Blanc trail was supposed to have the most spectacular views of Mont Blanc.  The trail climbs up high into the mountains across Chamonix Valley, and continues parallel to the Mont Blanc Range – the front view of Mont Blanc for the next few days… 

However, it was raining during the night, and it started raining again when I hiked up the steep trail through the woods.  When the trail opened up to the rocky terrain and approached the famous metal ladder on the vertical cliff, the rain got serious.  I had to climb up the sets of slippery metal ladders in drenching rain with a heavy pack.  If I slipped and fell, I would fall several vertical feet!  I was careful climbing up one step at the time… 

 

Strangely, I felt someone’s eyes on my back! An ibex (a kind of mountain goat that lives in the Alps) was hanging on the cliff at my eye level only several feet away! He was staring at me with his big round eyes! We were looking at each other, eye to eye for a moment. It was a great opportunity to capture him up close… but I was hanging onto the ladder on the cliff, there was no way to take my camera out from the backpack… I snapped a few shots with my point-to-shoot which was in my pocket. So, this image of ibex is not as good quality of my other images, but hey that was the best I could do.

After negotiating the rock walls with some ladders, I came up to the higher rocky trail… It was raining hard all the way to the mountain refuge for the night… and the next 2 days were non-stop rain…This last section of trail was supposed to be the most scenic view of Mont Blanc, and I planned to spend an extra day in order to photograph the front view of Mont Blanc at sunset. However, clouds and fog filled Chamonix Valley, and Mont Blanc hid behind it. I just had to finish my journey in the miserable cold rain…The image above is the last view of Mont Blanc before serious weather moved in…

The Chamonix town below...

 



Here are the ruins along the trail… Due to bad visibility, I missed a turn and took a wrong trail for 2 miles… an extra 4 miles round trip in the rain wasn’t fun with a heavy pack.

Day 15 of my Tour du Mont Blanc journey, I made it back to Les Houches, France (South of Chamonix) where I started.  I completed an entire 110+ miles (170 km)! 

Back to Chamonix the next day and the sun came out.

A church in Chamonix.

The evening before leaving Chamonix, beautiful sunset glow on the clouds over Mont Blanc and the glacier…

I'll post some more photos from Mont Blanc area on next update.  Please check back!

Mont Blanc - The Highest Peak in the European Alps

 

Meaning “White Mountain,” the massive Mont Blanc lies on the border of France, Italy and Switzerland. When the summit of Mont Blanc and its glaciers appear under blue sky, it is breathtaking.

 

I was exploring the European Alps in July to photograph this massive Mont Blanc and surrounding landscapes. I hiked the entire “Tour du Mont Blanc” trail, 110+ miles (160+ km) circling the mountain with camera gear for 2 weeks.

 

I saw and photographed Mont Blanc from different angles throughout the walk. The French side, above the town of Chamonix is the most impressive. When it’s clear, the white peaks tower above the town. Since Mont Blanc is massive, the mountain creates its own weather, which is often covered with clouds, just like Alaska’s Mt. McKinley. Viewing the entire Mont Blanc requires good luck.

 

What is most convenient for a photographer in this area is that there are some transportation options to take us to amazing vantage spots in just a few minutes using cable cars. These close up images are from the top of Aiguille du Midi (12,605 ft/ 3,842 m). It was foggy and white out when I reached the viewing deck on the summit in the morning. The thick fog slowly drifted away, and Mont Blanc is seen slightly through the fog. It was a teasing. The strong breeze blew away its white veil and the entire mountain showed off against blue sky! The mountain was huge, shining white under the morning sunshine! It was very close to where I was! I kept shooting the mountain while the fog came and went… Then the mountain decided to stay out for a long period.

 

This is the Italy side of Mont Blanc (“Monte Bianco” in Italian). After some rainy days, the mountain showed off again just before sunset. The mountain was still out next morning. The summit was glowing in golden orange with the rising sun.

 

Another image from the Italy side. Old ruins along the trail.

 

Some more images from the French side. From Le Brévent summit (8,284ft/ 2,525m), across Chamonix Valley, the perfect view of Mont Blanc when it’s clear. After several rainy days, finally the weather was nice on my last day in the area.  

I will continue posting more photos from European Alps on next update.