Just ran up to under the Col Mont Lachat (roughly translates as the Pass of Mount Lachat). The height's around 2077m (6,814 feet) and took around an hour. Pretty pleased with it. Digby the dog ran circles around me the whole way and on some of the steep sections where I was walking rather than running he looked enquiringly as to why I should be holding him up so much!
I'll take my camera next time out as the views are just staggering. It's much closer to Mont Blanc and its subsidiary peaks up there and it's noticably cooler. We stopped before it get too high though and turned around and scampered back down the mountain descending quickly through the forest and back to the farm.
At one point going up a view opened up to the valley below and the unmistakable thump-thump of a rescue helicopter could be heard flying down the valley. Digby and I watched it fly a few hundred vertical metres below us towards Chamonix and then continued our push upwards. Trippy experience having helicopters flying around below you! On our descent I bumped into two climbers walking up towards the Dome de Goûter high up in the Mont Blanc massif at 4,304m (14,121 feet) as the route Digby and I had taken is part of one of the ways to get up and down Mont Blanc. We stopped and had a bit of a natter in French whilst they played with Digby and everyone caught their breath. They were the only people we saw the whole run - apart from the helicopter pilot!
The legs don't ache now and I'm feeling rosy all over. Time for a shower and a zip down into Les Houches to buy some bread for a snack of hot chocolate and baguette with butter - very French!
Just speaking to Chris on Skype he's up for another dimanche aventure. The weather looks good so maybe a trip to the crag at Vallorcine (Google Maps) for somewhere new and exciting!
