Wild Camping On The Tour du Mont Blanc - Hiking La Peuty to Lac Blanc

It’s been two years since we hiked the Tour du Mont Blanc and over 21 months since we last had the opportunity to spend a night away from our pack of dogs, so it was with great anticipating and much gratitude to our friend Lena that we set of from La Peuty to spend our first night under in canvas in so long. Our plan for the day was to follow the same route as had done during our TMB visit, hiking up and over the Col du Balme to enter France before crossing over the Auguille des Posettes, descending to the Col des Montets and then walking the Grand Balcon Sud route to reach Lac Chesery at 2211 metres altitude, a walk of around 17 kilometres with over 1800 metres of climbing….which is quite a lot when carrying a full overnight pack for the first time in 2 years. Not that we gave it much thought I have to say, although perhaps we should have.

Hiking The Tour du Mont Blanc, GR5 and Haute Route: Our Alpine Adventure

When we set off, in July 2016, to hike for a month through the French and Swiss Alps we had no real plan in mind. In early 2014 we'd been due to get married, leave our jobs and set off on a 2300km honeymoon-hike. It was supposed to be a career break, a relationship boost and a much needed big life reset all rolled into one...and then Dan nearly died. Two years later and we were back and ready to try life in the mountains, living out of rucksacks and sleeping under the stars. This is the adventure that followed.

Alpine Hiking Adventure Day 21 - Lac Chesery and Lac Blanc to Vallorcine

Oh what a beautiful morning.... Followed by a beautiful day. Waking up for the second time at the peaceful and remote Lac Chesery was a real treat as we sat quietly, this time with nowhere to rush off to,  and ate breakfast watching the clouds slowly lift from the awesome peaks and glaciers of the Mont Blanc massif across the valley. Not to mention the fact that during the night Esther had been successfully spotting meteors from the Perseids meteor shower our friend Hayley had tipped us to look out for.

Alpine Hiking Adventure Day 20 - Decisions, Decisions in the Chamonix Valley

Having gone to bed with a decision to make that would drastically change our hiking plans, we woke up and decided not to think about it for a while longer. Instead we decided to take as much advantage as we could of our hotel base, taking an hour to meditate (something we really had missed thru-hiking) and then having a swim and a sauna where I could have sat all morning.....but eventually it was time to leave.

Alpine Hiking Adventure Day 19 - Rest Day In Les Houches

Aaah, a rest day. We felt so pleased this morning that we made the decision yesterday to stay 2 nights in our room in Les Houches and so could wake up knowing we didn't have to relocate ourselves. Plus, with the Tour de Mont Blanc in our legs since the last one and an especially mammoth hike yesterday to take advantage of the good weather we really needed a day off, both physically and mentally. This rest day, just like our other rest over a week ago near Les Contamines, really has been an important part of our longer thru-hiking adventure in terms of sustainability.

Alpine Hiking Adventure TMB/Haute Route Day 18 - Lac Chesery to Les Houches

We slept in a cloud last night and awoke to drizzle tapping on our little tent. Packing up as best we could without venturing outside was a little cramped but we managed, even though the rain decided to stop just as we stepped out to still a very fine view, with the Mont Blanc massif looking moody and dark beneath the hanging clouds. It was still just so quiet and calm at Lac Chesery it was hard to leave.