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Tour du Mont Blanc, Day 1: Le Brévent (Chamonix) to Le Coupeau (Les Houches)

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Saturday, August 1: Chamonix to Les Houches, mostly downhill Ten days of walking around Mont Blanc, and the first one starts with a cable car ride up and a hike down . The Alps have a sense of humor. This is the first of ten day-by-day posts; the overview and the all-days map are in the trip summary post . The day in numbers: 5.9 mi / 9.5 km · 846 ft / 258 m up · 3,915 ft / 1,193 m down · high point 7,600 ft / 2,316 m · 10:09 to 15:34, 3 h 35 min moving. Chamonix, 8 a.m. Woke up at our friend's flat in Chamonix. Packed the bag one last time and left a pile of warm-weather clothes behind, which felt optimistic at the time. Walked down to the square in front of the Compagnie des Guides office on Place de l'Église and had a pastry and coffee at La Panière , which is exactly the breakfast you want before a day in the mountains and exactly the one your doctor doesn't. Met up with the rest of the group and our guide from the Compagnie des Guides de Chamonix . And off to the rac...
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The Three Saints, Part 3: San Jacinto (Fifth Time's the Charm)

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On Sunday, October 18, I finally stood on top of San Jacinto. It was my fifth try, and it finished off the Three Saints: Mount Baldy on September 26, San Gorgonio on October 9, and now San Jacinto, 10,834 feet. If you read the interlude , you know how the first four tries went. Every one ended with a turnaround for lack of daylight, and none of them started before 9 AM. This time I fixed the two things I could: I started early, and I decided my turnaround times before I left the car. If I was on the summit by 12:30, I'd finish the loop down the gentler west side. Between 12:30 and 1:30, I'd come straight back down Marion Mountain. If I wasn't on top by 1:30, I'd turn around wherever I was. Up Marion Mountain I left home at 5:13 AM and was on the trail at 7:22, from the same Marion Mountain trailhead where three of my four tries had started. The sign there says 5¼ miles to Mt. San Jacinto. I knew from experience it feels longer than that. Hello, old friend... I...
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Tour du Mont Blanc, Day 0: Briefing and Dinner in Chamonix

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Mont Blanc and the Bossons glacier over the rooftops of Chamonix, the evening before the start Friday, July 31: a pack check, a briefing, and tartiflette No hiking today. Day 0 is the night before: the official briefing with our guide, the group coming together for the first time, and a first dinner in Chamonix. This is the first of the day-by-day Tour du Mont Blanc posts; the overview and the all-days map are in the trip summary post . Settling in Got into a friend's flat in town and spent a while figuring out how to turn the electricity on, which is a great way to feel competent right before a mountain trek. Then groceries, and a first proper look up at the massif from the middle of town. It is right there. It is enormous. The Aiguilles de Chamonix from the valley floor The briefing Over to the Maison de la Montagne on Place de l'Église for the official briefing from the Compagnie des Guides de Chamonix . Our guide is a very experienced trekking guide and a senior figu...
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The Three Saints, Interlude: Four Tries Up San Jacinto

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I've tried to climb San Jacinto four times, and I've turned around four times. The closest I got was about 350 feet below the top. This fall I set out to climb Southern California's three big peaks: Mount Baldy, San Gorgonio and San Jacinto. Baldy went on September 26. Gorgonio went on October 9. San Jacinto, at 10,834 feet, is the one left, and it's the one I know best for all the wrong reasons. Before I go back, here's how I got here. All four attempts and the tram day on one map. Each dot marks that day's high point and turnaround. Terrain © OpenTopoMap (CC-BY-SA), data © OpenStreetMap contributors. Where it started: April 12, 2024 – My first time on San Jacinto wasn't a climb at all. JS was in town, and we were getting our legs ready for the Laugavegur in Iceland that June. We rode the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway out of the desert heat to the top. Up top it was full winter, a real winter wonderland. We had no microspikes and no plan for the peak, so we w...
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