July 8, 2022
”Although I deeply love oceans, deserts and other wild landscapes, it is only mountains that beckon me with that sort of painful magnetic pull to walk deeper and deeper into their beauty. They keep me continuously wanting to know more, feel more, see more.”
– Victoria Erikson
We continued our drive into the Alps. We would go up and down valleys. each one a postcard of its own.
There were more than a few times our little Puegeot would just want to stop and say, “I’m done, you guys go ahead."
Then we saw it.
It is 15,773 feet tall making it the tallest mountain in Europe and the greatest peak in the Alps range. It is fascinating to me that France has so many climates to offer the traveler, some of which we have tried to document, and they have Mont Blanc as well, the great peak of the French Alps.
Ownership of the mountain has been the subject of debate. That is the great thing about being a mountain, you don’t respect borders. The summit identifies its location by convention thus France clearly has ownership, However, using GPS studies much of the massive of the great mountain lies in Italy and Switzerland so the fight goes on.
We are in Chamonix in this charming hotel. It has a very Swiss feel which is not unusual given Geneva is only 45 minutes away.
Chamonix lies in a great glacier valley and is the gate way to this popular Alpine region. As a community it is first mentioned in 1091. Jacques Balmat and Michel Gabriel Paccard are the first to ascend Mont Blanc, or White Mountain, in 1786.
This region of France, known as the Savoie becomes formally a part of France in 1806 after a visit by Napoleon III. Following this royal encounter, Alpine tourism begins to boom and has not stopped since. In 1924, the Winter Olympics were held here.
We thought it would be a good stop as we ascend the country working our way to Paris. Just driving into the valley you are gobsmacked by the scenery around you. We have by now seen multiple Castles and Chateaus of magnificent design. All of them pale by these granite citadels of the gods carved out by glaciers since the dawn of time.
It is more than enough pleasure being on the valley floor and gazing upwards at these mighty titans that surround you, You can see the glaciers that made them. When the clouds are clear the visage is nothing short of glorious.
But you can do more here,
You can ascend them.
The Aiguille du Mille gondola first opened to travelers in 1958. It is a marvel of engineering whisking people, up to a hundred at a time, up the almost vertical granite face. Riding up the side of the mountain is a sure way of making you realize just how small you are in the world.
The lift does not take you to the top of Mont Blanc but to a view point across from it at over 12,000 feet. This allows you to view the summit across the perpetual ice field. Its cold, about 30 degrees, and its strange going from three days prior in the intense heat of Nice to trying to find every piece of clothes I brought just to stay warm.
The view though, I mean, just look at it.
There is no way a picture can do justice to the majesty of your view.
I stepped into the void up here. They have a box that hangs over the void. it is perfectly safe, but it still takes a moment or two for your brain to allow you to step out.
Before long, the cold became too much and we descended. We took a cog wheel train around a peak that climbed a few thousand feet to an old resort hotel that has been here since 1880.
In the valley floor you saw Linden, Chestnut, Elm, and Poplar trees.
But, as you climbed these species gave way to groves of Norway Spruce, Silver Fur, and gorgeous Aspen Trees.
Mountain flowers were in bloom. The was Lavatera blooms in abundance, purple Arctic Lupine fields shot up everywhere. Allium bulbs would float in the shade and, as we climbed, fields of delicate white Edelweiss flowers graced the forest floor.
In the early days, like 1980, you would have been treated to a spectacular view of the Mer de Grace glacier.
Not anymore.
Glaciers are one of nature’s great change agents. The powerful, inexorable force of these massive fields of ice are what created the mountains around you. The have been unstoppable as they work on the scale of geological time over millions of years. The result is the great peaks here and around the world.
They are much more than just pretty sheets of ice for travelers to gawk at and take pictures. Glaciers are, in fact, the largest reservoir of fresh water on earth.
The US Geological Service notes the glaciers are critical to ecosystems downstream in maintaining water temperature, fostering wildlife, and cooling the earth.
We need glaciers.
And in a mere 20 years of man made global climate change this one time leviathan of nature is almost gone. You can clearly see the trench it once carved with the tailings that it left behind.
I traveled down to the valley floor to visit the remnant of the glacier. There you can tour a cave carved out of 300 year old ice.
As I climbed out of the valley I passed the markers where the great glacier once stood. Anyone who remotely thinks climate change is not real need only travel here and see for yourself.
The evidence is right in front of you, melting before your eyes.
Across the valley is another viewpoint. This is Le Brevent. is is about 5,000 feet lower than the Mont Blanc viewpoint. On a clear day, and today was as clear as you can get, the entire range is laid out for you to see. You can see the Alpine range in Switzerland, Italy, and in France from this vantage point. In the distance, was the Matterhorn. .
It is also a popular take off point for paragliders. These colorful chutes glide on updrafts in the valley. They look like enormous butterflies floating over the valley.
Mountains, especially peaks such as these, can affect you deeply. To walk among them is a privilege. Is it any wonder John Muir went mad with the sublime intoxication of the mountain paths he walked?
This part of the trip really has grounded us and made us ready to turn home.
“No matter how sophisticated you may be, a large granite mountain cannot be denied – it speaks in silence to the very core of your being.”
— Ansel Adams
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