Start: Le Dahu in Argentinère
End: Hotel de l’Arve in Chamonix
Route: Lac Blanc variant, cable car down from Planpraz to Chamonix
Time: 8-8.5 hours, including crepes at Refuge Lac Blanc
Difficulty: Moderate to hard
I called stages 10, 10.5 because the traditional 11th stage goes all the way to Les Houches from Planpraz. I “cheated” by taking the cable car down from Planpraz, trying to avoid the monster 1500m descent down to Chamonix from Brevent. I decided to prioritize seeing a bit of Chamonix (given the morning return flight the next day) over completeness.
I did hear great things about the view from Brevent, which is the last peak in the 11th stage. Like Planpraz, Brevent also has the option to take the cable car down to Chamonix. However, please note that at the time of writing this, cable car tickets must be bought in at Planpraz or Chamonix, you can’t buy them at Brevent directly. Luckily those going to Brevent should pass Planpraz along the way.
Stunning view of Lacs des Cheserys 
Ladders up to Refuge Lac Blanc 
Lac Blanc – definitely blanc, less impactful than Cheserys. 
The refuge 
First view into Chamonix! 
Starting to intersect with the ski infrastructure near the tail end of the day. 
Celebratory beer and escargots!
This might have been the most beautiful day of the entire hike, which was great as a grande finale to the trip!
It starts out normally with the normal forested ascent, but then once you get to Tête aux Vents the spectacular views stop and they don’t stop from there!
The trail on the variant, and really the whole day, was a lot rockier than the other days of the trip. Perhaps it has something to do with the specific geology of this section. Make sure your boots are in good condition!!
I had been really looking forward to the infamous ladder sections of Stage 10. According to the book, the ladder section can lead to the main trail as well as the Lac Blanc variant. However, this day, I was hiking with a nice woman whose top priority was seeing Lac Blanc. There was a fork in the path at one point that said La Flegère one way and Lac Blanc the other. We took the path to Lac Blanc, and once we got to Tête aux Vents, it was clear that we had definitely taken an alternative route. So be warned if you care about taking the ladder portion!
That didn’t dampen my spirits much, because the views were just so pretty. The Lac Blanc variant was definitely tough, but worth it. However, I think most people see the beautiful pictures from Lac Blanc and assume that the lake in it is Lac Blanc itself. For us at least, the Lacs de Cheserys on the way to Lac Blanc were far more beautiful. Lac Blanc itself had a nice refuge with crepes, and was a good vista, but the lake itself was completely covered in snow as of July 5! Note that this refuge, like Refuge du Col du Balme, also cannot guarantee the quality of their water so you should make sure to bring extra on this day.
The descent from there was a glorious winding path with lots of views of Chamonix and the glaciers in the mountains above it. It was awesome. Eventually as you get closer to La Flegère (which was closed for construction) you start to run into the infrastructure from the ski industry that Kev Reynolds rants about. It was a bit of a blight on the views but I bet it’s also totally amazing to ski there.
Finally after lots of rocky paths, we got to Planpraz and took the cable car down. It felt very celebratory and like a great end to the hike. I had some beer and escargots at Le Monchu, which was thankfully open all day. Immediately I wanted to start planning my next hiking trek, because this was such a great trip!!
Previous: Stage 9 – Trient to Argentière
Solo Tour du Mont Blanc Trip 