We spent about one and a half hour at the top taking pictures and admiring the view. We saw people out on the glacier climbing to the top of Mont Blac, 4,810 meters (15,776 feet). We then took the gondola down to the lower station at about 7,500 feet and started our hike down from there about 10:15AM.
It was a magnificent hike partly down and partly across on the trails. We got to a lovely spot about 12:30PM, where we could see the glacier and we stopped for lunch there. Then we continued our hike down towards the glacier and finally got to the side trail towards the glacier about 1:45.
We took the side trail to the ladders that went down to glacier and what a blast it was climbing down the ladders. There were 5 iron ladders bolted into the rock that basically went straight down. I counted the rungs on the ladders going down (78,21,34,85 and 85). 303 in all! MaryAnn and Eva stayed at the top of the ladders and Jack, Shari climbed down the first three, and Jack, Jim and I went down all of them to the glacier. Jim walked out on the glacier a bit and I just stepped on it briefly to have my picture taken. Then I climbed back up the 5 ladders. It was so much fun, even though my heart was racing because it was kind of scary.
We started down from the trail at the top of the ladders about 2:30PM and got back to town about 4:30. We had a break halfway down at a beautiful little cabin surrounded by flowers where they served sodas, beer and some food. We took a ten minute break there, but we could see lots of black clouds and hear thunder in the distance. It rained a bit before we got to town, but not too much and it stopped by the time we were in town. We went to the grocery store and then took the bus to the apartment. What a bus ride. A zillion kids (even worse than yesterday) and we were all jam packed in the bus. There doesn't seem to be any maximum capacity on the buses here.
We all took showers and cooked our own dinners and had a pleasant evening just sitting around talking, writing notes and reading. We have a TV but there aren't any English language stations.
8/26: We took a day off from hiking today and got up leisurely and walked to town about 10AM. We went to the tourist office and the guide office to get information on paragliding and our Walker's Haute Route hike (between Chamonix and Zermatt). We also used the internet and I bought a phone card to call Joshua. I had trouble with the card but the woman from the tourist office went outside to the phone with me and she got it to work. Unfortunately, it is pretty expensive to call home from here, so I didn't talk to Joshua very long.
I went back to the apartment about 3PM and sat and talked to Jack and Jim for awhile., and then I laid down for an hour. Eva, MaryAnn and Shari came back around 5:30 and Eva and I left just after 6PM to go to Les Houches to hear some blues music. The band supposedly started at 6:30PM and I thought Les Houches was about 3 kilometeres from our apartment. We decided to take the bus there and maybe walk back. Well, we got there, and there was no music. The band was there but not playing, and they said they would be starting about 8PM (not quite 6:30). It didn't look like it would be a really interesting performance and I found out there were no night buses anymore, so we decided to walk back. It sure was a little more than 3 kilometers - probably 6 or 7. It took us an hour and 20 muinutes to go walk back to the apartment. It was a beautiful cool, clear evening, so it was a lovely walk.
8/27: Another great hike! We took the Brevant cable cars (telecabine and telegraphique) to the top of the mountain at 2,525 meters (8,284 feet) and started hiking at the top about 9AM. We hiked down to Lac du Brevant (Brevant Lake) at 2,127 meters then back up and over a sort of up and down trail, back to the top of the first cable car (the Brevant telecabine) at 1,999 meters (6,558 feet) - this is where you take off paragliding. Then we hiked down to town and went to sign up for paragliding.
The woman at the paragliding office told us that it may rain Friday morning so we decided to paraglide tomorow. Three of us can go at 11:30 and 3 at 12:30. We will meet the pilots at the bottom of the Brevant cable car (the telecabine) at 11:30 and all go up together. Then three will glide down in one group and the other three will wait at the top for the next group. It will take about an hour altogether (a half hour cable car and getting ready time and a half hour gliding down time). It cost 100 euros for the flight and the cable car ride.
After we paid for the paragliding we went to the grocery store, took the bus to the apartment and sat and drank wine/beer and ate hors d'oeuvres. It was really hot today and it was beautiful sitting out on our porch.
8/28: An exciting day - paragliding from 6,800 feet! We all were anticipating our ride so much that we walked over to the lift early and had to wait there for about 40 minutes for our pilots to show up. We all went up in the cable cars just before 11:30 (the 3 pilots and the 6 of us). We had to walk uphill a bit from the top of the cable cars to where we would be taking off, and the pilots each carried a parachute. I'm glad we didn't have to carry any chutes. Jean Charles (the pilot I rode with) told me that the chutes, harnesses and helmets, etc. weigh 25 kilos (about 55 pounds).
At the apartment, we had all drawn numbers for our order of flying, not thinking that the pilots would tell us who would go when. When we got to the top, Jean Charles asked for the 3 lighter people to go first, so Eva, MaryAnn and I went first.
Jean Charles wasted no time hooking me up in the gear, and then he told me on the count of three to start running downhill and don't sit even when the chute starts to pull you up. We started running and all of a sudden the chute fills with air and starts to pull you back and Jean Charles said to keep running and then we were up!
What a sensation. I was in front and he was in back, and we were floating through the air. MaryAnn and Eva took off right after me. Once we were in the air, Jean Charles told me I could take pictures so I ended up taking about a dozen poictures on the way down. I think I got some good ones of MaryAnn. I also took one looking straight up at my chute.
I got to "drive" the paraglider for awhile. You pull on loops to direct the chute right or left, and other loops enable you to descend by pulling the outside edges of the chute in. Then you let the chute out to go back up.
Jean Charles asked if I wanted to do loops and I said yes, so we did them as we got nearer to the landing area. We swung around to the right and left doing big sidways figure eights, and boy did it make me feel sick, but I loved it and just laughed the whole time.
Landing was so easy. He told met to slide forward a bit in the harness, look down at my feet and just walk forward as my feet hit the ground. It was perfect and very gentle when we landed. We were in the air about 20 minutes. Just wonderful!
The pilots packed up the chutes and went back up the cable car to get Shari, Jack and Jim for their rides. Shari told me later that the wind had piked up and there were a lot of people waiting to take off at the top. The three of them were worried they may not be able to fly, but it calmed down a bit and off they went. I got some pictures of both MaryAnn and Shari landing. All in all, it was a great experience for us. Everyone liked it so much we all wished we could go again sometime, and we felt very lucky to have our first paragliding experience in such a beautiful place.
HOME PAGE
HOME PAGE