CR Adventures 260722: TMB Day 2 - Refuge de La Balme to Refuge des Mottets via Col des Fours
Trail photos
Author
Trail stats
- Distance
- 8.63 mi
- Elevation gain
- 3,632 ft
- Technical difficulty
- Moderate
- Elevation loss
- 3,074 ft
- Max elevation
- 8,630 ft
- TrailRank
- 59
- Min elevation
- 5,604 ft
- Trail type
- One Way
- Moving time
- 4 hours 9 minutes
- Time
- 9 hours 41 minutes
- Coordinates
- 2497
- Uploaded
- July 27, 2022
- Recorded
- July 2022
near Seloge, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes (France)
Viewed 372 times, downloaded 6 times
Trail photos
Itinerary description
TMB Day 2 starts from Refuge de la Balme full of character surrounded by spectacular scenery.
Located in the commune of CONTAMINES MONTJOIE (74170, in Haute-Savoie) in the heart of the nature reserve, a privileged and preserved place.
A Mountain refuge located at 1706m, at the foot of the Aiguille de la Pennaz (2668m), on the paths of the T.M.B, GR5, Tour du Beaufortain, Tour des Pays du Mont-Blanc.
A special mention about Michael Gut the caretaker like his father and grand father is a wonderful guy and a real gentleman as we gave him a ring from the Contamines tourist office the day before to say that we were likely to be late for the evening meal and to make sure we arrived on time he came down with his 4x4 to pick us up when we were at a point just after the Refuge Nant-Borrant.
We leave the refuge (1708m) picking up the Ancienne Route Nationale 202 (A challenging one way trail in Réserve Naturelle des Contamines-Montjoie) heading towards the Col du Bonhomme (2329m) passing Plan Jovet and the Plan des Dames (Tumulus).
Bypassing the Refuge du Col de la Croix du Bonhomme we head on the next part of our adventure towards the Col des Fours (2668m) under the shadow of Tete Nord des Fours (2700m).
Having completed the climb we were greeted by Ibex, beautiful creatures going about their business without a care in the world.
From Col des Fours we descend down the steeply winding trail which would be quite tricky to navigate in the wet.
Shortly after departing the Col des Fours there will be a sign to la Ville des Glaciers.
We continue down the trail with the gradient easing a little the further we descend into the valley below crossing several streams on our way.
As we descended the beautiful valley we were greeted by family's of Marmots whistling as we approached to warn others of our presence.
A truly endearing sight with the most inquisitive ones staying out longer to see what the commotion was before scuttling into their holes.
The alpine marmot (Marmota marmota) is a large ground-dwelling squirrel, from the genus of marmots that live throughout alpine areas of France, Italy, Switzerland, Germany, and Slovenia and live at an altitude of 800 to 3200 m.
We continue our journey until we reach the floor of the valley and la Ville des Glaciers with stunning views of the impressive Glacier de l'Aiguille along our way.
La Ville des Glaciers
---------------------------------
The City of Glaciers is a locality in France located in Savoie , in the commune of Bourg-Saint-Maurice . Surrounded by the Mont-Blanc massif , it is in the Valley of the Glaciers , upstream from Les Chapieux . It has a few private secondary residences, a tourist information center and a car park which serves as a departure point for the shuttle service to Les Chapieux.
Access prohibited for cars July/August between Les Chapieux and the Ville des Glaciers.
Compulsory shuttle from Les Chapieux. Hours 8:30 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Departure every 20 or 30 minutes. Single return fare: €3.5 (2022).
Our final leg of this section of the journey is a short hike up the valley to Refuge des Mottets from which there are some great views of the impressive Glacier de l'Aiguille and if you look hard enough you'll be able to make out the Refuge Robert Blanc perched high on the mountain towards Glacier de l'Aiguille.
Refuge Les Mottets
--------------------------------
Situated in the Vallee des Glaciers and is the last accomodation before Col de la Seigne and Italy.
Ideally situated just south of the Mont Blanc in the French Alps,
- Nestled in the magnificent and pristine Valley of Glaciers
- At an altitude of 1864 meters
- At the foot of the magnificent mountain peak « Glacier Needle » and the Seigne Mountain Pass
- Part of the internationally known hiking trail « Le Tour du Mont Blanc ».
The historic alpine chalet was meticulously restored in 2010,
REFUGE DES MOTTETS
Vallée des Glaciers - Tour du Mont Blanc
73700 BOURG ST MAURICE
(SAVOIE - FRANCE)
Tel : +33 479 070 170
Fax : +33 479 075 155
E-mail : refuge@lesmottets.com
Great accommodation Great food plus entertainment: What more would you want!
Located in the commune of CONTAMINES MONTJOIE (74170, in Haute-Savoie) in the heart of the nature reserve, a privileged and preserved place.
A Mountain refuge located at 1706m, at the foot of the Aiguille de la Pennaz (2668m), on the paths of the T.M.B, GR5, Tour du Beaufortain, Tour des Pays du Mont-Blanc.
A special mention about Michael Gut the caretaker like his father and grand father is a wonderful guy and a real gentleman as we gave him a ring from the Contamines tourist office the day before to say that we were likely to be late for the evening meal and to make sure we arrived on time he came down with his 4x4 to pick us up when we were at a point just after the Refuge Nant-Borrant.
We leave the refuge (1708m) picking up the Ancienne Route Nationale 202 (A challenging one way trail in Réserve Naturelle des Contamines-Montjoie) heading towards the Col du Bonhomme (2329m) passing Plan Jovet and the Plan des Dames (Tumulus).
Bypassing the Refuge du Col de la Croix du Bonhomme we head on the next part of our adventure towards the Col des Fours (2668m) under the shadow of Tete Nord des Fours (2700m).
Having completed the climb we were greeted by Ibex, beautiful creatures going about their business without a care in the world.
From Col des Fours we descend down the steeply winding trail which would be quite tricky to navigate in the wet.
Shortly after departing the Col des Fours there will be a sign to la Ville des Glaciers.
We continue down the trail with the gradient easing a little the further we descend into the valley below crossing several streams on our way.
As we descended the beautiful valley we were greeted by family's of Marmots whistling as we approached to warn others of our presence.
A truly endearing sight with the most inquisitive ones staying out longer to see what the commotion was before scuttling into their holes.
The alpine marmot (Marmota marmota) is a large ground-dwelling squirrel, from the genus of marmots that live throughout alpine areas of France, Italy, Switzerland, Germany, and Slovenia and live at an altitude of 800 to 3200 m.
We continue our journey until we reach the floor of the valley and la Ville des Glaciers with stunning views of the impressive Glacier de l'Aiguille along our way.
La Ville des Glaciers
---------------------------------
The City of Glaciers is a locality in France located in Savoie , in the commune of Bourg-Saint-Maurice . Surrounded by the Mont-Blanc massif , it is in the Valley of the Glaciers , upstream from Les Chapieux . It has a few private secondary residences, a tourist information center and a car park which serves as a departure point for the shuttle service to Les Chapieux.
Access prohibited for cars July/August between Les Chapieux and the Ville des Glaciers.
Compulsory shuttle from Les Chapieux. Hours 8:30 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Departure every 20 or 30 minutes. Single return fare: €3.5 (2022).
Our final leg of this section of the journey is a short hike up the valley to Refuge des Mottets from which there are some great views of the impressive Glacier de l'Aiguille and if you look hard enough you'll be able to make out the Refuge Robert Blanc perched high on the mountain towards Glacier de l'Aiguille.
Refuge Les Mottets
--------------------------------
Situated in the Vallee des Glaciers and is the last accomodation before Col de la Seigne and Italy.
Ideally situated just south of the Mont Blanc in the French Alps,
- Nestled in the magnificent and pristine Valley of Glaciers
- At an altitude of 1864 meters
- At the foot of the magnificent mountain peak « Glacier Needle » and the Seigne Mountain Pass
- Part of the internationally known hiking trail « Le Tour du Mont Blanc ».
The historic alpine chalet was meticulously restored in 2010,
REFUGE DES MOTTETS
Vallée des Glaciers - Tour du Mont Blanc
73700 BOURG ST MAURICE
(SAVOIE - FRANCE)
Tel : +33 479 070 170
Fax : +33 479 075 155
E-mail : refuge@lesmottets.com
Great accommodation Great food plus entertainment: What more would you want!
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5,614 ft
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