Saturday 21 July 2012

Tours of Mont Blanc and the Matterhorn in near perfect conditions

High above Zermatt
July this year is a very busy month for Trekking in the Alps, with more or less non-stop treks. This is a Good Thing but makes posting on the blog a touch difficult as I often have limited phone reception let alone the chance to upload photos and post on here.
Just finished two wonderful treks, a Tour of Mont Blanc followed by the Tour of the Matterhorn, or at least the Italian part of that tour, preceded by a couple of days in Zermatt.

July is prime flower time in the Alps
We were lucky to miss the first very rainy days of July, after which the sun came out and conditions have been excellent ever since. Clearly there has been the odd rain shower but usually at night and day time it's been mainly dry with beautiful clear views. 
The Aiguille Noire de Peuterey en route to the French border

Both tours cross high cols and late lying snow has been a slight problem this summer but for us it just made things more interesting without any real terror. As ever the photos tell the story better than I can so here goes:

Martagon lily at its best



On the Grand Col Ferret, TMB


Nearing the top of the very steep ascent to Mont Fortin TMB variant

First day, getting to know the Matterhorn and each other

Steep equipped section on the TOM

Great ibex viewing on the TOM

Burnet moth

Hugo gave us a fine performance on the TOM
The glacier section on the TOM

Frost one early morning made it feel more like September than July

Marmot enjoying the first rays of sunshine on the TMB
So that's the story right now from Trekking in the Alps. back on the TMB next week, going in the other direction. Watch this space!
Heading up the Breithorn summit on the last day of the TOM