October 7, 2017
Trailhead elevation: 1876 m (6155')
Top elevation: 2822 m (9259')
Total elevation gain: 1390 m (4560')
Distance: ~17 km (~10 mi) - in red on the map
Temperature at trailhead (morning): -4°C/25°F
Temperature at top elevation: ~2°C/36°F
Temperature at trailhead (afternoon): 5°C/41°F
You can't do much. Remember, no flower picking and no dogs! Merci.
The sun is already casting its rays on the bigger mountains.
One can already stand on ice.
Ice crystals sometimes take weird shapes:
Speaking of ice, there's a big chunk of it further up:
None of these reach 4000 m, but they're pretty damn close, missing the mark by a couple dozen meters. In the middle the "Peak with No Name".
Closeup of the Pelvoux's hanging glacier
The messy seracs of the aptly named "White Glacier". Notice the sky. Yes, it was a fine day, but unfortunately I have waited too long for it to come. The annoyingly low late season sun ruins any south-facing panorama.
Blanc? Not quite.
Looking back at the trailhead, some 1000 meters below:
The trail ends here. To progress further one must walk on the glacier. As I wasn't equipped I stopped here. Too bad, the view over the mostly flat upper part of the glacier, shielded by north face of the southernmost 4000 m+ peak of the Alps must be stunning. It's barely visible to the left on this pic:
I think the French forumer pokitobounto has hiked on top of the mountain to the left "the only one with ice):
Glacial erosion
Trailhead:
Fall colors beginning to show up at the bottom of the valley:
Now walking along the "Black Glacier". Not as picturesque, but at least all the rocks prevent it from melting as fast as its cleaner counterpart. There's a trail on top of its lateral moraine.
One step too far to the left and you're done.
Yeah, there's ice in there!
Chemtrail machine flying over high altitude glaciers
Coolidge peak on the left, Avalanche pass in the middle an the 1400 m (4600') rock wall of the Ecrins' southern face to the right (4102 m / 13458' at the summit):
It's 3:30 pm and the sun has already set on the trailhead.
Lateral moraine
On the road.
Small fortified village was built under Louis 14, initially to keep Savoy troops at bay.
The Pelvoux peak and its small glacier is visible from there. It's a 40 km drive.
Ski resort on the way back to Nice. Larches have largely turned.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
#TreePhenomenon 
