Chamonix / Swiss day hikes?

Hi!
In a spur of the moment thing, the girlfriend and I decided we might be heading to Europe. We'd be visiting France (Chamonix) and Swiss. Being avid hikers, we figured there would be amazing hikes to be done there...anyone has suggestions on either the hikes themselves or guidebooks that could help us decide which places to visit (keeping in mind we'd need a guidebook that talks about the Swiss and Chamonix hikes).

We haven't figured out how much hiking gear we're prepared to carry around while in Europe. How do people usually go about this problem? I figured we might want to ship our hiking gear back home once we're done hiking so we can continue doing the tourist thing in something more comfortable than koflachs

One other question, which I'm kind of ashamed to ask...are there trailheads? Do you have to pay to access the mountains? I think for some hikes, we could take a cart up a certain way...

Any info on these subjects or relating to other problems/situations I might of not thought of would be greatly appreciated!

Cheers,

Fish

If you can ascend 10000 vertical feet, while navigating glaciers, in one day, you could do Mt Blanc or one of its false summits.

Gator said:

If you can ascend 10000 vertical feet, while navigating glaciers, in one day, you could do Mt Blanc or one of its false summits.

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Damn...too bad the girlfriend's with me, otherwise I would of went for it. She's truly the limiting factor here

Fish

hikingfish said:

We haven't figured out how much hiking gear we're prepared to carry around while in Europe. How do people usually go about this problem? I figured we might want to ship our hiking gear back home once we're done hiking so we can continue doing the tourist thing in something more comfortable than koflachs

Click to expand...

just do what i do--wear hikin' clothes all the time. it's easy for me cause that's all i own. it's just everyday wear round here!

Fish,

Check out the Cicerone Guides for hiking in Switzerland.

Chamonix Mont Blanc ISBN 1 85284 009 9

The Valais ISBN 1 85284 151 6

The Bernese Alps ISBN 1 85284 243 1

If you and the GF are up for it, there are some easy-ish 4000m summits that can be done from Zermatt and Saas-Fee. Breithorn, for example, is apx 350m of "climbing" - basically a walk up with crampons - from the telepherique station on Klein Matterhorn. There's a guides office in Zermatt that can arrange for a guide (fluent in whichever language you prefer), all the gear, etc. if you need. Meet the guide at the lift station at 7am; you're back in Zermatt for a late lunch. You'll get no better views for less work. You're looking DOWN on everything else and directly across to the Matterhorn. Fabulous.

Lots of EASY hikes around Chamonix, too, especially if you "cheat"! Take a cable car up to the "shoulder" of the ridge, then hike up from there, totally above treeline. Lac Blanc is probably my favorite--totally snow covered in mid July! I also walked down from the mid station of the Aiguille du Midi cable car, while my wife rode down after a little altitude issue. A beautiful walk, with views all the way.

Of course, in Chamonix, you get great views just walking down the street. It's my favorite town in the world!

You will find info and pictures in those links: (Some are in french)
http://www.tour-aventure.com/fr/dest/randonnee-alpes/
http://www.pbase.com/pudgy_groundhog/switzerland&page=all
http://www.haute-savoie.info/

We went 4 times at Chamonix and it is a unique place.

Thanks for your replies!

Yvon, I started reading those sites. They look pretty good! Thanks!

Fish