In locations from Crete to Cape Wrath, and Slovenia to Corsica, my friend Steve W and I have managed a September walk these many years. Having previously met GR5 on its way north from Nice, we took a cue from the Chamonix to Geneva section.
The intermediate valley of Samoens/Morillon was a point we could reach in one day by public transport, and from which we could walk to Lake Geneva in the 5 days which we had available.
We had to flex the route to suit the limited availability of accommodation in September. Days generally around 1100-1200 metres of ascent, plus descents, the longest being 9 hours. So from Morillon, our way led north to the ski town of Morzine.
With a thunderstorm forecast, we hastened through woodland uphill 1200m to our col and ridge.
But the weather relented, so we could enjoy a viewing platform which looked south to a panorama of Dent du Geant, Mont Maudit, Mont Blanc, Tete Pelouse and all them there.
A pleasant descent gave us a view of our route for a shorter Day 2, which was up again onto a big mountain spur above some massif white cliffs..
Avoriaz was to us merely a name on a map in an area where we needed to sleep. Not being a skier, I was completely unprepared to find a city sleeping 30,000 – plus (but just now deserted) built on top of a mountain at 1800m. Grotesque in more ways than one. Our AirBnB was in a 12 storey tower block with timber cladding (ring any bells eh ??) and no visible fire precautions. A forecast of thunderstorms and snow did not help our mood.
Shaking its dust quickly off our feet, next morning we dropped into the valley behind, then up again to onto the main northbound ridge. The GR5 route romps delightfully along, sticking to the 1700 – 1800 m mark as it contours around Mont Grange.
There can be excellent views when not too misty, but at least the weather was lots better than predicted.
Finally a descent to Chappelle d'Abondance, and a view of the next 1800m col leading to the Bise valley. Nice pub, cheery landlord.
The weather was improving on Day 4 as a front passed. Over the col we went, noticing a little light snow (the first of the season possibly ?).
The way drops to the remote farm of Chalets de Bise and climbs steeply again to the 1915-m Col de Bise.
From 1900 metres this appears as just a V-shape with a stake. But each of us shouted involuntarily at the surprise view. What a cracker !!. The valley on the north side drops hugely away, and there lies Lac Leman (Lake Geneva) glinting in the distance.
A further couple of hours took us down, down, down, …. and then down to the hamlet of Novel (at 900m) .
Not much here, but a lovely little hotel where Madame was very pleasant, doing both the Reception and the super home cooking.
And the warm fresh bread at breakfast. After which it was (guess what ??) 90 minutes steady uphill to pass a jagged Pic and gain a route traversing westwards across steep mountainside high above the lake.
Finally this gives access to the “Balcon du Leman”. A narrow ridge parallel to the Lake, with a series of little summits around the 1650 – 1700 mark...... about 1250 above the lakeside.
The south side of the ridge is extremely steep grass. The north side is a very very big drop.
I had read of a ladder down from Col Pertus near the west end, but we found no such thing. Simply a broad path dropping steeply to finally emerge at a car park near Bernex. Only later, looking back, could we fully see the cliffs we had just traversed.
Now it was goodbye to the mountains. We wanted to finish on foot (no buses anyway) and thus we rounded off the afternoon by adding a further 8Km walk to reach Evian les Bains (railhead). This made for a rather long day of almost 9 hours (only one stop) but it was a delightful finale through leafy lanes and field tracks. All that remained was wine, some great Algerian food with a crazy waitress, beers, and the anticipated struggle to make sense out of SNCF back to the airport the following day.
