May 24th, 2010 
Sheila Simkin Back down to the middle station called Plan de l’Aiguille, 2,317m/7,601′ and took all the warm clothing off. Five thousand feet in altitude change makes a big difference in weather and how you feel. Clear and crowded today with hikers coming up from the bottom, hikers walking down to Chamonix…View image, some heading towards Lac Bleu, a 1-1/2 hour walk from the middle station, and still others taking a path to the Mer de Glace that remains fairly level and follows the contours of the mountains.
Other tourists had no intention of hiking and just sat in the sun, drinking and eating in one of the small cafes at this level before taking the next tram down to Chamonix. A big surprise when a man accompanied by his donkeys appeared at the middle station. The last time we saw donkeys was on the Robert Louis Stevenson trip in France. The Scottish writer left Monastier sur Gazeille, France on foot, September 22, 1878 with his donkey, Modestine, on a long distance walk and it’s still possible to hire donkeys to carry your goods on this classic. We couldn’t get a clear-cut answer from this man exactly what he was doing with his donkeys. They weren’t loaded, no riders…
There are Alpine Marmots (or, groundhogs – those little varmints) all over the Plan de l’Aiguille area. We could see burrows and hear them whistling warnings but couldn’t spot any. Sat and watched for a while before taking the tram to the bottom, trying to decide where to go and what to do in Chamonix for the remainder of the day.
That was decided when Bus #9 in the direction of Les Houches came first, at 12:12 pm. The afternoon became a hiking debacle. Off the bus at Prarion lift (same lift as the other day), just in time for the gondolas to stop running until 1:30 p.m. They don’t begin running all day without interruption for a few more days. Sat down and waited. Our intention was to take Prarion lift to the top and do a “European-style” hike today by walking 500 feet to the Col de Vosa, up to Bellegarde tram and take that down. Europeans usually take chairlifts up, walk around and then down while we do the opposite. Hiking sgns said 55 minutes.
Got to the Bellegarde tram and discovered this tram is operated by different management than the Mont Blanc multi-pass and our pass was no good on it. Not only no good but it would have cost 9 euros/person to take down. Ridiculous and I’m cheap. Note on Lift passes: There is absolutely no trust among the lift operators. Prepare to show your pass over and over again. They will never give a freebie or take pity on you! And even on the trains, the conductors scrutinize the tickets and passes as if we were terrorists.
A 50-minute walk back to the Prarion lift, down to the bottom where, of course, the next bus wasn’t coming until 5:10 pm. There were exactly two options. Wait it out until the bus came or walk back to the Les Houches train station and catch an earlier train. Okey dokey, back to the train station it is, flash free passes and arrivie in Chamonix exhausted and starving.
Between non-operating lifts and misinformation about the multi-pass, a planned easy day turned out strenuous. All a person can do is adapt and go with the flow because the best laid plans…
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