To touch a glacier: objective complete!

in #hiking6 years ago (edited)

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In March 2020, many Steem users, including @dhimmel, migrated to the Hive blockchain in response to the hostile takeover of Steem. Please use the Hive link when sharing this post and comment on the Hive version to get in touch.



To touch, or not to touch, that is the question:
Whether 'tis nobler in the Alps to suffer
The rocks & pebbles of outrageous landslides,
Or to take arms against the ice of ages,
And by opposing melt them. Via — Mer de Glace

While hiking of the Tour des Aiguilles Rouges in the French Alps, I could not help but stare across the Chamonix Valley. On the other side lay several glaciers twisted into the mountainsides. Most notable was the Mer de Glace, shaped like a svelte S,

mer-de-glace-view.jpg

Hence, when I finished my hike I hopped on a train from Le Buet to Chamonix-Mont-Blanc station. Upon stepping out into the horde of tourists, a new adventure began. Most tourists take the Train du Montenvers followed by a Gondola to enter Grotte de Glace, an unnatural cavity bored into the heart of the glacier.

I decided to attempt a more organic approach to touching the glacier. I would hike to it. The benefits of my alternative approach were that it was free of charge, free from other tourists, and free from reliance on others. My track was as follows:

glacier-viewranger-tracks.png

First, I hiked past the restaurants of Montenvers, following a trail up the sidewall of the glacial valley. Most people on this section of the trail were carrying serious mountaineering gear. Based on the recommendation of a local, I decided to turn around and approach the glacier at its lowest point. But before heading back, I snapped this shot:

mer-de-glace.jpg

At Buvette des Mottets, I began down a supposed trail (according to my ViewRanger map) to reach the glacier valley. A sign noted "unmaintained trial, danger ahead". The trail soon disappeared besides for large posts every few hundred feet. The descent was steep, and for the final portion a considerable rock scramble.

It was abundantly clear how the terrain had been shaped by the glacier, which has been receding at an alarming pace. The closer I got to the glacier, the more unstable the footing became. I looked up to the other side of the valley:

looking-up-mer-de-glace-sidewall.jpg

I was reaching the tip of the glacier:

glacier-in-sight.jpg

I wanted to touch. But when I looked closely, I saw gravel sliding down the glacier:

glacier-gravel.gif

The glacier was melting in real-time. I didn't want to get crushed in a rockslide, but I needed to touch. So I did… briefly!

touching-mer-de-glace.jpg

Mission accomplished. By the way, the GPS coordinates of that picture are 45°56'11.1"N 6°55'20.9"E (Google Photos seems to have recently started stripping geolocation data from downloads… infuriating).

Before heading up, I decided to really enjoy my time alone with the glacier, so I pulled out my Dell XPS 9370 with a GNU/Linux operating system. As heard on Twitter, "glacial data science by @dhimmel, the open sourceror":

glacial-data-science.jpg

Here's the view of the impending rock scramble from the return voyage:

rock-scramble.jpg

I camped out one final night near town. I picked a good spot as I got to watch a nearby nighttime running race that was part of the Mont Blanc Marathon. The next morning I took the Ouibus to Geneva Airport. The END.

Steemian Boss Series

This is the sixteenth post in the popular Steemian Boss Series. Previous posts include:

  1. Ultralight travel to Key West
  2. Sights aboard a twinjet, Philly to Boston style
  3. How to hammock like a Steemian Boss in Cambridge
  4. Glory aboard American Airlines flight 501
  5. The Centurion PHL Challenge: 8 specialty crafted cocktails
  6. The Delta Sky Club ATL Challenge: all 2 specialty cocktails
  7. Mississippi's best hiking: backpacking in Noxubee Hills
  8. Epic 80-mile bike ride to Limerick's Nuclear Reactors
  9. The Centurion SFO Challenge: revealing 8 exclusive cocktails
  10. A saga of 14 friends: returning to California
  11. Sending my brother off to Africa with a blaze
  12. Liberty Bell GPS art: celebrating liberty on the Fourth of July
  13. A walk in Lehigh Gorge state park to Glen Onoko falls by @trang.
  14. Mastering the Catskills: quadrupeak bushwhacking bonanza
  15. Backpacking the Alps: Tour des Aiguilles Rouges

License

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Whoa, your snaps look amazing. Looks like you had quite an adventure and accomplished your mission. Keep on exploring this beautiful world. See you at the next Steemit meeting, whenever that is...

Gorgeous remote work location!!!

Also, I think @curie should give you 1000 upvotes just for your Hamlet's parody!

Girl! You're right!!!

@dhimmel This looks like an amazing trip! You have so many wonderful story-telling techniques and I love the photos that accompany them.

Awesome man! Always enjoy your outdoor / hiking adventure posts and the last few have been epic!

Such amazing landscape! I see it in viewranger it took you 22 hours, did you do them all at once or did you camp for more than a day? Cheers

I didn't end the ViewRanger track until I reached the bus station to take the Ouibus to Geneva Airport. Thus the 22 hours includes the time when I stealth camped right outside of town and walked to the station the next morning.

@dhimmel you are awesome man i am start following you your blog are awesome good luck for the future and it is my dream that one day i would also be there to enjoy my self again thanks for this beautiful moment

You were determined to touch that glacier! 😁 I am sure the hike is an experience to remember, but the terrain is so darn scary. The steep, rocky cliffs and melting ice..yikes. Like you said though, mission accomplished and another memory to add to life's experience.

Thanks for sharing the beautiful views! Be safe in your travels and next destination.

You've got some balls man! And i can't help but grow admiration for your courage. I mean shit could have gone sideways with the glaciers but you still went for it. What's life without the courage to take risk anyways?

It must me an awesome feeling seeing the glacier melting in real-time. Wonderful tracking tour, @dhimmel and splendid photos, too!

That's awesome. This is one hell of a adventurous trip I guess. I suggest you to be little careful with that rock glaciers. Those pictures are great. And you are looking damn cool boss.
I too go for such trips now and then but those are not adventurous as this one. I want be adventurous but you know I'm still under parental pressure, parental influence 😂😂.

I have been following from your last two articles. I particularly like the way you put it in writing. Btw it is building my vocabulary too.. thanks for that😃😃.

Hope to see such wonderful articles and inspired writing all across steemit !!

It is amazing to see life coming through in the environment like this!