Mont Blanc de Chielon

*Back blipped yesterday, well worth a look imho*

An alpine start today (well for the climbers amongst you, a very lazy alpine start, lol), and out at 5am to avoid bad weather later (am sat in tonight's hotel watching lightning flash and hearing thunder roll).
The short hard climb to the Col du Roux was soon over and we were rewarded with the fabulous sight of a timid Chamois and its fawn/kid silhouetted again the sunrise.
Then came a long steady descent to Lac Dix, I hadn't know what to expect from this massive hydro reservoir, but it was astonishingly beautiful and impressive with waterfalls dropping into it all along its eastern cliffs. A nice mooch along a contouring track soon had us at the start of the day's ascent, but good path work meant that we were soon high into the Dix valley and walking along fabulous high morraine ridges under the towering cliff of Mont Blanc de Cheilon.
Where the path forked we headed left for the Pas de Chevres and the infamous (but now hugely improved) ladders, we climbed over the top to a glowering sky and amazing views towards the Dent Blanche and the Pointe du Arolla, a fantastic spot for lunch.
All that was left was the looonnnng descent to Arolla.

# I know the Edelwiess is blurry, but in my defence I was half hanging off a cliff and didn't spot autofucus had chosen the very sharp rock! But they're so rare and iconic I decided to record this anyway for posterity.