Glacier de Bionnassay

A longer day out today - up from Bionnay as the road was closed & we'd set our minds to a plan. Annoyingly they didn't bother to sign that the bridge over the glacier outflow has been removed for the season until we got to Bionnassay village - and with half our 1000m of height gained it seemed better to stay on target for our destination - even if it meant our planned loop was going to become either an adventure or an out & return.

However - this is a route I do parts of a lot in the summer as it forms the bulk of the last day of the Tour du Mont Blanc - so (a) I was keen to show C what I often witter on about & (b) I know my way around here very well! and what a day - out of season with the bridge gone -we saw not a soul - where usually there is just people and their sounds we got to enjoy woods full of Crested Tits, Tree Creepers, Jays & Woodpeckers. For a large part of the walk the gorge echoed with the bellows of stags - but sadly these woods are dense & try though we did we couldn't spot them. We did however spot a high pair of circling Griffon Vultures.

Getting to the glacier we were lucky and the outflow was low - it was a simple boulder hop across the water to the other side - not something I'd ever normally recommend. We managed to find a spot for lunch where the sun was still just high enough in the sky to shine through the Col du Miage & offer some warmth - but as soon as it went behind the Tré la Tète it was time for us to move - winter is definitely coming to the high montagne.

The extra is not the villains lair from the latest Bond movie - rather its the new Goùter Refuge up at 3900m