Chamonix :: Lac Cornu et les Lacs Noirs

On our second day in Chamonix we decided to go for a more challenging hike. My favorite hiking routes always seem to involve lakes, so we planned to go up to Lac Cornu and les Lacs Noirs.
Starting point: we parked at the Flégère cable car parking lot, then took the cable car and the Index chairlift till the top (alt. 2385 m).

There are several routes available from this point (Le Lac Blanc is possibly the most popular one), we took the Col et Lac Cornu route to the right, The estimated hike duration was 1:30 but as you'll see there's a tricky bit at the end which made us take a little longer.

The path is quite easy and straight forward during the first couple of kms.

After this part below it starts ascending toward the top, which was a bit harder, especially on such a hot day.

And here, right before this bit of ice, was the trickier part. We needed to climb up to the top, which under normal conditions it's steep but not extremely difficult because there are iron cables/supports to help you along the way. Our problem was traversing the bit of icy patch and reaching the cable section - on our left side it was a steep rocky section so not the best place to slip or have unsure footing, and on our right just a block of ice which we couldn't hold on to if needed. We decided to rest for a few minutes while studying the best way to cross ...

Eventually with the help of two other hikers we managed to reach the other side and start the climb up...

This is the view from the top towards Chamonix ...

And here's the view towards Col de la Gliére, with Lac Cornu to the far right.

And more icy parts to hike across ...

We found a secluded spot near the Col where we stopped for lunch, and A. hiked to the Lacs Noirs and back while S. and I picked some flowers.

This is the climb towards the Lacs Noirs - you can't say that the route is not visible and well marked.

The view of the Lacs Noirs is indeed stunning

From Col de la Gliére we hiked to the left side, towards the Planpraz cable car. Again the route is not very difficult, but there were a lot of icy sections.

Finally the cable car was almost near !

We stopped for some refreshment at the café next to the cable car, where there are some nice views of Chamonix from the top.

Since we had returned from a different cable car from where we started we walked to the centre of Chamonix, where we took the bus to Flégère again.

Right across the road from this cable car there's a really nice small park, with a church and small fountain which was lovely to rest our weary feet.