Tuesday, July 17, 2018

Haut Jura Saint Claude and the Lac Blanc trail in Chamonix


Haut Jura Saint Claude, France

Last Friday we went to a small place called Haut Jura Saint Claude, France. It was about a 2 hour drive from Chamonix, so not too long of a drive. We went there for Hayden to run a race called UTTJ to get the 5 points he needed for UTMB. It was a 2 day stage race (110km and 6500+m elevation gain). The race was very well done, had a nice laid back atmosphere and the mountains were very beautiful!










While Hayden raced, Crosby and I waited for him to finish and went to check out the town. While exploring, we bumped into this beautiful church. Across from the church, there was a park that we spent a lot of time at. We played, walked around, played some more, got some lunch, and slept while we waited for dad to finish the UTTJ race. Such is the life of an ultra runners wife!












The town was an old diamond mining town and was famous for their handmade pipes. It was very hot during the day as well and the town had a backcountry hometown feel to it.

As is tradition in the Hawks family, we ran into our share of travel problems. We decided to book a hotel online before we left so that we didn't have to worry about it when we got there. After searching for about an hour to find the place and finally finding a person that somewhat understood English, we found our hotel. But, the windows were dark an. We tried calling them, no answer. Knocking, no answer. Waiting, nothing! So 200 euros gone and we were searching for another hotel, which luckily we found just in time for Crosby's bedtime. Quick tip: In a small town in other countries, it's a better idea to wait until you are there to book a hotel.




Lac Blanc 


The views!
Now to the Trails part of the travel. Chamonix is known for its amazing running and hiking trails. This week I'm going to highlight the trail up to Lac Blanc. I ran there from the Plan Praz lift, then to La Flagere, and finally to Lac Blanc and back for a long run totaling 14 miles with 6,000 ft of elevation gain.






The other way to get up there is to take the La Flagere lift and then hike about 2 pretty steep miles. Even the hike from the lift is not for the faint of heart. It was probably the most stunning place I've seen in Chamonix so far and my favorite. The lake is so clear and beautiful and the run to the top was well worth it.
The La Flagere Cross







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