Bourg Saint Maurice – Hiking the French Alps
August 15, 2021
From Bourg Saint Maurice we don’t have to travel far to get to the start of some amazing walks in the high French Alps. Be prepared for small single track roads that zig zag up the mountain and yellow walking signs that give times to destinations that would require the walker to be olympic trained.
Know before you go - Hiking the French Alps
- Take lots of water. Unlike Italy, there are not many or any places to top up.
- Take an extra layer – at these altitudes it can be quite cold, even in August!
- Be wary of the times on the yellow signs. We mostly found them to be inaccurately short and we are not slow walkers.
- Take walking poles. Almost everyone we passed had them. They are definitely an asset.
- Take lots of fuel (food). The walks we did were quite long and unfortunately without a pub lunch half-way.
Les Cinq Lacs
We decided to attempt a full Circular walk as the weather forecast was predicting a spectacular day and we had the time. So after a rather pleasant drive out of Bourg Saint Maurice for 20 minutes we arrived at our starting point, Ponte du Moulin (Altitude 1333m). We later found out that most people drive past this point and continue up to Fort de la Platte (1996m), for a there-and-back-walk, but we are always in favour of a good circular. After locating the path we started to ascend up the Vallee des Sapieux. First thing to note for anybody attempting this, the first 150m of ascent is pretty steep, but it soon flattens a little for a steady climb up into the valley. 
What a spectacular valley it is, fairly remote with a few scattered mountain houses and the odd farm, but otherwise we were alone and the imposing cliffs on either side really gave us a sense of ‘small human, big mountains’. I was telling Jackie on route about a guy in the news who got trampled to death by a herd of cows in Richmond park of all places, is nowhere safe? Only to turn the corner and what was sat in the path?…. yes you guessed it, cows. So feeling we should learn from the poor guy’s plight, we took a small detour off-piste to give them a wide berth. I digress. This valley was so stunning I just cannot explain (see photos), but it meant that the climb into the heart of the valley didn’t seem like any effort at all.
I love walking into a valley, with that concave end of the mountains ahead signalling that whichever way you go, it is up. The distance to the end can also be quite deceptive in that you never seem to get there, but in the end we did and started the climb up out of the valley. The climb itself was not too bad but by now we were over 2300m and it seemed a little harder than usual on the lungs. 
The reward came as we crested the slope and the first of the five lakes came into view. It was magical up there, on a mini plateaux with views all around of the Alps, the year-round glaciers (for now anyway), and just the sheer scale of the range. The first lake was Lac Esola at 2410m, the other lakes are Rionde (20mins more), Comu (25 mins), Verdet (30mins) and lastly Noi – 50 more minutes and tops out the walk at 2532m. Each was stunning in its own way and the backdrops were spectacular.
Once we circumnavigated the lakes it was time to start heading down towards Fort de la Platte, first going over the Col de Forclaz (2365m) and then a very easy path winding down to the Fort. The fort was beautiful as we hiked down (car parks were full, get there early if doing the shorter there-and-back walk). A quick drink at the Fort and then down via the road to the start. A large walk of 23km and 1300m of ascent but well worth it. Note the signs say the walk is a total of 5hrs, I would leave a good 7 or 8 hrs if you want to take the lakes in. We found the signs to be very poor indications of time, for example 2 hrs to the top, and 30 mins later it was 2hrs 20 mins, go figure.
In search of Mont Blanc
Our second walk north of Bourg St Maurice had one key objective, the views of Mont Blanc. After driving 30 mins up a windy road to Cormet de Roselend we reached our starting point and a favourite climb for cyclists (a Tour de France route).
At the car park there was a stall selling cheese, meats, bread, etc…with hindsight we wouldn’t have brought lunch with us and instead snacked on these goodies during the walk. Something to note if we are ever in the neighbourhood again
The path this time was a there-and-back (just too far in a single day to turn into a circular) but hey you take what you are given. I would describe this as a medium to easy hike in that the paths are very clear, the gradient not too steep and the climb from 1967m to 2671m at the Col du Grand Fond not too excessive. It was a popular walk and one that we would normally avoid (being away from the crowds is so much more relaxing) but the views of Mont Blanc were supposed to be amazing. 
In fact so steady was the climb that the camera never really stopped, and as we increased in height the views of Mont Blanc became ever more impressive. A clear day is definitely needed to get the views. In the first week and a half in the Alps this was the one mountain that was always covered in cloud and so we waited until the skies were blue.
After climbing up and satisfied we had the shots we wanted, it was time for lunch. Sitting there just off the main path on a small rise, we looked down the valley towards the towering Mont Blanc. I couldn’t have been more content. Oh, and the baguettes from the Boulangerie opposite our apartment, were amazing! Love French bread!
Then it was a gentle walk back to the car and another drive down the stunning valley to Bourg Saint Maurice.
Yet again amazing Views
Wow!! beautiful!