Glacier Haute Route Hike: from Chamonix to Zermatt

7/5 Stage 7: Cabane Panossierre – Cabane Chanrion

7/5 We left the hut at 7:30a and followed the trail up the moraine alongside the glacier a short distance until we came to a trail junction. Here we turned and began the 800 foot climb up a steep trail leading up to the Col des Otanes (2880m – 9449ft). Once at the col we rested before beginning the long descent to Lac de Mauvoisin. The way down started fairly gently, crossing nearly level snowfields and then steepened crossing several steep snowfields and numerous steep rocky sections before we came to the trail junction at La Tseumette (2297m – 7536ft).

From there the trail traversed across a boulder and heather slope to the next trail junction above the village of Mauvoisin (10:00a). We turned southeast and climbed up and around the rocky headland of Pierre Vire. We then headed south on the high trail above the west side of Lac de Mauvoisin. This trail is long with a lot of up and down but the views were interesting as we worked our way toward the head of the lake. After several hours we reached the head of lake and from a point at about 2400m (7874ft) the trail turned sharply east and descended quickly into the valley below emerging at a bridge crossing the river feeding Lac Mauvoisin (2010m – 6598ft). We crossed the bridge and then started uphill again, climbing a switch backed trail steeply upward and then traversing to the Cabane Chanrion (2465m – 8077ft).