Trip report : Dent de Lanfon

One bonus of a non walking spouse is the drop off and walk back to the campsite option. and this is a case in point. Starting above the village of Villards dessus not at the car park marked on IGN maps but about three quarters of mile before it (unless you have a 4x4) you are faced with a long steady climb up to the alpine meadow where the views of the summit ridge first open out to you.

For a short walk at this point you can go straight across the meadow and pick up the descent to Talloires however the challenge for the day was to pick off one of the tops visible (left). Since IGN kindly place a trig marker on the northern most summit this was my target.
Initially there are no problems the track is well defined crossing a loose boulder field as it cuts beneath the cliffs however as it turns the back former and becomes dotted on the map in degenerates into a mix of easy scrambles and loose friable soil slopes. Only as you reach the final col and a short 20m scramble to the top do you fully appreciate how much you have climbed. Sadly a walk along the ridge is only for the climbers as you soon hit a 40m high face blocking the way.

Retracing your route to the boulder field it is then possible to pick out a very indistinct path on the ground that cuts beneath the cliffs and comes out at the col just south of pnts sud.

From here a well trodden path zig zags its way down to the geocache at Ermitage St Germain and then on to Talloires.