This became a run/hike that we had been looking forward to from our planning before the visit to Chamonix. We wanted to explore the valley from above and take advantage of well marked and known paths that would take us past iconic places and above the three line for most of the route for the views. Originally we were three that wanted to do this but Lena was not sure her foot would cope with all the route and joined us at Planpraz along Grand Balcon.
So Herman and I set out from our loging at Les Houches, crossed the bridge and hit the GR5 starting point after ca. 12 min (12:11). From here we ran the first km but started to hike more and more as the trail became steeper. We were aware that the most elevation would be on the first long accent. The views got ever more spectacular and the trail had its challenges as well. After Ballachat there were large sections with old snow on the trail but nothing too difficult.
Coming down from Brevent was a fun slush-snow run on the skiing slopes that took quite some effort and we often sank in to the knees. We had a good break at Planpraz where Lena joined us, and after that we hit the Grand Balcon for some great running and photo shoots of mountain goats, waterfalls, the valley views, and mountains around. This never became a matter of speed but of experiences.
Around Flégrére we shifted a bit on which trail to follow since there were many between houses and different directions. We managed to stay on the Grand Balcon out of this area to ensure we got to Châlet des Chécerys before going down to Argentière. We came to the main street of Argentière at 8:31:40 so the total time would be 8:19:29. The experiences on this trail was marvelous and we will probably do it again next time we visit Chamonix. Highly recommended as challenge and experience.