I decided to head up behind my house in the direction of the Brevent. The trail head I took can be found in the Les Nants area of Chamonix and starts in the direction of the Chalet de la Floria (which is also a must see). The trail splits off toward the Charlanon after about 20 minutes of hiking and heads up the Balcon Sud.

The weather was warm and sunny and the trail was lined with wildflowers and blueberry bushes. We climbed for about an hour and a half more (around 1950m) and stopped to picnic at the Brevent ski area. The views of the Mont Blanc and the rest of the chain were breathtaking as usual.

We took the Les Nants pistes back (near the Parsa lift) down towards the Brevent parking. Half-way down we saw a couple chamois (wild mountain goats) tucked into a gulley eating grass. The whole hike, picnic excluded, was about three hours. The weather started cooling off and clouding over by the time we made it to the valley floor. This is a great beginner/intermediate hike...keep an eye out for the down hill mountain bikers. :)