From the Balme pass, the trail descends to Les Herbagères in a few hairpin bends. Cross meadowland to reach the outskirts of the forest, from where numerous sharp bends lead down through the trees to the Trient high plateau. The trail heads almost directly north to the little village of Trient with its church, which can be seen from far away. It is worth while casting one’s eyes back over the imposing Trient glacier.
(Schweizer Wanderwege)

The Tour of Mont Blanc with its exceptional views makes its way along a shelf at around 2,000m in altitude caused by the hollowing action of the glaciers of the Aiguilles Rouges massif on the valley during the last glacial era, when the immense Mont Blanc glacier stretched as far as Lyon. In order to better understand these glacial phenomena, you just have to observe the mythical glaciers pouring out in front of you: the Bossons, Argentière, Tour and Mer de Glace glaciers. The latter used to be called “Glacier des Bois” (Glacier of the Woods) because it descended as far as the hamlet by the same name. But since reaching their apogee in 1850, these glacial tongues have been suffering under global warming, which is made evident by the immense moraines left at the end of glacial corridors such as the Piget escarpment close to the Bois area. The hamlet of Chéserys bears witness to past pastoral activity and on a level with this “mountain” (name given to the pastureland in the Mont Blanc area), there is a spectacular view over the “Aiguilles Rouges marvel”, the Aiguille du Belvédère, which is also a geological curiosity owing to the presence of limestone in its upper part. It is also possible to see the Blanc lake, from which a mountain lake interpretation path leaves to reach the Montets pass. During the descent to the pass via the Remuaz “mountain”, you can also almost see the route taken by the olden-day mountain farmers. At the pass (1,461m), the reception chalet of the Aiguilles Rouges Nature Reserve provides information on the essential role played by such protective institutions; it was in fact the first reception point for the public to focus on raising environmental awareness there. Today, a botanical path is located nearby. The Montets pass is historically a population border: the Chamoniard people are originally from the Arve valley, whereas the people of Vallorcine mostly of Walser descent, a small tribe that came from the current Swiss Valais region in around the XIIIth century. From the pass, the trail follows the old “Chemin des diligences”, an historical path linking Chamonix to Martigny, and then descends again to Vallorcine, “the valley of the bears”. In Vallorcine, the houses are not as big as in Chamonix because the Vallorcin people were less wealthy but also because they built their houses between the avalanche corridors. The church of this market town was, on the other hand, established in a corridor halfway between the hamlets that it separated in order to prevent conflicts. Today, it is therefore isolated in the countryside. The name of Loriaz given to this mountain area derives etymologically from “royal pasture”. The upward trail to the Balme pastureland takes you through great floral diversity that can be explained by the limestone present in the Balme pass (saxifrage, dwarf alder, viviparous knotweed, etc.) and the ongoing pastoralism around the Balme chalets. The pastureland is therefore used by the valley inhabitants for family rambles. At the pass, the border goes between two buildings, a chalet in Switzerland run by French managers and some ruins in France.
(Nicolas Aubertin, Gilles Chappaz, Grande Traversée des Alpes)

Trient Valley Trient valley has for a long time served as a connection between Chamonix and Martigny. Initially, tradesmen travelled mainly on foot or on pack animals, sometimes along steep trails. As the connection became ever more important, these old trails were improved and a first tunnel was built. In the middle of last century, a decision was then made to extend the road for postal transport, passing through Trient valley and over the Forclaz pass. The increasing traffic encouraged several pioneers to build a railway connection, which was opened in 1906 and today plays an important role for tourism.
(Schweizer Wanderwege)