Everyone was up  thirty minutes to an hour before breakfast to take in the sun rise and views of Mont Blanc in the distance.  Andrew was in heaven and almost missed breakfast because of the photos he took. 

  On this morning we decided to end our day on Le Brevent ski mountain and take the gondola down to Chamonix.    We planned to hike to Les Houches (another 10km and a train ride back to Chamonix that comes every hour ) but we left a bit late and we really wanted to enjoy our last night in Chamonix. 

Actually for the first time we were the last one's to leave the refuge.  I don't think neither of us wanted to leave as it was such a beautiful morning.   After our hike I found out that a local running couple from my area got engaged somewhere on the way up to this area a couple weeks before our trek.  I guess love is in the air when you are in the mountains. 

Since we were not heading to  les Houches we decided to explore a different trail.  We stayed high and away from the TMB. This would allow us to continue in one direction instead of backtracking a kilometer or two toward chalet de la flegere. 

Along the way we saw a sheep herder tending to his flock in the mountains.  He stood way up on a rock enticing his flock with bread to move up the rocks toward him and onto the trail toward a chairlift. 

We  crossed some ladders and metal rung along a jagged ledge leading us to the col de la Gliere.  Views of lac cornu and a trail leading to lac noirs were admired before we starting seeing many people with day packs.  We didn't see many people on this trail all morning and this solitude was greeted with a familiarity of home.  Just us and the mountains.   All these people were coming from a gondola which would be our final destination.

Beers were enjoyed at the top of the gondola at 1pm before we descended toward the valley below.