Pointe du Drône from Ferret to Col du Gd-St-Bernard
Map: Swisstopo
Public transport: train from Martigny to Orsières (change in Sembrancher), then bus to Ferret.
Rare bus from Col du Gd-St-Bernard back to Orsières.
From Ferret to Plan de La Chaux chill hiking in the meadows, with an exception: the crossing of the Combe Parron was complicated by a landslide with a thick pack of iced snow. Doable but tricky. To be fair, the hiking path was signalled as closed, with a suggested deviation through a lower path to avoid the problem.
From Plan de la Chaux, the path starts climbing, with a nice view towards the end of the valley.
The lakes are very scenic, it is possible to take a chilling swim and to relax a bit. Apparently, it is a common wild camping spot: we went there bivuacking, and found ourselves in the company of ~20 tents. Still very peaceful, but not solitary at all.
From the lakes to the Fenêtre d'en Haut the path takes a more alpine look. We had to walk on frozen snow, and were surrounded by beautiful black rocks.
The ascent to the Pointe du Drône is very enjoyable, but mildly vertiginous. We find that it is a step above usual hiking, being surely more exposed than the usual hiking path, and requiring more attention. On the other hand, if one is careful and not afraid of the void, it is doable and very well laid out and secured (the only truly exposed passage has a good chain).
We hiked this uphill: we have the sensation that we would have enjoyed less this part of the hike if we did that descending.
We saw a group of ibexes: they were not bothered by the void, and proceeded to just slide down the vertical side of the mountain without difficulty...
The top of the Pointe du Drône is airy, with an amazing view on the Grand Combin, the Grandes Jorasses and the Mont Blanc, and with the Grand Paradis far in the background.
The traverse from the Pointe to the Grande Chenalette is way less exposed, even though there are a couple of steep passages secured with chains.
After the Grande Chenalette the descent becomes steep again, but well secured with chains and with a set of staircases.
We saw many groups coming up from the stairs with via ferrata equipment. We found that this is not necessary, as the stairs are not vertical and the passages between different stairs were well positioned.
After the stairs, the path becomes a normal hiking path again, going straight down to the Col du Gd-St-Bernard.