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Rating: 
Summary: ZERMATT TO CHAMONIX: WALKER'S LOW ROUTE !!!
Review: Dear Trekkers, As hard as it is to follow guidebooks in reverse, I highly recommend this 8-12 day adventure in reverse,
so that you can see Mont Blanc in all it's glory at the end & walk with the counter-clockwise trending masses on the TMB or Tour of Mt. Blanc which you encounter on the last few days.
However, you will then have to climb down a steep ladder rather than up it, along a steep cliff. We managed to see tiny wild edelweiss along the trail, as well as giant domestic edelweiss destined for ricola cough drops. A short hail storm assaulted us on a pass, after which we were invited into a small hut for dinner. I don't know how anyone would fall into a crevasse on this route, as there was very little snowfield on this route in late summer (though you could slide into an icy lake)... even hiking up to the Arpette glacier was on dry trail. This guide was excellent, & small enough to carry in a pocket. Towns are numerous for resupply & huts are plentiful. Camping is cheap, especially compared to Italy where it's ridiculous. The trail goes from German speaking Zermatt to the French west side of Switzerland where it enters France, where huts are called refuges. I highly recommend joining one of the hiking associations for the insurance.... the Great Britain section of the 'Austrian Alpenverein' provides great hiker's insurance for about $50, or you can join the Swiss 'SAC', though Swiss huts don't give huge discounts to members, as is the custom in Austria. In August, reservations in popular huts are recommended, so plan carefully. Also, carry a filter as some huts don't have potable water. Enjoy & bon courage !
PS. Both Zermatt & Chamonix have municipal camping near: centrum/zentrum/downtown for a very reasonable price, as well as hostels, hotels & refuge/huts. Wherever you stay in Chamonix valley, ask for the free valley transportation pass, if it is still in effect this year; you can take buses & trains.
Also recommended, the train from Cham to castle studded Martigny
on the Swiss side (sit on the South side of train for canyon view.
Rating:
Summary: ZERMATT TO CHAMONIX: WALKER'S LOW ROUTE !!!
Review: Dear Trekkers, As hard as it is to follow guidebooks in reverse, I highly recommend this 8-12 day adventure in reverse,
so that you can see Mont Blanc in all it's glory at the end & walk with the counter-clockwise trending masses on the TMB or Tour of Mt. Blanc which you encounter on the last few days.
However, you will then have to climb down a steep ladder rather than up it, along a steep cliff. We managed to see tiny wild edelweiss along the trail, as well as giant domestic edelweiss destined for ricola cough drops. A short hail storm assaulted us on a pass, after which we were invited into a small hut for dinner. I don't know how anyone would fall into a crevasse on this route, as there was very little snowfield on this route in late summer (though you could slide into an icy lake)... even hiking up to the Arpette glacier was on dry trail. This guide was excellent, & small enough to carry in a pocket. Towns are numerous for resupply & huts are plentiful. Camping is cheap, especially compared to Italy where it's ridiculous. The trail goes from German speaking Zermatt to the French west side of Switzerland where it enters France, where huts are called refuges. I highly recommend joining one of the hiking associations for the insurance.... the Great Britain section of the 'Austrian Alpenverein' provides great hiker's insurance for about $50, or you can join the Swiss 'SAC', though Swiss huts don't give huge discounts to members, as is the custom in Austria. In August, reservations in popular huts are recommended, so plan carefully. Also, carry a filter as some huts don't have potable water. Enjoy & bon courage !
PS. Both Zermatt & Chamonix have municipal camping near: centrum/zentrum/downtown for a very reasonable price, as well as hostels, hotels & refuge/huts. Wherever you stay in Chamonix valley, ask for the free valley transportation pass, if it is still in effect this year; you can take buses & trains.
Also recommended, the train from Cham to castle studded Martigny
on the Swiss side (sit on the South side of train for canyon view.
Rating: 
Summary: A Guide Only. Be Prepared.
Review: This book is in the hands of almost everyone making the Haute Route journey, however, be forewarned as have others who relied on it: 1) Mr. Reynolds does not adequately prepare the reader for how extraordinarily physically demanding a number of the legs on this world-class trek really are; 2) the times he sites for his daily legs are 25% to 40% faster than what we (and others who have made the journey at the same we did) could make good, meaning one's day can easily be misplanned; 3) some of the legs that should be described as treacherous, aren't. (My wife, for instance, went up to her waist into a glacier crevass on one of his recommended routes, a badly marked, and at times (in the rain) terrifying leg which never should have included without proper warning;) 4) his elevation graphics do not correspond to what one actually encounters, leaving one with a false notion of the day's efforts. By all means use this book as a guide - it is most useful as a benchmark - but do additional homework to understand the nature, demands and alternatives to the legs of this extraordinary, albeit strenuous to strenuous-plus hike.
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