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| I made this trekking in the summer of 1997. Following here is a short day to day report, some practical information and a few photographs. It would be nice if more people would link their trekking experiences to the World Wide Web! |  |
Route
Tour du Queyras, French Alps, GR 58 and GR 58C.
Shopping along the route
shops in Ceillac, St. Véran, Abriès.
nothing in Ristolas, Brunissard and Montdauphin.
Water
cool and clear water everywhere along the path
Worthwile
high altitude whithout glacier crossings. Wildlife, such as marmots, chamois, golden eagles. Flowers. Monte Viso and surroundings.
Ugly
skiing has spoiled the Guil valley - the main river of the Queyras. Pistes and roads are a blot on the mountains, leaving scars caused by erosion. Over the past decades, farmers have switched from cattle to sheep. Overgrazing by sheep adds to the erosion. The villages are rather unattractive. They are nothing compared to the villages in for instance the Pyrenees.
Lodging
fine gîtes (half board around FFR 200), good food, a bit crowded though. Lots of good spots for camping. I brought a tent and wouldn't have wanted otherwise.
The night train Parijs - Briançon arrives at 8.12 in Montdauphin-Guillestre. Every day of the week, there is a connecting bus to Ceillac (Cars Favier). Arrival at Ceillac at 9.00 o'clock. The bus stops next to a café/shop where you can buy the GR-guides and maps scale 1:25.000.
Climb to Col des Estronques (2651) and descend to St. Véran. Nice walk to start with.
St.Véran is depressing, like many villages in the area. The houses are put up of light construction blocks, roughly plastered and roofed with sheet iron or some type of plastic covering. In between are the sadly derilict old buildings.
Camping is good along the stream below the village, on the way to Refuge Agnel.
I avoided Refuge Agnel and Col Agnel because of the road and the heavy traffic. The track after the Col Agnel is hard to find. The people I spoke all had to follow the road as a result.
A good alternative is a the track across the Col de St. Véran, a little bit South of the Col Agnel. I can recommend this alternative, which is not described in the GR guide but is indicated on the 1:25.000 map. After crossing the Col de St. Véran (Italy) the track is waymarked yellow/orange. The problem is where to pick up the GR trail coming down from the Col Agnel. You have to cross a low ridge. But this part of the track is not waymarked. Pay attention: from the col de St. Véran descend until you are directly above the farmhouse of Grange Pian Vasserol. At this point the original track looses itself in a maze of cattle tracks. Straight ahead, on the mountainside about a 100 metres away, is something which looks like a bunker. The ruins of a large house are visible on top of the ridge to your left. Climb there and pass it on the left. From there, you will see an easy track to the road coming from the Col St. Agnel, et voilá, the GR 58 C. Beware not to descend on the right side of the ruins, as I tried initially, because there is a good chance you will skydive to the road.
The only disadvantage of this alternative route is that you will miss the Refuge Agnel.
Camping is good in the valley running east from Grange Del Rio.
Nice hike.
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Valle di Soustra (It.) towards Passo della Losetta. |
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Valle di Soustra, 1 km past Grange Bernard (2200). |
This part poses no problems. Impressive landscape around Monte Viso. Col de Valante was covered in snow on the French side. Some caution should be taken there: I would rather not lose grip on the snow without a piolet. This is the only slightly demanding pass this week, due to the snow.
In my opinion this stage is the finest of the GR 58. Monte Viso, a solid block of gneiss, dominates the Queyras with its heigth of 3.800 meters. I wouldn't call the Refuge du Viso, on the French side, a cosy place. But the views are great. Later, when you enter Italy again, the Refugio Granero has more spirit. It is enclosed by rock formations and coloured sharp ridges.
Camping is fine half an hour walk from this hut towards the valley. Here you will find a flat area with good spots for your tent, the valley stretching out below you.
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View from Refuge du Viso (Fr.) (2460) on Monte Viso (It.) (3841) and below Col de Valante (2815). |
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Monte Manzol (I guess) (It.) (2933) N.O. |
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Torrent Pellice (It.) (2100) N. |
Between Rifugio Granero and Rifugio Jervis, both nice Italian huts, one will smell a different atmosphere, more pastoral in character than in France. This is a fine walk. Then, the path climbs out of the valley and at the Col Lacroix crosses the French border again. The views grow as the altitude increases, but then the passage to France is dull.
The ensuing descent into the Guill valley, harbouring the towns of Ristolas and La Monta, is not pretty. The river lies in a concrete trough, OK for rafting and safe for the inhabitants in the valley. The sunfacing slopes are arid and bear the scars of skiïng activities. (Please: stop skiing, or skip a year for a change).
Further on, when climbing to the Collette de Gilly, ski routes spoil the trail. Maybe, one shouldn't descent into this valley at all. The GR 58B, a variant, takes you to the same Collette by the ridge. Should be great, albeit more demanding. This variant passes the Coll d'Urine, and I wonder why it deserves this name.
There are no shops in Ristolas, so it's not worth the detour. The gîte d'étappe does sell sandwiches and the like.
At sunset, I put my tent on the east side of Collette de Gilly, a beautiful spot, water nearby.
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Vallon du Torrent Pellice from Rigufio Jervis (It.) towards Rifugio Granero (invisible). |
Descending through the extensive larch forests to Abriès is beautiful. In the village you'll find any provision, except muesli. Then, the path climbs to the mountain lakes "Lacs du Malrif". The first part of the path is a bit barren. Once out of sight of the valley of Abriès and Le Guil it becomes more interesting. The last part of the climb, to the largest of the three lakes, is very rewarding. The slope is steep and offers an enormous depth. Of all the lakes I have seen in this area, Le Grand Laus is the best. The trout abounding waters must be very deep. The shore offers good camping sites.
So, this route is very recommendable.
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Valley of Le Guil, Abriès and, where the valley turns, Ristolas. |
Fine day as well. The Pic du Malrif offers good views on Les Écrins in the North-West and the Monte Viso in the South-East. From here onwards the landscape has Scottish proportions. The Col de Péas is dominated by calcareous rocks and this area is dry. From the Col de Péas onwards the path stays on the same altitude, which means great walking. The descent to Souliers leads through the forests. Souliers is one of the rare human settlements of some interest in this area. I slept in the gîte d'étappe of Souliers: good food. People told me other gîtes offer equally good lodging.
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View from Pic du Malrif on Le Grand Laus. |
The Lac de Souliers is worth a detour. The lake is easily reached from the nearby road over the Col d'Izoard, so it gets busy.
I don't think much of the following part of the GR. The so called Casse Déserte is nothing compared to calcareous mountains like the Dolomites. The villages Brunissard, La Chalp and Arvieux look grubby. In winter, this ugliness will hopefully be covered by snow.
There are no shops in Brunissard. Probably, there are some in La Chalp. A few places offer coffee and sandwiches.
The path to the Col de Furfande is spoiled by injudiciously constructed forest roads. When a road doesn't suffice any longer, a new one is built next to it, leaving the old one dying. On the way to the col, three generations of roads lay side by side. The path is eroded as well.
I didn't reach the Col de Furfande this evening. A heavy thunderstorm burst the moment I passed a little hut, the Cabane du Plan du Vallon, where I stayed.
This days hike was, except for the climb to the Lac de Souliers, not pretty.
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Landroad near Souliers, 1850 meter. |
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Lac de Souliers (2492) and Crête du Tronchet (2592). |
Once the battery is loaded, climbing three passes and descending 2000 metres are no obstacles any more. This last stage is rather strenuous, but also attractive. First, one encounters the small cottages below the Col de Furfande. Then the path goes over the Col Col Saint-Antoine and the Col de Moussière, and passes the Lac du Lauzet, a rocky and wild landscape. Lastly, the descent into the Valley of the Durance is tough and long but worth the trouble.
Visit Montdauphin, an old stronghold, and when you're lucky a strong wind blowing down the mountains sweeps the streets. No food shops here, nor at the railway station or in the village of Eygliers. Some biscuits and a tin of Coca will do for the journey back home.
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Col de Moussière (2352) en behind Col St-Antoine (2458). |
