of ridges that effectively create a long wall to close off the end of Val Gaudémar; a knuckle of rock, scree and steeply-plunging grass. The southern limit of that knuckle wall is marked by the block of Le Sirac (3440m) that sends out a dark, slender schistose arête roughly westward to Pic de Vallonpierre and the higher Aiguille de Morges. From the latter, or rather from a subsidiary of it, another ridge extends northwards, thereby containing a steep but extravagently beautiful glen, the Vallonpierre, which counter-balances the Muande Bellone glen opposite.
Vallonpierre
Vallonpierre is a true gem, its small tarn below the screes of Le Sirac blocked above the north bank by a low ridge of boulders, its eastern shoreline being a broad grassy meadow as level as a bowling green. The CAF has provided a small, mottled, stone-built hut in this idyllic setting. Refuge de Vallonpierre attracts, not only for the romance of its setting, but by being on the route of the Tour de l’Oisans, as well as having ease of access to Le Sirac and some safe but airy ridges. The main walking interest in the glen is focused on the crossing of Col de Vallonpierre (2607m), by which Vallouise may be reached by a linking of four other walkers’ passes. But for experienced trekkers coming clockwise from the direction of Vallouise an alternative to the direct descent to Val Gaudémar is worth considering. From the hut a minor trail curves round the mid-height slopes of Le Sirac and Pointe de Verdonne to gain Refuge de Chabournéou in a cirque topped by Pic de Bonvoisin. A continuing high-level path remains well above the valley bed and curves northward along that knuckle wall, eventually zig-zagging into the glen of Muande Bellone at Chalet-Hotel du Gioberney. That route requires some care, while the main path through the glen is by no means uninteresting but faces some very steep sections below Refuge de Vallonpierre, with streams and cascades and a steady change of vegetation being evident the deeper it goes.
The Torrent de Muande Bellone joins that which drains the Vallonpierre to boost the Séveraisse at the head of Val Gaudémar. On the right bank, among groves of silver birch and boulders partly covered with vegetation, squats yet another hut, Refuge du Clot (or Xavier Blanc), easily reached by a short footpath spur descending from the valley road. Between this hut and La Chapelle the valley descends in steps and with little habitation other than a huddle of farm buildings and the hamlets of Le Bourg and Le Casset. Waterfalls spray from narrow cleaves while the mountain walls soar steeply both to the north and the south. Few trails assault these soaring walls, but the valley path is a delight of insect jungles, wild blackberries and raspberries hanging heavy on either side. There’s camping to be had on the right bank of the river opposite Le Bourg, and gîte accommodation at Le Casset. But at La Chapelle there’s plenty of both as well as modest hotels, a good store and a restaurant or two. Although it’s only a small village, La Chapelle makes a reasonable base from which to explore the surrounding mountains and their glens. The boundary of the Parc National des Écrins runs through the valley and cuts across the southern flank of L’Olan, a huge mountain block to the north. From Les Portes, a hamlet just to the south of La Chapelle, a good view is to be had of that mountain block opposite.
From the northern outskirts of La Chapelle an invigorating walk leads up to Refuge de l’Olan (2344m), crosses Pas de l’Olan another 200 metres higher, then heads westward to Col de Colombes (2423m) and Lac de Lautier before descending to Refuge des Souffles by way of Col des Clochettes. The hut is set upon a sun-trap of hillside way above Villar-Loubière where the Val Gaudémar makes its leftward curve. To the west, across a vast green bowl of hillside, another path can be seen snaking up to the Col de la Vaurze, by which access is provided to Le Désert from Val Gaudémar.
Val Jouffrey
While the southern slopes of L’Olan fall into Val Gaudémar, its western side drains to a narrow glen that becomes the Val Jouffrey. This glen, with the waters of the Bonne river flowing through, turns distinctly pastoral lower down around Le Désert, a hamlet that, despite providing basic dortoir accommodation for walkers passing through, retains its traditional farming values with haybarns and cattle byres crowding the alleyways. Below the hamlet the valley slopes off to Les Faures, La Chalp and La Chapelle-en-Valjouffrey where the Béranger glen enters from the north, but upstream a farm road continues beyond Le Désert as far as the Cascade de la Pisse. A walker’s trail continues from there, following the stream all the way to the CAF hut, Refuge de Fond Turbat, built in a wild combe below L’Olan.
The valley of the Béranger torrent that joins the Bonne at La Chapelle-en-Valjouffrey is shorter than its neighbour, but it is every bit as charming, and well protected under the auspices of both the National Park and its own Réserve Naturelle du Béranger. There’s only one very small village in that glen. Valsenestre is a pretty little summer-only hamlet whose houses are almost clinically neat, with troughs of geraniums and petunias at every window and water gushing from fountains at practically every corner. There’s a gîte in the village with overflow accommodation in a nearby building. The head of its valley is formed by a cirque topped by Pointe Swan, seen through a screen of pine and larchwoods not far away to the east, while a lesser corrie invites interest to the north, the Vallon de Valsenestre. Trails give an opportunity to study both from close quarters. In addition there’s a path that climbs into the Combe Guyon north-west of Valsenestre, to Lac Labarre, 1100 metres above the village, with a continuation that goes up to a col with a spur path tracing a ridge to the summit of Tête de Rame. It’s an undeniably attractive yet challenging patch of country.
The road which serves Valsenestre breaks away from that which goes to Le Désert at La Chapelle. Down valley it reaches Entraigues at another junction of valleys. Here the Bonne cuts away to the south-west, eventually to link up with the Severaisse on its way to Grenoble, while from the north flows the Maisanne. The D526 road heads along the latter valley and, crossing Col d’Ornon, twists into the Romanche valley a short distance downstream of Bourg d’Oisans.
That route, of course, is for the motorist. Our walker meanwhile has a choice of mountain paths that will link Le Désert, Valsenestre and Bourg d’Oisans by more strenuous but far more rewarding ways, and in so doing provide a series of tremendous panoramas to enjoy hour after hour. The following outline circuit of the massif provides the key to this western edge of the Écrins, as to the rest of the district. It is the GR54, widely known as the Tour de l’Oisans.
Tour de l’Oisans
This is not a mountain tour to dismiss lightly. Although of similar scale and distance to the better-known Tour du Mont Blanc, and being possible to walk in nine or ten days, as is the TMB, similarities end there. GR54 is more strenuous, more demanding and with a much greater sense of remoteness than will be experienced around Mont Blanc. Routes to and from some of the of the ridges crossed by these passes are so narrow that one could sit astride them with legs hanging on either side. It’s a wild district, with many inner glens that are seductively untamed, uninhabited and where the mists of morning and evening spin webs of enchantment.
But mountain walkers with experience of multi-day journeys in other Alpine regions will find in the Écrins massif as much scenic variety and diversity of landscape as they could possibly wish. Huts, gîtes d’étape or modest hotels will be found at the end of every stage, and in almost every valley and glen visited there will be temptations to stray from the waymarked route in order to explore further. For surely to walk round the Tour de l’Oisans will be enough to deepen one’s love of the district and ensure that a return visit becomes a subsconscious demand. The challenge and rewards of such a walk, and dreams conjured for the future, are met in equal measure.
As the western gateway to the Oisans, the little town of Bourg d’Oisans makes an obvious and convenient base from which to begin the tour. Served by bus from Grenoble its shops can supply guidebooks and maps of the region, as well as foodstuffs to fill a rucksack for several days on the trail. Not that such provisioning is necessary, other than for the determined backpacker, for most of the early stages, at least, have an opportunity to buy a few basic items of food to eat on the hoof, while meals will be supplied at each overnight lodging.
Bourg d’Oisans to Besse-en-Oisans
The Tour de l’Oisans is usually tackled in a clockwise direction, and on this, as on most long mountain treks, it is advisable to make an early start to each stage of the walk, especially as summer temperatures in this southerly range can soar through the day. By setting out early it’s