nowhere on the Tour de l’Oisans is this advice more apt than on the very first stage, for having crossed the Romanche from Bourg, waymarks lead the ‘trail’ up a steep slab wall from one narrow shelf to the next, at such an angle as to have you gasping from the sudden exertion.
It’s not all like that, of course, and before long the gradient eases, but then the way heads up through forest ankle deep in pine cones and the dried needles of past decades, and the sweat starts running again. There is some road walking here and there, but at the hamlet of Le Rosay a narrow trail strikes off across rough meadows with views to Alpe d’Huez, then plunges steeply to the Sarenne, here a clear stream dancing through forest in a tight wedge of a valley. Some walkers tackling the Tour de l’Oisans choose to avoid the exertions of this initial stage by taking bus or taxi to Alpe d’Huez, then walking along the GR549 which follows a dirt road into the valley of the Sarenne to join the main route of GR54. But by doing so they miss an old Roman bridge, moss-cushioned walls of a one-time mill, and the pleasures (as well as the pains) of the first stretch of the trail.
The first two days are spent high above the Romanche valley heading roughly west to east across minor spurs that seem anything but minor to the walker fresh into the mountains after a lowland winter. They’re long days too and it’s important to settle to an even pace that gently devours both time and distance before coming to the big country that will challenge your fitness in no uncertain manner. The map shows this initial stage as crossing Col de Sarenne, more than 1200 metres higher than Bourg d’Oisans. That crossing, however, is straightforward, for there’s a metalled road over it and the approach is made through the easy valley of the Sarenne stream on a dirt track that allows progress to be made without undue effort. Once over the col a path breaks away for a steep descent to the twin villages of Clavans-le-Haut and Clavans-le-Bas caught in a knuckle of valley tilted to drain south-south-west into the Romanche. Instead of descending with the valley, however, our route drops to the river (the Ferrand) immediately below Clavans-le-Bas, then climbs steeply on the eastern side to gain a spur beyond which the charming village of Besse-en-Oisans faces south from a sunny slope of pasture. At the end of a nine-hour walking day its charms are more than welcome.
Besse-en-Oisans to La Grave
Besse has a reasonable amount of accommodation, a couple of small foodstores, and a campsite about one kilometre beyond the village. The scenery is hardly Alpine. Groves of silver birch line the stream. Grass slopes rise behind the village and sweep below it too, and the next day’s stage spends the first two hours on an ascent of big green hills to the east. Once Col Bichet (2245m) is reached, though, real mountains are in view and the landscape grows not only in stature but in grandeur too.
Col Bichet is found a little south-west of Refuge du Rif Tor with a large wooden cross nearby. All around spreads a scene of pastoral ease, but these pasturelands form a marked contrast to the upthrust of La Meije and Le Rateau whose glaciers dazzle out to the south-east, while to the north-east the Aiguilles de la Soussaz and du Goléon show brazen horns, and north-west Les Grandes Rousses provide a distant barrier of snow above more grass-bound hillsides.
Given time it would be worth diverting here from the Tour de l’Oisans in order to explore country north and east of Col Bichet. Trails entice from the map and assorted tours of a day or more could so easily be created. It’s all good walking country, and from high viewpoints major peaks of the Écrins can be seen as crenellations of rock, ice and snow on the southern horizon.
On the eastern side of the pastureland bowl Col du Souchet (2365m) guards the entrance to the so-called Plateau de Paris which plunges from its southern lip into the depths of the Romanche valley. The GR54 crosses the grassland to it, and midway between Col Bichet and Col du Souchet is met by a variant path that has made a 1200 metre climb from Mizöen. The official Tour de l’Oisans skirts the northern edge of the Plateau de Paris, but two tarns (Lacs Noir and Lérié) lie south of the trail in such exquisite country and with such lovely views, that given decent weather conditions no walker should be so devoted to the main GR54 as to miss an opportunity to stray to them. The diversion is not a lengthy one, but the drawing power of the scenes offered from both lake shores is such that an hour or more could easily be devoted to enjoyment of each. Both are as rich in alpine flowers as they are in visual stimulation, while the tarns provide double value with a mirror image of Meije and Rateau whenever the breeze dies and the waters still to a sheen.
Lac Lérié on the Plateau de Paris provides a foreground to views of La Meije and Le Râteau
The continuing route of GR54 descends interminably to Le Chazelet, a village perched on a hillside shelf above a tributary glen, then swings steeply down to Les Terraces and at last to La Grave in the Romanche valley below the north face of La Meije. With its hotels and campsites La Grave makes an obvious overnight halt, although being on a major road that comes down from Col du Lautaret makes for a noisy contrast to the peace of the hills experienced thus far.
La Grave to Le Casset
Above La Grave the upper Romanche valley is explored by the Tour de l’Oisans after an initial crossing of a wooded spur on the left bank. Crossing that spur involves a 300 metre climb followed by a descent to the river opposite Villar d’Arêne. Thereafter the way traces the river among silver birch and thickets of alder along the very boundaries of the National Park. The Park boundaries then desert the valley bed, while the GR54 continues now on the true right bank as the valley itself is squeezed by converging walls to east and west.
The valley is squeezed to a narrow defile, and all mountain views are foreshortened to a grey looming presence. The path now begins to climb; there’s a cascade pouring from the left, a stream surging through another defile off to the right, and zig-zags mount to a sudden open pastureland in a secretive upper valley whose mountain walls now lean back and appear far more friendly and approachable. In these pastures, where the valley forks, Refuge de l’Alpe de Villar d’Arêne offers welcome refreshment after a good morning’s exercise, and with temptations to call a halt in order to explore the two glens accessible from it. One has been carved out between Pic Gaspard and La Grande Ruine, the other between La Grande Ruine and Roche Faurio; a land of rock, ice and glacial moraines.
South-east of the refuge the trail meanders over more ruffled pastures before mounting the final short stretch below a huge wall of terminal moraine to reach Col d’Arsine (2340m), a broad saddle, drab and desolate with the Glacier d’Arsine above to the right and a limited funnel view ahead. That view allows no hint of the joys of the descent to come. But on the way down to the Guisane valley the path leads beside milky glacial streams, over flower-rich hillsides, a steep plunge to Lac de la Douche followed by forest shade; pleasures in almost every step.
Le Casset to Vallouise
The valley is reached at the small village of Le Casset where there’s gîte accommodation, while less than an hour further downstream Monêtier-les-Bains offers more choice with a variety of hotels. Making a broad moat along the north-eastern side of the Écrins massif, the Guisane valley is only briefly touched upon by the Tour de l’Oisans, although its devotion to the ski industry makes sure its presence is felt even when you’ve turned your back to it. The waymarked trail heads south out of Monêtier, climbing through forest, then in a narrow glen drained by the Torrent de la Selle whose simple delights are rudely interrupted by ski tows and bulldozed pistes on the way to Col de l’Eychauda. Once at the col there’s still no imminent means of escape, for this barren spot merely shows a continuation of broad scarred pistes, and in the desolate hanging valley just below on the south side more mechanical hoists litter the upper bowl.
But there are better things to come, and after scooting down the left-hand side of a great open bowl of mountainside you pass through a narrow cleft and enter a lower level devoid of ski clutter. Marmots shriek from boulder-rough slopes, big mountains tease from a distance, and gazing south the soft light of Mediterranean France floods every deeply-cut valley. In numerous zig-zags the path drops to the Vallon de Chambran, a flat-bottomed glen served by narrow road from the Vallouise. At its head the glen climbs in a curve to Lac de l’Eychauda, and walkers bound upon the Tour de l’Oisans will surely note how tempting that upper glen appears and lay plans for