from Guillestre.
Among the many walking possibilities in the Vallée de l’Aigue Blanche, one of the most popular leads to the easy Col de St-Véran (2844m) which is on the Franco–Italian border. This is taken as an alternative by the GR58 and is recommended for the quality of the scenery experienced from the ridge. East of the col the small peak of Pic de Caramantran (3025m) with views of Monte Viso and Pain de Sucre, is easily gained in about 30 minutes, and by continuing down to the north you come to Col de Chamoussière where the ‘official’ GR58 comes up from St-Véran. A combination of these two cols allows a loop-trip to be made using St-Véran as a base.
Another day-long loop from St-Véran makes a circuit of the Tête des Toillies (3175m; also known as Tête Noire). Three cols are used on this tour: Col de la Noire, which overlooks the Ubaye district, Col de Longet and Col Blanchet, the last two being on the international border. It’s a fine, energetic walk with lots of dazzling mountain tarns in view, and counts as one of the best days out in this part of the Queyras. But good clear conditions are essential.
Molines-en-Queyras gives access to the upper valley of the Aigue Agnelle, in which a trio of small villages, Pierre Grosse, Le Coin and Fontgillarde, remain pretty much unspoiled despite their use as cross-country ski centres. Walkers will find a choice of routes to attempt in the vicinity.
The Upper Guil Valley
Above Abriès the narrow upper reaches of the Guil taper towards Monte Viso. A road projects into the valley, passing Ristolas, La Monta and L’Echalp, and then becomes wild and uninhabited as it rises to the Belvédère du Cirque (or Belvédère du Viso) which, as its name suggests, gazes at a tremendous amphitheatre of mountains. Monte Viso soars above a saddle in the centre of this crowd of peaks, all of which are in excess of 3000 metres and include Monte Granero, Pointe de Marte, Pointe Gastaldi and Mont Aiguillette (otherwise known as L’Asti). Within the cirque, on a site that enjoys glorious views and the alpenglow on Monte Viso’s summit snows, stands the Refuge du Balif-Viso (2460m), built by the CAF in 1976.
The valley provides plenty of walking possibilities; some short and popular, others quite arduous. There are tarns to visit, cols to cross, summits to reach and a few circuits that could be achieved by the fit and enterprising, which stray over the border into Italy. One of these is the three-day Tour of Monte Viso, a scenic route achieved by way of a trio of passes and with no less than three huts and a mountain inn providing accommodation along the way. The Tour du Queyras also comes down the valley of the Guil, and the route of that classic multi-day circuit will be outlined later. But for our walker who wants to focus on the Guil valley for a few days, accommodation may be had in Abriès, where there are hotels, a dortoir and gîte d’étape, Ristolas (hotel and gîte d’étape), and La Monta (gîte d’étape), as well as the CAF refuge already mentioned.
Vallon de Bouchet
Flowing from the north, the Torrent de Bouchet drains the second of Abriès’ valleys. This forks near the hamlet of Le Roux, and forks again a little higher. All the tributary streams come down from the Italian border which arcs around the head of the valley. Le Roux has a gîte d’étape, but no shops, and there’s a campsite at Valpreveyre. Visitors planning to spend a few days here may need to stock up with provisions in Abriès. Once again the Tour du Queyras passes through on its way from La Monta via a high ridge crossing, and next day leaves to cross Col des Thures and Col du Malrif. There are, of course, plenty of other trails worth exploring, including routes from Valpreveyre up to the cols of Bouchet and Malaure, both of which mark the frontier ridge.
The Brunissard Valley
Coming down from the Col d’Izoard, this is the largest of the northern valleys in the Queyras and, accessible by road all the way from Château-Queyras, offers a choice of walking routes. On the way to the col there’s accommodation to be had at Arvieux; the hamlet of La Chalp has a hotel with lower-priced dortoir beds, while Brunissard, at 1746 metres the highest village below the hairpins that lead into the Casse Déserte, has a gîte d’étape and a campsite nearby.
Brunissard, on the descent from Col des Ayes in the Queyras district
Brunissard is sited at the confluence of two streams. The Torrent de la Rivière flows from the north-west, while the Izoard squeezes through a gorge below the road to the col. Two major walking routes converge on the village; GR5 and GR58. The first, having come from Briançon, crosses the blocking ridge at Col des Ayes which, when reversed from Brunissard, would make an interesting excursion, as indeed would a visit to the Col de Néal (2509m), south-west of Col des Ayes. To reach Col de Néal from Brunissard entails following GR5 to the Chalets de l’Eychaillon, then along a gravel road to a second collection of houses shown as Chalets de Clapeyto on the map. Above these you come to some splendid high meadows littered with tarns, beyond which you climb easily to the col and look down on another, larger tarn, Lac de Néal nestling on the far side.
By following GR58 north of Brunissard, one gains good views of the spiky formations of the Casse Déserte before reaching Col du Tronchet, a 2347 metre pass in the dividing ridge that separates the main Brunissard valley from a glen that drains down to Château-Queyras. Midway down that glen the hamlet of Souliers has a gîte d’étape used by trekkers on the Tour du Queyras. Instead of, or before, crossing Col du Tronchet and descending to Souliers, it would be worth bearing left along a footpath spur that leads to Lac de Souliers. This tarn enjoys a superb situation below Pic Ouest and the craggy Crête des Oules. Pic Ouest itself is accessible to any fit walker with a head for heights. From the summit a full circular panorama includes Monte Viso, of course, a maze of peak, ridge and hinted valley of the Écrins and, farther away, La Grande Casse in the Vanoise.
This brief summary of valleys has done little more than scratch the surface of possibilities available for keen mountain walkers. It will be evident that much awaits those who are drawn by country that has seldom been fashionable, whose villages, glens, peaks and ridges are largely unknown outside a small circle of enthusiasts, yet whose landscape quality is as rich and varied as almost anywhere in the Alps. If there’s one sure way of having that variety unfolded day after day, it will be by following that multi-day route already referred to several times in the preceding paragraphs, the GR58, better known as the Tour du Queyras.
Tour du Queyras
The standard circuit of about eight days remains entirely within France and is thus parochially contained by the boundaries of the Queyras district, but there are assorted variations available that stray beyond these boundaries and even follow a short section of the Italian Tour of Monte Viso. Since it is my intention in this book to offer the best walking and most spectacular scenic viewpoints throughout the Alpine ranges, the following outline tour will include some of these variations, thereby increasing the length to one of 12 stages. It’s a route that would appeal to first-time trekkers in the Alps since some of the stages are rather modest in length. Accommodation is available at the end of every stage, with meals provided during the main summer season. But as there are few shops along the way there will be many sections where food will need to be carried for several days at a time to provide refreshment along the trail.
Montdauphin-Guillestre to Ceillac
The ‘official’ start of the Tour du Queyras is made in Ceillac, but Alan Castle, author of the English-language guidebook to the circuit on which the following outline is largely based, suggests Montdauphin-Guillestre in the Durance valley as being more appropriate, since most trekkers will approach the district by rail. His guide, therefore, begins the route at the railway station and makes as his destination of this initial stage, the Refuge de Furfande set in a verdant pastoral basin below Col St-Antoine on the west flank of the Guil valley, not far from the Chalets de Furfande, the only mountain farms in the district not accessible by road. For a first day of a multi-day walking circuit it’s quite demanding, with almost 20 kilometres to cover and two cols to cross, Col de Moussière (2354m) and Col St-Antoine (2458m). The ascent to Col de Moussière is long and will, no doubt, be fairly punishing to those who are not yet in full mountain-fitness.