Training
Health
Mountain Safety
Emergencies
Language
Money/Banks/Telephone
Insurance
Public Holidays and Time in France
Suggestions for Walking Holidays
Notes on Using this Guidebook
Distances, Altitudes and Timings
STAGE 1 The Durance Valley to Furfande
STAGE 2 Furfande to Ceillac
STAGE 3 Ceillac to Saint-Véran
STAGE 4 Saint-Véran to Refuge Agnel
Excursion from Refuge Agnel: Le Pain de Sucre, Lac Foréant and Lac Egourgéou
STAGE 5 Refuge Agnel to Refuge Viso via the Soustra Valley (Italy)
STAGE 6 Refuge Viso to La Monta via the Pellice Valley (Italy)
STAGE 6 - Excursions and Alternatives
Alternative to Stage 5 and Stage 6: Refuge Agnel to La Monta via Pic de Foréant and Lac Egourgéou
STAGE 7 La Monta to Abriès (high-level route)
STAGE 7 - EXCURSION
Alternative Stage 7: La Monta to Abriès via Ristolas (low-level route)
STAGE 8 Abriès to Les Fonts de Cervières via Lac du Grand Laus (GR58)
Alternative Stage 8: Abriès to Les Fonts de Cervières via Col des Thures
STAGE 9 Les Fonts de Cervières to Souliers
STAGE 10 Souliers to Brunissard via the Lac de Souliers
STAGE 11 Brunissard to Furfande
STAGE 12 Furfande to the Durance Valley
SUMMARY OF STAGES – TOUR OF THE QUEYRAS
APPENDIX 1 Gîtes d’étape and Refuges in the Region
APPENDIX 2 Bibliography
APPENDIX 3 Useful Addresses, Telephone Numbers and Websites
Commencing the descent from the Col de Moussière (Stage 1)
PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION
You are about to turn the pages of a practical guidebook that will lead you safely on a journey through a region of the European Alps known as the Queyras. Here there are high cols, remote summits, scented pine forests, lush Alpine valleys, high pastures and flower-strewn meadows. But for me this is more than a mere guidebook – there is something of an enigmatic love story within its pages, the result of my third exploration of this most beautiful and magical of Alpine regions and my second complete ‘Queyras Tour’.
This last adventure was after a 17 year absence from the region. Twice in the 1980s I walked extensively in the Queyras, becoming totally captivated by its almost indescribable charm. In a most subtle way, I found it quite unlike any other area that I had ever visited in the Alps. In the intervening years I travelled the mountain and wilderness areas of over 30 different countries, in every continent save the southernmost, but when asked which was my favourite, I would always, without hesitation, say ‘the Queyras’.
But in a way I was afraid to go back after such a long interval, in case I found that the beauties and charms of my stunningly beautiful, totally enticing mistress had faded over time. It can be unwise to return to places that one has enjoyed so much in the past, as disappointment is often the result; it is unrealistic to expect to experience again the same rapture that was felt on first discovering an area. But I was wrong to doubt. Certainly my beloved has grown older, and has a few scars and disfigurements that were not there before, as you will read in these pages, but her beauty and charm – the friendliness of her people, the abundance of her hamlets, villages, gîtes and refuges – remain as they always were. I feel a deep love for this land of the Queyras, which, as a foreigner, I am quite at a loss to explain.
The popularity of the Queyras amongst French mountain walkers, and those from several other western European countries, notably Holland and Germany, has increased considerably since the 1980s, and the facilities to accommodate them have improved proportionately. There are enlarged and upgraded gîtes d’étape and refuges, and a well-established, inexpensive ‘sherpa’ service to transport luggage (and even weary walkers if they need a day off the trail) from gîte to gîte. But judging by the lack of entries from British walkers in the hut and gîte books, relatively few of my fellow countrymen have discovered the area.
It is the responsibility of a guidebook writer to ensure that his or her work will not result in a mass assault on a previously unspoilt area, changing its character forever. But the Queyras can well cope with a doubling, trebling or even quadrupling of the number of British walkers to its high mountains and valleys. I wish to share this wonderland, and, tired of giving gentle encouragement to others to visit the region, want instead to shout from the highest summits: ‘Go, go, go to the Queyras!’ You will surely not be disappointed, and perhaps a few of you will fall deeply and everlastingly under the spell of this remarkable and enchanting land.
Alan Castle, 2008
View of the ridge on the Pic Ouest (Stage 10)
INTRODUCTION
The French Alps
The French Alps stretch for some 403km (250 miles), from Lake Geneva (Lac Léman) in the north to the Mediterranean coast in the south, in the vicinity of Nice and Menton. They form a natural frontier with Italy to the east and Switzerland to the north. The weather tends to be warmer and more stable than in the Swiss and Austrian Alps.
Within France the Alps can be divided into three main regions – the Savoie (Savoy), Dauphine and Provençal Alps. The mountains are to be found within seven départements, namely Haute-Savoie, Savoie, Isère, Drôme, Hautes-Alpes, Alpes-de-Haute-Provence and Alpes-Maritimes (see map). Of these the Isère and the Drôme contain mainly the lower massifs, or Pre-Alpes.
Possibly the most impressive region of the Pre-Alpes is the Vercours, west of Grenoble, now a regional park. The Chablais Alps south of Geneva, bordering onto Switzerland, are rich in lush, green, Alpine pasture. This area leads to the major summits of the northern French Alps, culminating in Mont Blanc, at 4807m (15,759ft) the highest peak in Western Europe. Here also are the other great mountains of the French Alps: Grandes Jorasses (4208m/13,795ft) Aiguille du Midi (3842m/12,595ft) and Aiguille Verte (4122m/13,513ft).
South of Chamonix and the Mont Blanc region is the Vanoise, a national park. Here there are many glaciers and high peaks, including the well-known La Grande Casse (3855m/12,638ft). Southwest of the Vanoise is another national park, the Écrins (Parc National des Écrins). The major summits of the Écrins, La Meije (3982m/13,054ft), Mont Pelvoux (3946m/12,936ft) and the Barre des Écrins (4102m/13,447ft), are all seen to advantage on the Tour of the Queyras.
The Queyras region itself lies to the southeast of the Écrins, in what is generally considered to be the northernmost part