French Alps Traverse
GR5 - July 2008
Europe: Footloose on Hiking Trails
The French Alps GR5: La Grande Traversée des Alpes
La Grande Traversée des Alpes or the GR5 between theMediterranean coast to Lake Geneva runs about 660km, not including side trips to campgrounds and grocery stores. We won't claim to have walked every kilometre of the way. Unlike North American long distance paths, the French Alps are pretty civilized; it is largely a string of cow patties and ski hills interspersed with hot showers, lovely villages and wonderful alpine scenery.
The hardest step is usually the first one, unless you hop onto a French train and skip a day and half of climbing away from the Mediterranean. That was deemed necessary to reduce Sheila's wingeing about leaving the coast.
Signage is found all along the GR5
Entering Valée des Merveilles - GR52. A one hour train ride to Sospel saved us suffering in the summer Mediterranean heat.
Campsite at Refuge des Merveilles. We bought a Marmot tent in Nice to replace the original tent that had a broken pole.
We started on the GR52, a scenic "variante". A few hiking hours brought us past chamois into the Vallée des Merveilles at 2100m, so called for its Bronze Age petroglyphs and rugged scenery. Trekking poles are prohibited through the historic section and we were tipped off about the bâton police who ensure that walkers do not poke their poles at the artwork. On our first full day on the trail, we crossed over three passes and over a staggering amount of snow for early July in the South of France. Sheila is still complaining about sore knees from that day. We didn't realize at the time, but the Southern region of the trail featured most of the wildest territory of the entire route. We saw dozens and dozens of chamois and some mountain ibex at close quarters in the first few days.
Petroglyph - Vallée des Merveilles
Basto lake, Mercantour National Park
Mercantour National Park - GR52
Baisse du Basto 2693m
Descending from Baisse du Basto
We pressed on past the Refuge Nice
Rocky ascent of Pas du Mont-Colomb 2548m
Final ascent of Pas du Mont-Colomb
Camp at Madone de Fenestre . It's bivouac -only (19-9hrs) in French National Parks.
We also did not realize at the time that the bonjour police can pop out at anytime. On a long descent past an endless string of Sunday day trippers, Glenn failed to utter the mandatory bonjour with sufficient gusto only to be chastised by a tail member of a group, yelling bonjour and hello at him. He was lucky to escape with a warning.
We settled into a routine of big climbs and equally long descents each day and passed through a series of lovely, formerly fortified villages. They included St. Dalmas, St. Sauveur, St. Etienne and another St. Dalmas, though perhaps we were walking in circles. We had some nice wild camping spots and faced our first thunderstorm just below the 2700m Col Giradin. We dashed over between lightening bolts which were no doubt further away than they felt at the time.
Pas de Ladres approach
Pas de Ladres 2448m
St. Sauveu-sur-Tinée. It was early days of hand held devices but we found WIFI in this town.
Shopping in St. Dalmas-Le-Salvage
Col de L'Alge 2340m
If you carry my pack, I'll feed you carrots.
De L'Alge surroundings
Wild camp at lacs de l'Alge
Pas de la Cavale 2671m
Maljasset refuge treats
Approaching Col Giradin 2700m
Col Giradin after the thunderstorm
The GR5 guidebooks are all written in a North to South direction and most people set the Med as their goal. Naturally, we walked from the South to North with the sun behind us. We also imagined that the southern faces were generally steeper, making the northern descents a little easier on the knees. Along the way, we encountered southbound Jennifer and David from Australia who we had heard about from their friends on the Corsican GR20. Then we engineered, or more aptly blundered, into a reunion with southbound Barb and Steffen (UK 1994). They distribute an annual Christmas photo that puts us to shame and no doubt, we'll see a well orchestrated portrait with a banner, elf hats and a Mt Blanc backdrop at year end.
Laundry day at Ceillac
Ceillac treats
Departing Ceillac after rains
No cheese on Col de Fromage 2301m
Château Qeyras
Climbing Col des Ayes 2477m
Rendez-vous with Steffen & Barb at Briançon
Briançon street
Vauban designed fort at Briançon is a UNESCO world heritage site
The GR5 sticks enticingly close to the Franco-Italian border so we nipped into Italy. We had a picnic lunch in Italy on two consecutive days, first at the ski resort of Clavière and then along the scenic GR5b variant. There was some discussion on the second day as to whether or not we were in France or Italy. We carry our own tent and generally a day or two of food. This is in contrast to the typical Euro walker who sets out into the mountains with mammoth boots, a 5-7kg pack, a further 3 kg of water and sometimes with a hat. Accommodation bookings are typically made in advance and they stay at a series of hotels, gite d'etapes and refuges with all meals, beer and wine provided. It is very civilized and roads or towns are rarely more than a few hours walk away. The French consider the North American notion of self-sufficient backpacking as courageous and sometimes as "elitist" because not everyone is capable of carrying their own food and shelter.
Lunch in Italy - Clavière
Franco-Italian border
Franco-Italian border marker
Treading lightly in Italy
Water refill
Wild camping in Vallée Étroite
The beautiful Vanoise area of France can pose a challenge to the "elitist" trekkers because tenting is prohibited. As the French were late to the National Park game (the first one was established in 1963), the parks are relatively small. Sometimes the 4X4 roads built to service the refuges also serve as the main trail, so the "elitist" trekker can make good time. We walked the high mountain passage of the GR55 variant from Modane to Tignes, including a grunting 2000m climb, in 2 days with a stop-over in the attractive alpine resort of Pralignan.
Approaching Col de Chavière
View from Col de Chavière 2796m
This was on the way up to Col de Chavière
Descent from Col de Chavière
Descent from Col de Chavière: Vanoise National Park
Ascending Col de Vanoise
Lac des Vaches 2319m
Approaching Col de Vanoise 2517m
Freeramge chickens Liesse Valley
Heading up the Col de Liesse
Col de Liesse 2487m
Tignes relieved us the tedium of looking at mostly natural scenery and other walkers. There was so much going on including helicopters buzzing overhead, scenic plane flights, 4X4's, chairlifts everywhere, more chairlifts being built, apartment blocks and more under construction. It took us the better part of a day to walk through all the lifts and even days later we could see the the ski lifts from Col de la Croix de Bonhomme. There was even a steady stream of skiers heading up to the glacier on the funicular when we left Tignes. It was all very impressive.
In Tignes, the "elitists" became softies and stayed in a hotel and slept in a bed. French breakfasts are generally a light affair of white bread, jam and coffee. They don't call it a "petit" dejeuner for nothing. Some non-French trekkers even carry supplementary muesli. From our experiences of cycling around France, we have seen the half-starved French madly driving home at noon for a more satisfying lunch. Thus it came as a real surprise when our buffet breakfast was varied and powered us for hours. With every step north, the mountains seem higher, there are more cows, the cheese gets harder, the crowds increase and the Asian toilets become less frequent.
Walking into Val Claret, Tignes
Val Claret hotel room
Heroic moment on north side of La Grande Casse
The Col de Bresson was a long climb up from Landry which languishes at 777m. The GR5 joins up with the Tour of Mont Blanc (TMB) near the Col de Bonhomme. There, we saw plenty of human suffering as the crowds laboured up the pass. The temptation was to let our guard down when meeting people who were staring at their feet while toiling away but the bonjour police could be lurking anywhere. Smile and bonjour!
Landry
Moo!
Col de Bresson 2469m, a 1700m climb out of Landry
Wild camping at La Petite Berge with Mt Blanc view
La Petite Berge
Mobile milking machines
Ridge walk near Col de Croix de Bonhomme 949m
North of Col de Bonhomme
Descending into Chamonix Valley
The impressive Chamonix-Mt Blanc area is like an alpine theme park. We fittingly, entered the valley trundling down another ski resort. Jane (UK 1993) kindly invited us to stay at her cozy chalet near Chamonix. It is a great base from which to explore the spectacular area and to eat and eat.
Resting at Jane's chalet
Glenn grills up tuna filet
Jane treats us to delicious French pastries
Mt Blanc is Europe's response to Yosemite with much better public access: trains, cable cars and chairlifts provide quick mountain access to mountaineers and tourists alike. Standing in a long August Sunday téléphérique queue even feels like Disneyland. Our tent nights stalled in Chamonix as we stayed on at Jane's chalet and Sheila ushered in her knee recovery plan. She opted for a few téléphérique rides while Glenn sometimes huffed and puffed his way up and down including a 800m ascent in a respectable 50 minutes. The Chamonix area is justly popular, though the French complain it is too international. The glaciers and mountains are magnificent and the trip is worthwhile for the bread alone: we have become bread snobs.
Chamonix and Mt Blanc backdrop
Glenn surveys Glacier d'Argentière
Glenn and Mer de Glace
Mer de glace and les Drus
Glenn and "Les Drus"
Sheila scampers amongst day-trippers to Lac Blanc, on the Balcon Nord
Chamois are a common sight
Our tent at lac des Chesierys
Evening view of Les Drus, Grandes Jorasses
Morning View from our campsite
We ventured through the Mt Blanc tunnel over to Courmeyer and Val Veny to another world, in the shadow of Monte Bianco; Italy. There, we found so much happiness on the trails - we were never sure whether it was the mountain views or simply the locals' ability to speak the lovely Italian language. It affected us all. At the camping ground, Italians roamed the grounds in bath robes and buffed their hairdo's in front of the plethora of mirrors before setting out on the mountain trails. In the evenings, they poured buckets of salt into the pasta pots and on their food while guitars played and wine disappeared. Italy is a joyous country.
Camp kitchen Val Veny. Italians love their salt to cook pasta and sprinkle on their food:
Sheila and the Italian face of Monte Bianco
Sheila figures the Miege Glacier needed a good cleaning
Monte Bianco and Miege Glacier
The Italian face of Monte Bianco
TRAVEL NOTES
Walking a long distance trail provides a perspective on the landscape. We poke fun at the French notion of "balance" in the National Parks but is especially disappointing to see so much livestock in protected areas. The cows are happy with the lovely wildflowers, it looks quaint, it maintains the farmers' centuries old traditions and keeps the EU subsidies rolling in, consumers are happy ( there is no shortage of good cheese) and the roads allow plenty of public access. It works beautifully: it is only the flora and little critters that lose. We can really appreciate how new world countries such as Costa Rica, Canada, USA, Australia and NZ have been able to preserve and protect wilderness areas.
When Sheila plugs into an iPod on the trail, she goes into overdrive; a cross between advanced step class and a Tour de France time trial. Glenn struggles to keep the pace.
FOR THE RECORD
Most parapenters (para-glider) seen in the air at one time: 40 at Les Arcs
The weather: relatively dry but cool
GR5 banana index: 1.5-3 per USD (all from former French colonies)
2008 YTD tent nights: 159
PHOTO ALBUMS