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 a return visit to explore it in more detail.
Below Chambran with its buvette, few rough buildings and a tiny unadorned chapel, a narrow path descends alongside the Eychauda stream, then forks. The main trail continues south and eventually gains the growing resort village of Vallouise, while an alternative swings back towards the north-west to the mountaineering hamlet of Ailefroide. The Vallouise trail is that adopted by GR54, but it would be a shame to miss the opportunity to enjoy a near view of Mont Pelvoux and Barre des Écrins, having come so close, and with a day or two to spare there’s majestic Alpine country to explore above Ailefroide; a wild and glorious land of soaring rock walls daubed with snow and with glaciers carving from them.
Ailefroide has two hotels, a gîte d’étape and campsites, but walkers with energy to spare could push on further upvalley to Refuge Cézanne below the terminal moraines of Glacier Noir and Glacier Blanc, in readiness for deeper investigation next day, before returning down valley to Vallouise from where the Tour de l’Oisans can be resumed.
Vallouise to Refuge de Vallonpierre
Vallouise has character, despite the obvious intrusion of tourism. It has dormitory, as well as hotel, accommodation, a few shops and restaurants and bureaux de change. And it has access to big mountains. Below the village the rivers l’Onde and Ailefroide combine their mountain torrents and flow south-east to join the Durance. The Tour de l’Oisans declines the temptation to go with the flow down valley, and turns westward along the Val de l’Entre-les-Aygues (the valley of the Onde torrent) for about nine kilometres to the roadhead. Most of the valley is forested, and charmingly so. It’s a narrow shaft, but because of its configuration, is early lit by the morning sun. A third of the way upvalley from Vallouise a semi-official camping area is found on the right bank at Pont des Places; a convenient site for backpackers touring GR54.
The roadhead at Entre-les-Aygues overlooks gravel beds at the confluence of the Torrents des Bans and de la Selle. Our route crosses these, then mounts along the true left bank of the Vallon de la Selle, passes the Cabane (or Refuge) du Jas Lacroix and continues on a gentle gradient towards Pointe de Verdonne towering over the upper corrie. A short distance beyond the Jas Lacroix hut the trail bears left, crosses a stream and then climbs into a high basin of pastureland rimmed with jagged peaklets from which aprons of scree fan out. Climbing from one natural step to the next the landscape becomes more stony and wild, and the final ascent to Col de l’Aup Martin (2761m) consists of an exposed rising traverse of a slope of shifting black shale and grit. But the col, the highest point on the Tour de l’Oisans, produces some fine views, not only of the Vallon de la Selle and its walling peaks, but southward too, across the head of another glen whose amphitheatre mountains display broad bands of strata, and south-south-west where Pas de la Cavale marks the next immediate goal to be won.
On the Tour de l’Oisans, a group of trekkers cross ribs of rock below Col de Vallonpierre
A continuing narrow path edges round the steep mountainside on more scree and grit, crosses a ledge showered by a small cascade, and soon after comes to Pas de la Cavale to be followed by a long and wearisome descent of some 950 metres to the splendid Refuge du Pré de la Chaumette. Set in extensive pastures at a junction of valleys, the Chaumette refuge is a welcoming place at the end of a strenuous day’s trekking. It also marks the southern-most point of the Oisans circuit.
Behind the hut to the north is a short glen into which the GR54 climbs next day, a stage with three high passes to cross in order to reach the Val Gaudémar. First of these is Col de la Vallette (2668m), a bare windswept saddle with dramatic views on the final approach. From it the second col can be clearly seen just below Puy des Agneaux, and it only takes 40 minutes to walk from one to the other. The initial descent from the col, however, demands some care, but potential danger is soon passed, leaving just an easy stroll on a good, clear trail over grassland with a small pool in its midst, then a sharp twist up to Col de Gouiran (2597m).
It takes a little longer to gain the third pass from the second, than it did to gain Col de Gouiran from the first, but it should still be accomplished in less than an hour. Col de Vallonpierre (2607m) is a dip in a sharp ridge sweeping west of Le Sirac, the dominant mountain hereabouts, and is probably the narrowest pass of all those encountered on the tour, with excessively steep slopes plunging to north and south. In dry, snow-free conditions the descent from it is not as bad as at first appears, and you work a way down to the idyllically-situated Refuge de Vallonpierre without too much trouble.
Refuge de Vallonpierre to Le Désert
The Vallonpierre refuge stands on the north shore of a small tarn, gazing up at the soaring mass of Le Sirac. It’s a spellbinding situation for a refuge, with a contrast of smooth meadows, boulder slopes and gaunt mountains peering over all. Regrettably, walkers who spent the previous night at the Chaumette hut will reach Vallonpierre too early in the day to consider stopping – unless, that is, they have several days in hand.
Behind the hut the trail continues to descend in numerous windings; views are consistently fine, and at the foot of the zig-zags the way passes the entrance to a corrie on the right headed by Pic Jocelme, Pic de Bonvoisin and Pointe de Verdonne. There follows a gentle, fairly level stretch alongside the Severaisse with bilberries growing beside the trail, and two hours from Vallonpierre you come to the farmlike building of Refuge Xavier Blanc set in a glade of trees, boulders and shrubs near the head of the Val Gaudémar. A further hour and half, or two hours at most of easy valley walking – past farms being strangled by vegetation, through the little turf-roofed hamlet of Le Bourg and by-passing Le Casset (gîte d’étape) – will bring you to the village of La Chapelle-en-Valgaudémar where there are campsites, hotels, another gîte and foodstores – and temptations to delay progress in order to explore the neighbourhood. The map feeds that temptation with several side trails to follow and remote mountain huts to visit.
Down valley from La Chapelle, where the Val Gaudémar begins its south-westerly curve, the attractive huddle of Villar-Loubière marks another northerly turn for GR54. There is, however, an alternative route which goes almost due north from La Chapelle into a glen drained by the Torrent du Clot, curves left to cross Col de Colombes (2423m) and Col des Clochettes (2183m), and joins the main Tour de l’Oisans at Refuge des Souffles. The GR54 path from Villar-Loubière is a demanding one; not difficult or dangerous, but steep in places where it picks a route up the side of a ravine.
Beyond the refuge the trail swings north-west to cross an amphitheatre topped by Pic des Souffles. At first the path makes a belvedere across the steep flank of the mountain, then enters a broad pastureland basin before turning to the serious business of climbing the western side to Col de la Vaurze (2500m). This is another narrow pass, a brief gap in the south-west ridge of Pic des Souffles before it rises to Tête du Clotonnet, and a huge panorama provides ample reward for the effort of gaining it. Far off and way below, La Chapelle-en-Valgaudémar may be seen huddled in its deep green valley. Above that Le Sirac aids identification of Col de Vallonpierre, while to the east L’Olan, big and handsome, dominates with its bulk. The northern side of the pass appears somewhat forbidding, but more than 1200 metres below Le Désert lies in a cleft of a valley, with the next pass on the list, Col de Côte-Belle, almost due north of Le Désert’s rooftops.
It’s an unrelentingly steep descent to Le Désert,
