GR5 Trail by Paddy Dillon (Cicerone Press). The epic route from the Lake of Geneva to the Mediterranean passes through the Maritime Alps
Other reading:
Wild Italy by Tim Jepson (Sheldrake Press/Aurum Press, 1994) is a natural history guide that includes a short chapter on the Alpi Marittime with some useful information.
The Outdoor Traveler’s Guide to the Alps by Marcia R. Lieberman (Stewart, Tabori & Chang; New York, 1991) has a brief chapter devoted to a small part of the Mercantour park.
Chapter 2
DAUPHINÉ
Including the Cottian Alps, Queyras, Massif des Écrins & the Pre-Alps of Vercors
The mountains of Dauphiné contain the highest and most important summits, in terms of mountaineering appeal, of all the South-West Alps, and the various groups offer an unrivalled diversity of landscapes for the enterprising walker. There is a world of difference, for example, between the soaring, glacier-etched scenery of the Massif des Écrins and the vast limestone plateaux of the Vercors, but both provide a wealth of walking opportunities as, of course, does the more remote Queyras in the Cottian Alps with its small, rugged peaks reflected in dozens of little tarns.
Dauphiné consists of the French départements of Isère, Drôme and Hautes-Alpes. Here the green hills of the Pre-Alpes, including the Vercors, create a long wall running north to south parallel to the Isère which flows down the western side, while the higher mountains stand in great blocks towards the Italian border. The Cottian Alps spread over both sides of that border, but only those that lie within France are included in the Queyras massif. North-west of the Queyras, across the Durance, Central Dauphiné is the largest and most attractive mountain block; the group known as either the Massif des Écrins, l’Oisans, or Massif du Pelvoux, which has the distinction of hosting the most southerly 4000 metre summit of the Alpine chain. Beyond the large and complex peaks of the Écrins several comparatively minor massifs continue the appeal of Dauphiné. These include the Chartreuse massif, the Chaine de Belledonne which culminates in the Grand Pic de Belledonne, the Grandes Rousses massif, and Les Aiguilles d’Arve.
Monte Viso is the undisputed monarch of the Cottian Alps
Queyras
The Cottian Alps, of which the Queyras forms a small, yet important part, stretch from the road pass of Col de Larche northwards to Col du Mont Cenis, effectively running in a narrow strip along the Franco–Italian border which acts as the watershed between the Po and the Rhône. The highest, and without question the most distinctive, of its peaks is that of Monte Viso (3841m), first climbed in 1861 by the Victorian pioneers William Mathews and F. W. Jacomb, with their guides, M and J. B. Croz. But apart from this notable peak, the district holds little of mountaineering interest beyond the attention of local activists, although there are a good many summits attainable by strong mountain walkers, offering extensive views as their reward.
Col de Larche (1991m) takes traffic from the French valley of the Ubayette, flanked on the south by the Réserve Naturelle du Lauzanier, into the Italian Valle Stura. From St Paul on the French side another low pass, Col de Vars, crosses the mountain rim that marks the boundary between the départements of Hautes-Alpes and Alps-de-Haute-Provence, on the north side of which access by road is made possible to the Queyras district.
With the Massif des Écrins rising to the north-west, the Queyras lies fully within the old administrative region of Dauphiné, and presses like an elbow of mountains against the Italian frontier which curves round it in a protective wall on three sides. Monte Viso has a dominating influence on much of the region, but since it stands just across the frontier it is thereby not counted as one of the Queyras peaks. Of these the major summits are Pic de Rochebrune (3320m), Grand Glaiza (3293m), Le Pain de Sucre (3208m), Tête des Toillies (3175m) and Le Grand Queyras (3114m). There are no glaciers, although evidence of past glaciation is abundantly clear in many valleys and the rugged scenery reflects its Alpine pedigree.
Parc Naturel Régional du Queyras
It is an isolated district, tucked quietly away in a seeming back-of-beyond with only one year-round road of access. In 1977 the Parc Naturel Régional du Queyras was established in order to reconcile the demands of ecology and local economy, to check a steady population drift away from the harsh demands of mountain life, while at the same time protecting the quality of the environment. With an area of some 650 square kilometres, the boundaries of the park extend from the Gorges du Guil in the west to the Tête du Pelvas in the east, and from Col Girardin in the south to Col des Thures in the north. The classic approach from Briançon is via the spectacular road pass of Col d’Izoard, which is open for only a few weeks in mid-summer, and which links the valley of the Durance with that of the Guil, the main Queyras river whose valley is the major geographical feature.
Draining the west flank of Monte Viso and those frontier peaks grouped around it, the Guil cuts right through the Queyras from north-east to south-west, its major tributaries flowing from attractive valleys on the southern side, while the northern half is drained by a few short glens. At first the Guil flows north-west, collecting a few early tributaries on the way, then curves south-westward at Abriès, which sits at the confluence of the Guil and the Bouchet flowing from the north. Beyond Abriès the river passes Aiguilles, the so-called capital of the valley, before rushing below the medieval, fortified Château-Queyras (with the inevitable Vauban additions) perched on an outcrop, and soon after enters the deep and narrow Combe du Queyras. A hundred years ago the only ways out of the valley below Château-Queyras were along paths that climbed hillsides high above the river. ‘Now a remarkable road traverses the gorges,’ announced one commentator just before the last war, ‘crossing and recrossing the torrent and often gouged out of the perpendicular sides of the immense cleft which it has cut.’ Above the left bank the lovely village of Montbardon sits amid flower-rich meadows dotted with pine and fir trees. Further down, near Guillestre, the Guil washes into the Durance, the river that drains the eastern slopes of the Écrins.
Château-Queyras, perched above the Guil
Set in an open basin surrounded by low mountains Guillestre, with its attractive medieval streets and 16th-century church guarded by marble lions, is very much the entry point to the central Queyras. A four-kilometre branch road off the N94 Gap-Briançon highway is an important link with the rest of Dauphiné, while the Col de Vars route also comes down to that little market town. Visitors coming by train should aim for Montdauphin-Guillestre in the Durance valley. Buses from there serve the main Queyras valleys.
In these southerly mountains the climate is heavily influenced by the Mediterranean and is therefore more amenable for active walking or climbing holidays than almost anywhere in the Alps. The peaks, though not as high nor as dramatic as those of the Écrins, are certainly no less attractive, and have an appealing, rugged charm. East of Château-Queyras the Haut Queyras are largely formed of mica-schist, while in the Bas Queyras limestone is also evident. On the way to the Col d’Izoard the lunar landscape of the Casse Déserte reveals numerous rocky pinnacles, curious eroded formations of limestone, dolomite and gypsum sprouting from a mountainside of grey screes. Large forests of larch and pine edge meadows noted for their spring flowers. Marmots are numerous; so too are chamois. There are many small lakes, the gift of long-departed glaciers, and mountain streams tumbling in waterfalls from bare cliffs and snow-clad peaks. So
