The first three days of our Tour of the Écrins would take us to Vallouise, Refuge du Pré de la Chaumette, and Refuge Vallonpierre.
This post is part of our series about our September & August 2022 Tour of the Ecrins, including:
- Overview and planning
- Arrival in Lyon and transit to Le Monêtier-les-Bains
- Stages 1-3: Le Monêtier-les-Bains, Vallouise, Refuge du Pré de la Chaumette, and Refuge de Vallonpierre (this post)
- Stages 4-7: Refuge du Pigeonnier, La Chapelle-en-Valgaudemar, Refuge des Souffles, and Valsenestre
- Stages 8-10: Refuge de la Muzelle, Mizoën, and Les Terrasses
- Stages 11-12: La Grave, Refuge d l’Alpe de Villar d’Arène and back to Le Monêtier-les-Bains, followed by our return through Grenoble and back to Lyon
- Our packing list for hut-to-hut hikes
Note: links to Amazon and Booking are affiliate links, which means we earn a commission if you purchase through them. If this information is useful, we appreciate you using them!
Stage 1: Le Monêtier-les-Bains to Vallouise
In the morning, we enjoyed an excellent hotel breakfast. We then left our bags containing clothes for our travel days and Lyon with the hotel and started our route.
We had decided on a clockwise route from Le Monêtier-les-Bains, which the book warns offers less warm up. Fortunately, after a summer of hiking, we found we had plenty of energy.
The book also describes two variants for this route (what the book labels as stage 4 and stage 4v). The main route climbs past a ski area before offering a lovely river walk. The variant, instead climbs to Lac de L’Eychauda. With a beautiful day and no desire to hike along ski equipment, we selected the variant.
We started by thinking through some pastures with cows, and then the way steeped. We climbed, paralleled a shaded river through the forest, and reached a valley–Vallon de la Montagnolle–surrounded by high peaks. This was beautiful in the morning light.
In Vallon de la Montagnolle, the trail forked. We took the route up Col des Grangettes. Parts of the route were cut into the rock and aided with cables. Though steep, we never found the exposure too bad. The elevation gain rewarded us with ever-more dramatic views.
At Col des Grangettes, we got our first views of the turquoise blue Lac de L’Eychauda below. We found a spot off the trail and paused for a snack.
From the col, a short but steep descent brought us to the lake–another good place to pause and take in the views.
After the lake, we descended. The trail brought us past some cascades and waterfalls until we reached the Vallon de Chambran.
From there, the route continued to descend, but in a series of ups and downs. Parts were along old tracks and small portions were along the road. The day had warmed up considerably, and I did start to feel the length and jet lag in this stretch. Before long, though, we route brought us parallel to the river, Le Gyr, which offered cooling breezes.
In Vallouise, we left the river and turned west. A few minutes later, we reached our accommodations for the night, Gîte L’Aigliere. For those unfamiliar with gîtes d’etapes (as I was before I planned this trip), this one is perhaps best thought of as similar to refuges, but with some added comforts made possible by being in towns.
At Gîte L’Aigliere, the owners showed us to a large, comfortable room with a private bath, quite removed from some of the rest of the house. This was fortuitous as a large hiking group showed up a few minutes later, while we were enjoying a beer on the patio. With us as the only other guests, the group seemed to forget, at times, that they did not have the place to themselves.
Dinner was filling and tasty: melon with prosciutto; peas, lentils, and sausage; bread; cheese; blueberry and peach cake. Tired and with a long day ahead of us, we each read for a little after dinner before falling asleep.
Days’s distance and elevation gain: 13.9mi and 4050′.
Stage 2: Vallouise to Refuge du Pré de la Chaumette
This would be a long day. The first part of the day runs about 13km a long a river with blue pools (book estimate: 3h20), before the beginning a climb over two high cols (Col de l’Aup Martin and Pas de la Cavale), for another 12km (book estimate: 5h).
Many people take a shuttle for the first 8km or so, though that had stopped running two days before (28 August). The hiking group staying at our gîte had arranged for a private shuttle. With storms forecast for the afternoon, we considered asking if we could get a ride. Ultimately, we decided against it.
This worked out. The first 13km passed quickly, as a mostly shaded valley walk. We experienced some rain showers, but the forest mostly protected us. By the time we began climbing, the clouds had partially burnt off, offering beautiful light and improving views – something we might have missed if we took the shuttle.
Along the way, we saw a large sheep drive and got to say hello to some friendly donkeys. Other donkeys (?), which resembled a highland cattle variant of a donkey, were shyer. Lovely cascades also dotted the way.
At both Col de l’Aup Martin and Pas de la Cavale, we enjoyed partly cloudy skies, with the clouds casting beautiful shadows on the land below. I especially enjoyed the stretch between the two cols. It offered excellent views of the expansive valley, surrounded by peaks with rock layers going in all directions.
The descent from Pas de la Cavale and valley walk went by quickly, and we soon reached Refuge du Pré de la Chaumette (FFCAM). We checked in and ordered panachées and a piece of blueberry tart to share. While we started to eat outside, the clouds returned and storms soon threatened, so we moved inside. After our snack, we took advantage of a still relatively quiet refuge to take showers.
As a thunderstorm started, we wondered what had happened to the large hiking group. With their shuttles, they should have been head of us. We had not passed them on the trail and they were not at the refuge. Eventually the group arrived through the storm. Concerned about the storms and the high cols, they had used the shuttles to position for a different route.
Dinner was delicious and filling: lentil soup, a potato ham cheese bake, a cheese course, a some spice cake.
Day’s distance and elevation gain: 15.5mi and 5185′.
Stage 3: Refuge du Pré de la Chaumette to Refuge de Vallonpierre
We woke up for a 6:30am breakfast of bard, oats, jams and coffee. Over breakfast, the hiking groups arranged for one member to walk to the road with the refuge keeper and be driven to town and for still another to be helicoptered out for a medical concern.
Our route for the day included three cols: Vallette, Gouiran, and Vallonpierre. The book estimated about two hours to Col de la Vallette, but in the cool morning air, we reached it much sooner. The col offered awesome views of the route ahead. We set down our packs and hike up a small promontory south of the col for even more expansive views.
From the col, we descended on barren, rocky slopes to Vallon de Grain. We crossed the valley on marmot-dotted grasslands before the short ascent back to Col de Gouiran.
From Col de Gouiran, we again descended into Vallon Plat. This valley was a remarkable landscape of grasslands cut through by streams and surrounded by lovely mountains.
We re-ascended to Col de Vallonpierre. We again put down our packs for the short hike up to Pic de Vallonpierre. This is a straightforward ridge walk, first northwest to one promontory and then north to the peak. We had a beautiful day and this detour was well worth it for the views of surrounding peaks, including Le Sirac, and valleys. Clouds dotted the valleys below and gypaete (bearded vultures) flew around us.
Our destination for the night, Refuge de Vallonpierre, was not far from the col. The book recommends to continuing on to Refuge du Clot (in the valley) or even further to the village of La Chappelle-en-Valgaudemar. However, we had decided to stop at Vallonpierre for two reasons. First, it is a lovely spot with lakes and surrounding peaks, and we did not want to rush our time there. Second, we had added a detour from the GR54, starting the next day, and this was the natural point to start that detour.
We arrived at Refuge de Vallonpierre in time to order lunch, and we shared ravioli with pesto and extra cheese, panachées, and blueberry tart with whipped cream. While we ate, one of the hut keepers prepared to descend with a cat in a backpack carrier. Clouds rolled in as we ate, and soon most views were obscured.
We enjoyed a cozy afternoon of reading in the refuge. By dinner, it was clear we would have a small group at the refuge, only about eight people total. We dined together at one table, enjoying a grapefruit aperitif, pumpkin soup, zucchini, sausage, two kinds of cheese, lemon tart. Everything was wonderful.
Day’s distance and elevation gain: 8.5mi and 4327′.
Read on to Stages 4-7: Refuge du Pigeonnier, La Chapelle-en-Valgaudemar, Refuge des Souffles, and Valsenestre.
