Walking in the Alps
Walking in the Alps
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Tour of the Vanoise
This longer route, which extends that of the Vanoise glaciers tour outlined above, makes an excellent circuit of the massif in 10 to 12 days, providing a series of magnificent experiences and a first-class overview of the National Park, and is arguably the finest expedition open to walkers in the western Graian Alps. In some respects it stands comparison with the much better-known Tour du Mont Blanc, while being not so demanding as the Tour de l’Oisans in the neighbouring Dauphiné Alps. Accommodation with meals provision is available every night in mountain huts or valley hotels and gîtes d’étape. Backpacking is therefore unnecessary, and in summer walkers should be able to tackle the circuit in a two-week holiday without the burden of a heavy rucksack.
Modane to Refuge du Plan Sec
Modane makes an obvious starting point. Access is straightforward, and a short but steep approach on the first day leads to Refuge de l’Orgère. It is a steep approach too, in forest for much of the way on a trail with numerous junctions, but signposts and waymarks are sufficient to ensure the correct trail is taken. On occasion momentary views are allowed through the trees down to the bed of the valley, while the upward view is almost always concealed by dense forest cover. When rare open meadows are crossed (meadows extravagant with alpine flowers in early summer), the long trench of the Maurienne is revealed off to the right, its southern walling mountains of modest appeal except towards the east where they grow in stature. Those higher peaks will be seen to good effect later on the tour. Half an hour from Orgère a track is crossed near the Pierre Brune chalet. If this is followed to the right it will lead to an alternative hut, the privately-owned Refuge de l’Aiguille Doran.
From the National Park’s Orgère refuge the Tour of the Vanoise crosses the mouth of the Orgère glen and follows the route of GR5 heading north-east along an undulating trail, at first through forest, then rising over steep hillsides of grass where sheep graze high above the Maurienne, passing one or two isolated stone buildings before descending a little to the grass saddle of Col du Barbier. The col is more a shallow grass scoop than a proper col, with a gentle grass dome nearby overlooking the valley, and a clear hint ahead that the glen soon to be entered will provide good things to enjoy.
The Aussois glen is a rewarding place to wander. The trail picks its way along the western slopes some way above the Plan d’Aval man-made lake, with its thunderous roar of water floating on the breeze. The cascade seen far below is part of a hydro-electric scheme, the fall bursting from a 17-kilometre pipe used to divert water from streams near the head of the Doron gorge. The trail climbs over a rocky bluff, then crosses a broad, open, moorland-like stretch running with streams in the early season, and fine views across the glen to the Dent Parrachée and Pointe de Bellecôte. Beyond this moorland the way veers to the right and eventually drops steeply to a shelf bright with alpenroses, below which a bridge crosses a stream draining the upper glen. There follows a short exposed section of footpath, but this soon gives way to easier terrain and a dirt road that makes a traverse of the eastern hillside. This dirt road passes just below Refuge du Plan Sec, with a narrow trail climbing in a few moments up to it.
Refuge du Plan Sec to Refuge de l’Arpont
On the third stage the route enters the Doron valley which later provides some of the loveliest of all Vanoise scenery. In order to gain that valley from Plan Sec, GR5 is once again adopted as the best route of access; the same trail as that used by the Tour des Glaciers de la Vanoise on the way to Refuge de l’Arpont. From Plan Sec the dirt road is followed a short way downvalley, then a narrow trail forks across meadows and teeters along the steeply plunging hillside quite 1100 metres above the ribbon of l’Arc. A short gully is climbed by a tightly twisting path, then a wide and easy trail breaks away on a rising traverse followed by switchbacks to an open grass saddle near the ruins of La Turra above the unseen Monolithe de Sardières. Another twisting uphill trail leads to a comfortingly easy traverse of a combe, beyond which one further saddle is crossed by more chalet ruins at La Loza. By straying a few paces from the trail onto a nearby hillock, an extensive panorama may be enjoyed which includes both La Grande Casse and La Grande Motte to the north of the Doron gorge, while north-east across the valley the continuing trail of the Tour of the Vanoise can just be seen, as can Termignon nestling at a junction of streams 1000 metres and more below.
After rounding a spur at La Loza the trail cuts across another large combe (snow patches early in the summer) and tops a bluff marked on the map as Montafia. Just beyond this the route curves into the Combe d’Enfer, a charming corrie wild above and vegetated below. On its north-eastern side there’s a small farm advertising home-made cheese, drinks and couchettes - a remote lodging reminiscent of that experienced by the Victorian pioneers. Now heading north-west the trail lines the mountainside walling the Doron gorge, and on the final approach to the hut crosses numerous streams draining the Glaciers de la Vanoise - streams that have cut deep channels in the natural hillside shelf. Cascades pour their silver over a line of cliffs above to the left, while Refuge de l’Arpont sits perched on a narrow levelling hillside spur projecting from the Dôme de Chasseforêt, gazing south to the far boundary of the Maurienne.
Refuge de l’Arpont to Refuge du Vallonbrun
Above Arpont high mountain views increase in grandeur on one of the best of all stages of this ever-delightful tour. Continuing north along the western wall of the Doron gorge, the way hiccups over a series of bluffs and open pastures with the hint of glaciers above, and the dark face of the Pointe de la Réchasse disguising the full extent of the much bigger Grande Casse rising behind it. Glacial torrents dash through the pastures and glens rough with old moraines, while other glens off to the right entice with their own mystique. La Grande Motte shows itself above shadows that tell of the Vallon de la Leisse through which the route will return in four or five days’ time, then a sudden descent is made to the head of the Doron gorge and a confluence of streams - that which drains the Vallon de la Leisse itself, and the Torrent de la Rocheure coming from the east. An old dairy farm sprawling on the hillside above to the north houses the Refuge d’Entre Deux Eaux. Described as being “long and low, rising at one end to a second storey,” the refuge seems hardly to have changed since Janet Adam Smith first stayed there in 1935. Full of character and surrounded by the calm of remote mountain country, “the way to the south lies wide open, letting the sun in at all seasons.” (Mountain Holidays) But the Tour of the Vanoise chooses to ignore Entre Deux Eaux on this occasion, and instead rises to the south over hillsides thick with shrubs until a more open pastureland is reached which leads easily to the PNV’s Refuge du Plan du Lac with its memorable outlook west to the Glaciers de la Vanoise across the depths of the unseen gorge.
Stage five leads to another PNV hut, Refuge du Vallonbrun. It’s a varied day’s walking of about six hours, heading south from the start and soon passing alongside the sparkling lake of Plan du Lac (spectacular reflected views looking north), then down to Bellecombe at the limit of access for private vehicles on the road from Termignon. At this point a trail cuts off to the east, crossing rolling pastures and soon leading round a huge open pastoral cirque sparsely dotted with simple farms below the Crête de Côte Chaude. The southern end of this cirque comes at the Turra de Termignon, a fine viewpoint on a spur of the Crête de la Turra (an extension of the Côte Chaude crest), which overlooks the deep valley of l’Arc. A small summer-only farmhouse nestles here under the ridge in a dramatic situation. The trail drops past it and continues to descend steeply through natural rock gardens and dense forest. Coming to a forest track the way eases on what becomes a long eastward traverse; the track eventually giving way to a footpath that climbs to the unmanned Refuge du Cuchet, then resumes its belvedere course below the Grand Roc Noir all the way to Vallonbrun.
Refuge du Vallonbrun to Val d’Isère
From Vallonbrun to Bonneval-sur-Arc is an undemanding stage in which the Tour of the Vanoise explores flower-rich meadows in the bed of the Haute-Maurienne. A short distance upvalley from Refuge du Vallonbrun, by the side of a small chapel, a path descends through pastures, creeps alongside yet more ruined buildings, and continues in a series of steep zig-zags to Le Collet, a small hamlet crowded on the Col de la Madeleine. From here to Bonneval the trail remains on the north bank of l’Arc. It passes through meadows, visits Bessans and Le Villaron (both of which have accommodation), followed by a gentle walk to Bonneval for a night’s lodging. There are hotels in Bonneval and nearby Tralenta, a CAF chalet-refuge, and another privately-owned hut (Refuge du Criou) which stands on the mountainside to the south-east.
Bonneval is linked with Val d’Isère by a road that crosses Col de l’Iseran. The Tour of the Vanoise also uses the Iseran, but fortunately manages to avoid the road for all but a very short stretch, in so doing wanders through the charming Vallon de la Lenta and a narrow rocky gorge crossed in one place by a more or less permanent snow bridge. In order to gain the Vallon de la Lenta a sharp ascent is made of the hillside above and behind Bonneval. There follows a brief stretch along the Iseran road, then a gentle amble through the Lenta glen where a few stone chalets enjoy a vision of great beauty, gazing back as they do across the Maurienne to the Albaron and Ciamarella group of mountains. A footbridge spanning the Lenta stream brings another trail in from the left - an alternative high-level route used by a variant of the GR5 from near Bessans by way of the unmanned Refuge du Molard and the Vallon amphitheatre.
Soft pastures in Vallon de la Lenta are soon exchanged for the narrow gorge, emerging at its northern end by the road bridge of Pont de la Neige. The road is ignored as a trail continues along the left-hand hillside, rising steadily to the Col de l’Iseran. Here the road is crossed and a narrow trail followed down through the scoop of Vallon de l’Iseran, unhappily littered with ski machinery. However, all this is soon left behind and Val d’Isère reached by a fragrant forest trail; the best way to enter this bustling resort.
Val d’Isère to Entre Deux Eaux
Although lacking the kind of tranquillity experienced in mountain refuges adopted for overnight accommodation elsewhere on this tour, it has to be said that for such a busy resort Val d’Isère is not entirely without grace, and it provides an ideal opportunity to restock with provisions for the next stage or two which return the route to the confines of the National Park across Col de la Leisse. However, before the delights of the Vallon de la Leisse may be won, a cross-country trail is taken to the ski grounds of Lac de Tignes and Val Claret. Headed by an easy saddle, Vallon de la Tovière makes an innocent link, but all who love wild places will scurry past Tignes and Val Claret as fast as their rucksacks allow, in order to regain uncluttered landscapes. Col de la Leisse provides that renewal, although on the slopes of La Grande Motte, soaring high overhead, a string of cableways can be seen, and even in summer skiers, tiny in the distance, weave patterns on snowfields gleaming in the sunshine. Descent into Vallon de la Leisse allows spiritual refreshment through the harsh colours of nature’s raw artistry. Bare rock walls, boulders patterned with green and khaki lichen, dusty screes, meandering streams and grey marsh, plus a tarn or two, black when cloud-shadows drift across, take the trail to the tent-shaped Refuge de la Leisse; three buildings, in fact, overlooking the lower western end of the glen that curves out of sight to the left. Edelweiss star the slopes around the hut, and chamois and marmot inhabit the grasslands lower down.
Stage nine of our circuit crosses Col de la Vanoise on the way to Pralognan, but walkers with sufficient days in hand may be seduced into diverting from the main tour in order to explore the delights of the Rocheure glen that runs east to west on the far side of the Vallon de la Leisse’s southern wall of mountains. There are two overnight options to consider. The first is Refuge de la Femma, a PNV hut charmingly situated deep inside the Vallon de la Rocheure; the second is Refuge d’Entre Deux Eaux already described on the stage from Arpont to Plan du Lac. If the latter is chosen, the following day’s walk to Pralognan will not be quite so demanding, and it also means that the Rocheure glen can be wandered without a rucksack - or at least, with an even lighter ‘sack than normal. Assuming this to be the case, leave Refuge de la Leisse and walk down-valley on a good path that remains on the left bank of the stream as far as the humpbacked Pont de Croé-Vie, a stone bridge that takes the main trail to Col de la Vanoise. Ignore the bridge and continue down the left bank as far as Entre Deux Eaux, and there book a bed for the night and leave any non-essential baggage, before continuing beyond the hut to cross the Rocheure torrent a short distance below. Over the stream bear left through the glen to Refuge de la Femma, reached in a little over two hours from Entre Deux Eaux. It’s a fine, undemanding walk, with gentle views upvalley, and more challenging views back to the west to be enjoyed on the return. And the hut itself is both comfortable and welcoming, providing an enjoyable interlude.
Entre Deux Eaux to Modane
The continuing tour across Col de la Vanoise, resumes its uphill course on the west side of the Pont de Croé-Vie, twisting among alpenroses, then easing a little among boulders before entering the high, bleak trough that runs between Pointe de la Réchasse and La Grande Casse. This trough can be quite a wind-funnel, but on calm days the almost level trail may be enjoyed at leisure, while mountain walls rising on either side add an air of wild grandeur. Cushion plants do their best to brighten the way, and once they’ve lost the ice flows of spring, a couple of small tarns near the col itself cast reflections of sharp aiguilles. In three and a half hours from Refuge de la Leisse (a little less from Entre Deux Eaux) you should arrive at the Refuge du Col de la Vanoise, then decide whether to take the main trail down to Pralognan via the north side of the Aiguille de la Vanoise and Lac des Vaches, or follow a longer and less-trodden way past Lac des Assiettes and below the Glacier and Grande Aiguille de l’Arcelin.
It would be possible for fit walkers to reach Modane in a single day from Pralognan by way of Col de Chavière. In certain cases it may be necessary to do so, but it would be a shame to rush this final crossing for there’s still plenty on the tour to absorb and enjoy. The alternatives are to either plan a short day’s walk as far as Refuge de Péclet-Polset, or continue over the Chavière, but instead of going all the way down to Modane, spend a last night in Refuge de l’Orgère. Should you have a train to catch next morning, it would still be feasible to do so after breakfast at Orgère, for it’ll only take a couple of hours to reach the station from there.
Leaving Pralognan the trail to Péclet-Polset goes through forest for a while on the east bank of the river, then crosses to the other side at Pont de Gerlan. A track is then followed to Les Prioux, a small hamlet with accommodation in the Chalet-Refuge le Repoju. Immediately beyond Les Prioux it becomes necessary to walk for a short distance along the valley road as far as an unsurfaced parking area near Pont de la Pêche. Back on the west bank once more the route follows a track for some way through pastures with bare mountains on either side, but with growing views of snowfield and glacier towards the head of the valley. The track narrows to footpath which rises steadily from one natural step to the next until rolling grassland gives way to more savage terrain. And there, above the trail to the right, stands Refuge de Péclet-Polset.
South of the refuge stony mounds and scree-runnels, hollows and boulder tips make an uncompromising scene. But there are also poor patches of grass and a few small pools to brighten an otherwise drab landscape. Col de Chavière is reached in less than an hour and a half from the hut. A narrow saddle in a sharp crest of stone, it is without question the finest true col on the Tour of the Vanoise. Marked by a large cairn, both sides plunge steeply to scree and rock, and on the proverbial clear day views are impressive. To the north-east Mont Blanc can be seen, while to the south-west Mont Thabor and major summits of the Écrins massif swell against the horizon.
Descending scree at first, the southern side of the col soon leads to a choice of routes. One leads down the right-hand side of the Tête Noir’s dividing bluff into the glen drained by the Ruisseau de St Bernard, the other traces the east flank of Tête Noir before dropping steeply to Refuge de l’Orgère. Both routes combine in forest to the south and descend directly to Modane in the Maurienne.
To summarise, the Tour of the Vanoise makes a very fine circuit; not too demanding but scenically delightful throughout. Accommodation is plentiful, trails good, waymarks sufficient without being intrusive. But as the Vanoise National Park is extremely popular during the main summer season, walkers intending to tackle this route, especially from mid-July to mid-August, are advised at least to telephone ahead to reserve places in mountain huts. Note that snow often lies across some of the higher trails well into July, and caution is then advised.
Tour of the Vanoise - Summary of Circuit
Day 1: Modane - Refuge de l’Orgère
Day 2: Refuge de l’Orgère - Col du Barbier - Refuge du Plan Sec
Day 3: Refuge du Plan Sec - Refuge de l’Arpont
Day 4: Refuge de l’Arpont - Refuge du Plan du Lac
Day 5: Refuge du Plan du Lac - Turra de Termignon - Refuge du Vallonbrun
Day 6: Refuge du Vallonbrun - Bessans - Le Villaron - Bonneval-sur-Arc
Day 7: Bonneval - Col de l’Iseran - Val d’Isère
Day 8: Val d’Isère - Pas de la Tovière - Col de la Leisse - Refuge de la Leisse
Day 9: Refuge de la Leisse - Col de la Vanoise - Pralognan
or: Refuge de la Leisse - Refuge de la Femma - Refuge d’Entre Deux Eaux
Day 9a: Refuge d’Entre Deux Eaux - Col de la Vanoise - Pralognan
Day 10: Pralognan - Refuge de Péclet-Polset
or: Pralognan - Col de Chavière - Refuge de l’Orgère
Day 11: Refuge de Péclet-Polset - Col de Chavière - Modane
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