Vallon du Fournel and in the background the Pas de la Cavale. Photo taken from the Têtes belvedere in Puy Saint Vincent on 05/28/2020
GR 54 INFO
Live conditions (updated on 07/15/2021) :
The roads to Chambran and the Entre les Aygues car park are open. All the shelters are open.
COL AUP MARTIN: this now works without equipment (crampons / ice ax). There are 2 small snowfields (about 10m to cross) before the pass where you have to be vigilant but there is a good track. Under the pass, some of the logs that held the shale and the path have been washed away ... It remains physical and inconvenient to finish the last few meters up to the pass but it works! There is still a snowfield between the col de aup martin and the pas de la cavale. Stay vigilant but there is a good track.
VARIANT BY VALLON DU FOURNEL (via the col de la pousterle or col du bal): RAS
VARIANT VIA THE COL DES GRANGETTE (previous stage which arrives in Vallouise): RAS
Good GR54 to all!
Your stopover Monêtier Les Bains / Vallouise:
Generally, from the Le Florou gîte , you will follow the GR54 to the Eychauda pass to descend to Chambran (refreshment bar).
From there you have several possibilities (beware, it is hot on this very sunny side in the afternoons):
Follow the classic red and white markings of the GR, from Chambran to Vallouise: quite a few unpleasant sections of the road
Follow the paths on the balcony above Vallouise: from Chambran, follow the road for 1km5 to the 1st hairpin (point 1584 on the map above the hamlet of Choulières. Turn left and follow the path up above from Rière Pont to Vallouise Chambran / Vallouise descent route map: CLICK HERE
At the point marked 1432, go down to the right towards the Riou and cross the road and the bridge (blue kayaker on the map). Join Vallouise on the right bank of the Gyr.
Book the shuttle to pick you up and get you down to the lodge.
Variant :
This stage via the GR and the Eychauda pass still has the disadvantage of making you travel in the middle of the Serre-Chevalier ski lifts.
To avoid this, there is a variant via the Col des Grangettes: after the holiday village at Monêtier, turn right and go up the valley of the Grand Tabuc via “les Grangettes”. Pass the right bank after Les Grangettes and go up the valley of Montagnolle. Towards the middle, turn right onto the path that climbs to the “Col des Grangettes”. The view of Lake Eychauda is magnificent.
ATTENTION : this route (especially the climb to the pass) is dangerous at the start of the season because of the snow. The rest of the time, you still have to have the "mountain" foot. You have to put your hands a little and there are cables. It is not recommended to take this route in the Vallouise / Monêtier direction.
WARNING BIS: There were 2 collapses this winter and last summer towards the crest of the grangettes.
The descent is made logically towards the lake of Eychauda and Chambran to find the various possibilities described above.
The next step Vallouise / Pré de la Chaumette refuge :
Leaving from the gîte, you reach the “Entre Les Aygues” car park (on foot or via the shuttle).
From there, you go left into this large valley (sometimes still cut by large avalanches at the start of the season), then the Jas La Croix hut (source), Champ Rond (we often find snow from there at the beginning season) and the Aup Martin pass.
The latter dotted on the map is impressive from a distance but well laid out all the same.
However, these are shales that can be slippery and dangerous in the presence of snow, ice or even a thunderstorm. At the start of the season, in the presence of hard snow, the slope is very exposed in the event of a fall or slip and requires ice ax crampon.
The more we advance in the season, the more the snow bands become rarer, the exposure decreases and the snow is soft with a good trace… Then the path appears totally !!
Do not hesitate to ask us !!!
You then cross on the side, in a path sometimes sloping up to the Pas de La Cavale (view of the exposure, this passage is still quickly cleared of snow at the start of the season, but it is sometimes not very marked and on a slope especially because of snow (or even a thunderstorm).
You then descend to the Pré de la Chaumette refuge .
The variant via the Fournel valley and the Pas de la cavale:
When the Aup Martin pass does not pass, here is the variant (and which has nothing to envy to the classic route !!!
The Fournel valley is just splendid !!)
Purists will set off on foot from the gîte to climb to Puy Saint Vincent, to the Col de la Pousterle and to switch into the Fournel valley which we go up to the Pas de la Cavale. You can also go up the Narreyroux valley and switch over via the Col du Bal! Magical !
For others, the shuttle can drop you off either at the Col de la Pousterle or in the Fournel valley! You will undoubtedly find snow at the bottom of the valley before the ascent to Pas de la Cavale.
Please note that you will no longer have any visible markings or path. The pass is then on the left, you climb as much as possible and at least as steep.
From Pas de la Cavale, you can always leave your bag and go back and forth to the Col de l'Aup Martin !!
The shuttles:
It can be reserved when you arrive at the gîte . This usually picks you up at 7:30 am in front of the gîte to drop you off at the “Entre les Aygues” car park.
You thus avoid 8 km of road (certainly very pretty, but long all the same, taking into account the stage…).
Note that there is a path on the right bank of the Onde. The latter is more or less a hunter's path, not always easy to find ...
It is exposed in places above the torrent, cut at the beginning of the season by large avalanches (and sometimes even destroyed by these same avalanches)
At the start of the season, when the Aup Martin pass does not pass, this same shuttle can drop you off at the start of the variant, in the Fournel valley.
“GR-typed” services in Vallouise and within the gîte:
In Vallouise, you will find:
Ticket machine (next to the tourist office) (be careful often “dry” on Thursdays, market day)
Convenience store to refuel
Bakery (on the right when you are in front of the church and its fountain)
Pharmacy (on the main road, next to the park house, about 300m after the bridge facing the church)
3 sports shops ( Jacky sport , Ecrins sport and King’s )
Doctor and medical center
At the gîte, you can:
Order a picnic
Do some laundry in the sink of the free management kitchen
Dry on the outside and inside drying racks
Take a weather report
Book your next refuge if needed
Consult the maps
Book your shuttle for the next day if necessary
Fill your thermos with hot water
Quench your thirst with our drink menu