I couldn’t have thought of any better place to
start than the Écrins National Park,
which has become somewhat a regular for us over the years; we’ve been there in
every season, and every time its offering something new. This time of the year it’s thriving as the snow has melted not
long ago and the sun hasn’t been burning up the flora yet. We ended up taking a
zillion photos along the way (Stacey fully enjoyed the flower fields on and off camera), and
we had a couple of very close encounters with bulky marmots that didn’t
seem too scared of us.
The richness and diversity of the scenery make sure that this trail’s almost guaranteed to make your hike enjoyable, as it has everything from larch forests and alpine meadows to snow-covered glacier lakes.
The following day our crew was in full figure
as Denis joined us from his business trip. We drove past the Col du Lautaret (a mountain pass on the
way from Briancon to Grenoble
From there we started to push towards
another lake called lac du Goléon (2438m)
which lies below the peak its named after- Le Goléon (3427m). What started off
as a walk through a lavish greenery, turned into a steeper and rockier climb as we
approached the refuge of Goléon, located
right next to the lake. Talking about a scenic lunch spot!
To our surprise the
lake itself was still mainly covered with snow, and we walked just a little
further up that day (as it started to be really snowy after). On our way back
we got some fantastic views down to the valley and the peak of La Meije
Back at home we had a delicious and hefty
mountain dish Tartiflette for dinner.
The summer nights in mountains are pleasant, and after a hot day it’s nice to
sit out on the terrace and watch the sun plummeting behind the opposite slopes. After it gets pitch dark rather quickly and the chill kicks in (a quick fix: a
fluffy blanket and couple of candles). A few génépis* later, the day outdoors usually starts to take its toll and
by 10pm ,
everyone’s always more or less ready
to crash.
On our last day with Stacey and Alain we wanted
to take them on our annual high
altitude barbeque in Les Ayes. Every
summer we tend to do it at least once, as a ‘calmer’ day between the longer hiking days. There’s actually a great spot just after the Les Ayes cottages to get
your grilling on, and also couple of trails to walk around.
After eating we got
around a bit and followed the road till the Lac
de l’Orceyrette (a lake about 10min from the bbq spot), and further up
until the cottages of L’Alp.
Time flies when you’re having fun, especially
when you fill your days with outdoor activities and great company. The next
morning we had to get down to Provence
* Génépi is a digestif liqueur that's made of warmwood flowers that grow in high altitudes in particularly rocky and steep slopes. It has a greenish color to it and tastes quite sweet and strong.
