The northern corner of Alpes Maritimes offers quite peculiar alpine sceneries and hiking itineraries during the summer months. The road over Col de la Bonette closes sometimes quite early depending on weather after which access to today’s starting point at Camp des Fourches (2240 m) is not anymore possible.

We had previously hiked to Pas de la Cavale, and now wanted to explore the trail to Col de Pouriac (2506 m) at the Italian border.

Camp des Fourches

From Camp des Fourches we headed east along the GR5 trail, reaching Col des Fourches (2261 m) in less than 10 minutes. The vast area named Salse Morene was now below us, circled by majestic peaks. Spanish soldiers had coined it Salsa Moreno as the ravines turned to brownish sauce after heavy downpours.

Our day, however,  was clear and dry. The scenery was just amazing. We descended 180 m to the bottom of the valley known for its sinkholes, dolines. We crossed the dry Ravin de la Tour then passed a stone hut seemingly used by sheep farmers. Soon after the hut, we reached a crossroads and signpost #37. The GR5 trail forked left and a smaller unmarked trail turned to the right. Our trail was the middle one, and marked both with yellow (PR) and white/red as it was also the itinerary of the Grande traversée du Mercantour, GTM (17 days!).

We continued the ascent, heading northeast. Most of the trail was grassy and soft, easy on your feet. All of the itinerary ran inside the Mercantour National Park. We hiked past a few unnamed lakes before reaching the flat mountain pass of Pouriac (signpost #39). The long GTM trail descended to Ferrière  in Italy before re-entering France via Col du Fer.

We enjoyed the early autumn tranquillity together with numerous marmots, and returned to Camp des Fourches using the same trail.