Hiking and Cooking in the South of France

We had previously hiked twice from the hamlet of Valpréveyre (1850 m), to the mountain passes of Malaure and Urine, both on the Italian border.

Today’s goal was Col de Bouchet (2626 m). The mountain pass is at the foot of Bric Bouchet (2997 m), an impressive summit dominating the landscape east of Valpréveyre.

The first part of the itinerary was the same as to Col de Malaure. We were surrounded by pristine nature soon after leaving the hamlet. At about 2000 m elevation, at the confluence of the Bouchet and Malaure torrents we came to a big mass of snow (It was early July!), apparently after an avalanche the previous winter. We hiked over it and saw our trail which dove into a larch wood. We reached a crossroads where fading yellow arrows instructed us to fork left. It turned out to be just a shortcut as we remembered that the crossroads with a signpost was a bit higher up.

We continued the ascent, heading northeast in open high-alpine terrain with Bric Bouchet in front of us. We passed another crossroads where we took the right-hand path. The left-hand path went to Col de Valpréveyre north of Bric Bouchet.

The last stretch to the col was very rocky and steep. We were lucky with the weather and could admire the panorama on both sides of the border. On the Italian side, there was a refuge named Nino Sardi just below the col. There was a half-tame ibex. The nebbia (fog/cloud on the mountain relief here)  reached the pass when we were already descending. We saw some marmots on the alpine meadow and met just a few other hikers.

We used the same itinerary back to our starting point, now via the signposted Malaure/Bouchet crossroads.

We started from our hotel ideally situated in the village centre, passing the church. We climbed about 30 m above the village and located the trailhead with a signpost. We ascended along a dirt track in the Ségure Valley above the homonymous torrent. The ascent was gentle but continuous, in places steep. We saw only a few other hikers. During the initial ascent there were great views to Ristolas and the summits in the east. Higher up, the impressive summits around the verdant valley dominated the landscape. The trail was mostly soft and well-marked.  

Most of the itinerary followed the dirt track. 1,3 km/40 min. before the lake, we forked left along a good path now above the tree line. The path continued above the picturesque lake a bit. We stopped for a break before returning to Ristolas along the same trail.

The valley is used for lamb farming. While we were at the lake, the shepherds had brought a flock of sheep and goats next to the track. While ascending , we met the shepherds and they told us that there are a lot of wolves in this region. The guarding dogs slept outside of the fence. This time, we stopped for a few minutes, talked to them. They soon excluded any danger from our side and went back to sleep!

We started from signpost #17, heading southeast along a narrow unpaved road. At signpost #18, we forked left, still descending. We soon exited the dirt road and continued along a nice forest path. Gradually the incline became steeper and the path narrower when it undulated on southern flank of the mountain. We passed signpost #70, forking left here. We now headed east then straight north towards the plateau. Because of the heat on the south-facing flank and steep incline the stretch was a bit more challenging than anticipated.

Once above the forest, the path was less steep. We headed northwest along a grassy ridge reaching a viewing point at Les Claus (1750 m). In fact, there was an unobstructed panorama from everywhere on the vast plateau. Chapelle St-Jean Baptiste was on a nearby hill to the east.

We descended to sign post #57b then followed the marked path  near signpost #57a  but forked left before it. The path was a dotted line on the map and turned out to be a mountain biking and trail running itinerary. It followed an easy ski run and enabled a rapid descent back to our starting point.

We parked south of Beuil by the D28 road next to huge terracotta-coloured boulders and rocks. Our starting point, signpost #69 (1288 m; Pré de Chaudi) was 100 m to the south. Crossing the Cians River 11 years ago posed some problems. Now very little water flew in the river, but there wasn’t a footbridge as shown on the map, just stones.

We ascended in a dense forest along a good path above the Cians Valley, heading south. The direction gradually took an easterly direction and we reached clearings, Alpine meadows and ruined houses. The path markings were fading and some grassy stretches were overgrown. We now headed north to signpost #74 at Giarons (1658 m) with more ruins and apparently ancient farming and pasture land.

We forked south, and were mostly above the tree line. There were yellow markings. At 1800 m elevation, at a crossroads, we unintentionally took the right hand path, climbed to a larch wood under a hill. This path had fading old markings as well but as the path ended we climbed to our intended itinerary and continued to signpost #76. We forked left and climbed to Tête de Giarons. The summit offering a nice panorama was marked with a small iron cross and a stick. It was surrounded by a vast summit plateau.

On the way back, we took a shortcut from the summit directly to the trail used earlier then followed it back to our starting point.