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Through the Col de Marinet

Is there anything I can write about the Alps that's not already been said? Probably not except my own take at one of the most spectacular, long distance traverses along the western arm of one the most spectacular mountain ranges. A bit of blah, blah, blah too...

Trail and terrain

The GR 5 is a very good trail. Tread and signalling are excellent if not even excesive, at times, for the latter. Following the trail is hence easy but as usual in the mountains I wouldn't like to be out there without at least a proper map, most useful in the higher areas in case of bad weather conditions when getting a sense of the surroundings may be difficult through direct observation.

Junctions are plenty and the trail regularly visits civilization where the route turns into a maze but signalling was almost always outstanding.

There are some sections on tarmac near the villages but usually not too long. It's common to walk on dirt roads of varying quality but with very limited or no motorized access.

The elevation gain and loss is huge all along, a thousand meters at a time is almost daily routine. I guess most of the terrain doesn't call for a high level route so visiting valley bottoms is the norm. It's also common to find steep sections on the trails.

Forest walking is not rare but it usually happens near civilization. Most common is open terrain above tree line (whatever the tree line means). Alpine meadows are usual and incredibly beautiful to walk through but also an exposed place with little reference points in case of bad weather.

Weather

Mostly as expected, with usually hot days and afternoon cloud build-up. I went through a couple of bad weather spells which lasted a day or two and some instability towards the end of the trip in early September but in general the weather was gentle with me. Mid-day heat was overwhelming at times, particularly in the northern sections due to, I believe, the high humidity.

Afternoon storms were not usual but the clouds would gather almost daily, sometimes leading to some sprinkle towards the end of the day. I found odd how often it would rain a bit sometime during the night which made the tarp almost mandatory but most times it would be a very quiet and peaceful rain that didn't last long.

People

Lots of people on the trails as expected on such an accessible trail system but just because motorized access is always within a day's walk the vast majority of users would be day hikers. I didn't find many who seemed to be there for more than a day. Very few of those looked like they'd be camping. Of all those I got to talk to, only one was hiking the whole of the GR 5.

Any summer day at the Col de la Vanoise

I couldn't relate to most of the people I'd meet. This is odd: lots of hikers but not much social interaction. It'd be crazy to stop and talk to everybody but I wouldn't have much in common to talk about anyway.

It is also remarkable the type of hikers on the trail: a good number of them would be people in or around their 60s, probably retired. There was also a good number of families with children. Groups were far more common than solo hikers and big groups were common.

It seemed to me not many thru-hike the GR 5 even though the fact that most who do go north to south may make difficult to meet other thru-hikers. It also looked like the trails on the GR 5 are mostly used as day hiking activities and easy access to the mountains for those not into more technical climbing.

Villages

Going through villages is something that happens almost everyday on the GR 5; usually, more than once a day so it's a key part of the experience. With recreation being such a big part of the scene in the Alps, it's taken over a lot of the rural environment and some locations have more lodges and restaurants than farms and sheds. I tried to not spend much time in the urban but still feel a quick overview of what can be expected might be of interest. North to south:

Reyvroz

First village met worth the name, first clear water spring on central location of many about to come.

La Chapelle D'Abondance

Beautiful valley, recreational village with a traditional feel mostly spoilt by the main valley road being the main street.

Samoens

I had to spend a full day here due to illness. Good size village, busy with tourism but otherwise quiet and lots of beautiful, big mountains around.

Les Houches

In the Chamonix valley but a bit away from all the big surf, still divided by a secondary road. Touristy, as usual.

Les Contamines-Montjoie

A wider than usual valley gives more sense of room to yet another road-transected, tourism sold nice little village with the most enticing boulangeries imaginable to the hiker.

Valezan

At last, some rural appeal high on the slopes of the Iseran Valley. No transecting road here and very limited services but the hostel looked great.

No flat land in Valezan

Bellentre

At the Iseran valley bottom, Bellentre seems to take the worst of both worlds: no tourist resort aseptia neither traditional charm and little services. Maybe I was feeling gloomy that afternoon.

Montchavin

Hanging on the southern slopes of the Iseran valley, Montchavin is touristy but quiet and the traditional architecture is beautiful and very well preserved. Full service in a little packet and the campground is very nice.

Shame for the van. Otherwise nice old town

Tignes-le-Lac / Val Claret

Amazingly distorting winter resort with lots of summer life. The huge 9 storey blocks are particularly out of place in a formerly beautiful glacial bowl.

Odd moraine in Tignes

Val D'Isere

Another narrow valley with a main road and a resort built around it with little to no traces of the village it must have been. At least, the campground is simple and quiet.

Bonneval Sur Arc

I only surveyed Bonneval from high in the valley slopes but it looked beautiful, just off the main road and secluded at the head end of the beautiful Arc Valley. I wished I had gone down to visit.

Bessans

Farther down the Arc Valley which probably lessened the tradition to tourism ratio but still a quiet, charming village at the flat bottom of an impressing valley.

Bessans-sur-Arc

Pralognan-La Vanoise

At a wide turn of a green valley and at the very feet of the Vanoise mountains, Pralognan is touristy but quiet. I appreciated the effort to promote pedestrian over motorized traffic.

Modane

Just around mid-trip between Leman and Mediterranean, Modane is a sizable village that looked perfect for a major ressuply and some rest. It turned out not such a good idea: a decaying town in a trans-frontier transport hub where railway lines take the place of pastures in the valley flats. At least, the supermarket is big so the ressuply part was true and the campground was a welcome island of peace that almost saved the experience.

Worn-out Modane

Montgenevre

An ancient ski resort is still modern by historical standards. Pass by quick.

Briançon

The only real sizeable town that's on-trail. The strategic location makes for a wonderful history lesson and the old town is a must visit. Probably a good place to take a break if the urban environment is no problem.

Briançon, old town

Brunissard

Extremely quiet hamlet though it seems it's more recreational than rural nowadays. The setting is magnificient in an open valley with a view.

La Chalp

So close to Brunissard it's almost the same village but here the main road goes across. Better the former.

Chateau-Queyras

100% touristy but with an emphasis on the traditional. The castle is a very nice view.

Ceillac

I liked Ceillac. I found it a nice mix of rural an recreational in a superb setting at the usual valley bottom, not too enclosed this time and with beautiful mountains around. The two successful visits to the local boulangerie certainly influenced my impression.

Maljasset

A tiny hamlet with literally four or five stone buildings two of which are lodges of some kind. The CAF hut is certainly nice. Amazing scenery.

Larche

Largely impersonal village, quiet but with no particular charm. The road along it is secondary but trans-border so I guess it tends to get busy.

Bousieyas

The tarmac of the winding road is the only flat-like thing in this tiny, stony hamlet. The hostel feels nice.

St. Dalmas le Selvage

Beautiful village where everything from walls to ground seems to be stone. Secluded setting among lesser mountains with a somewhat mediterranean feel.

St. Etienne de Tinée

Sizeable village at the urban side of rural but with a traditional, not so touristy feel. The Tinée valley definitely shows the mediterranean environment.

Auron

Just a ski resort. Shops. Restaurants. Pass by.

Roya

Another small, stony village with flavor in a secluded location. Scenic outside seating at the bar.

Roure

Amazing, almost aerial location in a steep mountainside for a village where there's basically nothing flat. Beautiful stone architecture and nice views towards the lower Tinée.

St. Sauveur sur Tinée

Winding urban plan following the winding road on the valley bottom. Not particularly scenic and a bit claustrophobic.

Rimplas

Scenic location on a secondary saddle (at least, there's some flat ground). The old buildings are beautiful; the new additions, awful.

St. Dalmas

Super-nice stone monument in a wide valley. The trunk road is quiet enought to not be too disturbing.

Sospel

A small town with yet some nice architecture. Urban busy but not too overwhelming for being just a day away from trip's end.

Menton

A touristy, beach location with a nice old town. Not too bad for an initial reintroduction to urban life for a hiker used to the mountains.

Trail life on the GR 5

Huts

The hut system is dense around the GR 5 as well as in many other areas of the Alps. Both the quantity and the quality of huts make a deep impact on the hiking experience.

Maybe I should start by taking care of the language: stuffed huts along the GR 5 hardly deserve that name but they are indeed worthy of the adjetive. To my view, they're more like hostels. Most have some kind of motorized access through dirt roads (not open to the public though) and they're indeed stuffed. There's usually a menu for all meals (and I mean an actual menu, with choices) and the few ones I stayed at had even electricity and hot water showers. Trailheads are hardly ever far away and many huts serve as a tavern and turning point for day hikers who take a drink before turning back. Or just tarvern for longer distance hikers.

Facilities are usually basic and sleeping is in bunks but I don't think that's enough to call something "a hut". Full accomodation doesn't fit in my idea of a mountain hut. Whatever we call them, these are hostels.

It became usual for me to stop by a hut almost daily for some coffee. Hiking was not coffee-free for me anymore! At the begginning of the trip, I was just passing by but it became evident that just ignoring the huts wouldn't make it feel like they were not there so I indulged. I would fight my own apprehension at taking advantage of something I wouldn't really need and was most probably taken up there by some dreaded motorized means... at least, coffee grains are a light and compact carry and the fuel needed wouldn't be much.

I slept on huts up to three times. One of those was by a public tarmac road so definitely not a mountain hut. Another was due to bad weather conditions in a very exposed area and I was happy to spend the night there, it was a small, cozy place. The third one was a mandatory happening within the Vanoise park limits where camping is not allowed and it probably was one of the most depressing times in this trip: a giant size, hotel like "hut" set up there in the name of preservation?... an urban trap full of urban people with urban attitudes, all that in the middle of the mountains. Sad.

The "hotel" at Peclet-Polset: mandatory jail in the Parc National de la Vanoise

I went through another two hut stays in the Vanoise but purposely chose those where camping was allowed nearby the hut itself and that eased the experience.

I like camping out most and I can still appreciate a simple hut for the protection it offers, particularly in bad weather conditions, without taking too much from the outdoor experience and providing nothing but shelter. The stuffed huts as found along the GR 5 are really far from this ideal.

Chalets d'alpage

In the summer, shepherds live in the mountains. Cattle too. The former take care of the latter and, among other things, get the milk and make cheese. Cheese is the traditional way of making long term use of the excess milk and making the cheese on-site has a definitive advantage: it's much more compact to transport it down to the valleys than the milk.
The Chalets d'alpage are the mountain huts where all this activity goes around. There usually are dirt roads that climb to them but they're off the regular road network. The hiking trails, however, often go through these huts so they become a source of potential clients and many shepherds' huts turn into rustic, monotemanic grocery stores: the cheese can't be anything but excellent and you can wave the local cows goodbye while knowing where your beaufortain came from.

Chalets d'alpage where local cheese is available for sale are particularly abundant in the northern section of GR 5. If you hike southbound, don't carry much cheese from home.

Boulangeries

French bread is so called for a reason: the french love freshly baked bread and pastries and availability is outstanding. The tiniest hamlet may have no shopping facilities but if there is one shop it will be a bakery (boulangerie). If there's no bakery, chances are an old fashioned van will blow a horn, open the door and expand the unmistakable smell.

Tele-boulanger in Val d'Isere

Boulangeries are a great place for hikers: if you're a hiker, you are allowed to eat everything you want! which is a great thing to happen in such a place. The array of choices is amazing too: puffy pastry with some fruity jam filling or cover is the most popular variety and no matter how hungry you are you won't be able to try them all.

Town visits on my GR 5 necessarily meant a bakery run. Always a well deserved one.

Boulangerie at Ceillac. Cakes from Les Contamines

Conflicts with the wildlife

The Alps don't stand out for the wildness and there are no big mammals to worry about. The goat-like chamois and bouquetin seem the most ubiquitous among the sizeable ones, relatively easy to spot and I never seem to remember which one is each.
Another common trail companion is the shy marmot, bound to be the main character in this comment.

¿Conflicts with the marmots? They're lovely, furry, beautiful animals not interested in hikers but maybe interested in hikers' sweat? That's what I can think of as a reason for that missing sock when I woke up from some alpine bivouac and went for my footwear...

My campsite was inmaculate and my night's sleep had been sound. Just there was one sock missing. I wondered if there were any marmot dens in the vicinity and voilá... less than 5 meters from my sleeping bag. Nothing blue visible from the distance but I took a closer look and voilá again: 20 cm in there was my (blue) wool sock, only a couple small holes but otherwise intact.

Marmot teeth in my sock

Maybe sweat (and the salt that goes with it), maybe just curiosity but it was neat to think a little marmot had been playing around during the night and I didn't even notice. It made me feel a bit more of a legitimate part of this world.

The mischievous marmot lives under the Roche des Glots

Gear

Most of the stuff is just as usual. I'll comment on those new or somehow relevant items.

Shoes - Inov8 Terroc 330

Maybe the most comfortable shoes I've worn on the trail, surely the lightest and probably the less durable. The Terrocs performed well and were very gentle on my feet but barely made it to trip end. The shoe body was still ok but the soles suffered; one of them got a crack under the ball of the foot that turned into an alpine glacier crevasse exposing the midsole which eventually also cracked.

A few days from trail's end

Only one of the shoes had this problem and I don't know if it's accountable to particular defect or just expected end of useful life. The sole on the other shoe was not broken but very worn out. The broken one made it to the end but had me wondering for two weeks and, most importantly, had an influence in my own footing as I spent those weeks taking good care of avoiding the seemingly most abrassive surfaces. Maybe more psychological than practical but a burden nonetheless.

I was happy otherwise with the Terrocs, they were very light and comfortable and proved to be all I needed to hike the mountains. I'm not sure I'll use them again for the long distance though: I expect my shoes to last at least one full season with all the shorter hikes included along the year. The Terrocs made it only because I "forced" them to and I have another alternatives that will last longer at a little weight cost and good comfort levels.

Terrocs after the journey

Shelter system

For the Alps, I went back to the classics I trust: a modular system with a tarp, bag cover and a plastic sheet for a floor.

Dusk approaching at the Combe de Crousette

I would expect camping in the Alps would have a lot in common with doing it in the Pyrenees or, in general, in the mountains in western Europe: lots of human activity in the valleys, trails and camping spots in high, usually exposed areas and not many chances to camp in sheltered or forested places. The shelter of choice must be able to cope with harsh conditions which may or rather will eventually happen.

The Golite Cave 2 works for this and, just as important, I know it does. Making it work in bad conditions and exposed locations can be tricky but I know it can be done and I can do it.

Ready to take some wind at the Col de la Sauce

The Cave 2 is big enough (the "2" means it's a two person shelter) for one to not need a bivy or bag cover but I love the versatility it provides as a wind break, stand-alone, star-gazing shelter for fair weather nights and general protection for the sleeping bag so I took again the 205 gr. penalty.

Everything worked as expected with not much chance to tarp-less bivouacs because of the high humidity and the potential for heavy condensation. A few windy episodes but the weather was mostly gentle with me on the GR 5. A few times I retreated into huts which is often an option; I could have done it under the tarp but it'd been challenging and I welcomed the easy way out.

Slopes of the Diosaz, one of my few, wet bivouacs

Pack - Golite Pinnacle

Literally, a last minute decision and change: ideally, I'd have taken with me my trusty, modified Granite Gear Virga that's about my perfect pack for the long distance but it's been already quite a few years and lots of miles and just the day before departure, while wrestling to pack everything inside, a strong pull produced a 10" rip. Quick visit to the sewing machine and several stitches later, the damage was kind of repaired but rip location, too close to a major seam, didn't help do a clean job and I couldn't trust it. The solution was in the packs closet...

Pinnacle to the rescue

The Pinnacle is my winter pack. Bigger and sturdier than the broken Virga, those extra liters are needed for the high volume winter stuff and the thicker nylon body is essential for carrying the sharp stuff like skis and crampons. It's yet an extremely simple pack, light enough to make it to the summer trips.

The Pinnacle performed well with one only problem that I obviously already know about: insufficient padding in the shoulder straps and a bit too simple waist harness make it a bit uncomfortable under heavy loads but nothing really serious. It'd be a bit of a burden only at the beginning of each stage with a big food load. I'd choose to improve those two areas at the price, I know, of a bit more weight. The front pocket is the only luxury in this otherwise spartan pack and a feature I hardly ever use and don't really need. Take the pocket out and reinforce the shoulder padding and waist belt for a more comfortable, equally light, almost perfect pack.

Pinnacle in the Alps: Créte de Gittes; Col de Chavière

Fuel

Discussion not about which one but how much. Butane gas is my choice for the long distance for the great autonomy it provides and how clean and simple to use it is. So far, I had always got a mid-size, 250 gr canister for every 4 week trip knowing it'd be more than enough so I could forget about fuel ressuply but my tests insisted the small size, 125 gr canister should be enough. You can't get much lighter than this! And the GR 5 is probably the perfect place to prove the tests right or wrong as civilization is always at hand and I'd surely not starve if I run out of gas.

The problem was with so much civilization around I didn't use the stove every night! but after 17 dinners and 2 coffee runs, I arrived in Menton with approximately still 45 gr of gas in the canister. Bottom line: the small one is all I need for my typical summer, one month trip. It just takes a bit of discipline.

Optimizing the cooking near Lac de Lauzanier, at the northern reaches of the Mercantour

Do it yourself: the perfect purse

One of the great, known advantages of the DIY is getting the gear to your exact specifications and needs. This applies to the big stuff (tents, sleeping bags, packs) as well as to the small details, not any less interesting when trying to optimize your kit. Actually, the corporate world may address the big stuff but usually forgets about the smaller things that wouldn't sell. And hikers do still need stuff like something to carry cash and docs.

This was still a kind of small, open issue for me. In my way of travelling it's usual to stop in civilization for a day+ at a time so I need an arrangement that works also in town and I was tired of those ultralight, supposedly bombproof, plastic ziplocks that wouldn't be practical to handle and would eventually fail.

I don't know if what I needed existed but I've never seen it; purses tend to be more complex than I need but it couldn't be easier to make one. Just remember the basis:

• Simple
• Light
• Easy to open and close
• Safe
• Water resistant
• Just the right size (for cards)

A piece of waterproof fabric, a couple seams and matching velcro strips: voilá, the perfect purse.

Voilá, the perfect purse

It bears mention I liked it so much now I use it for everyday town life too.

Published on July 7th, 2010