Monday 8 August 2022
| Distance (km) | 14 kms | |||
| Distance (time) | 6 hrs | |||
| Climb / Descent | 890m / 1030m | |||
| Hard / Soft surface | 10% / 90% | |||
| Landscape |
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| Weather |
 31° 2 Bft
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It's the last walking day already, amazing. Since the temperature remains high and we have a bus to catch in Larche we don't want to leave late and so we decide to
go for breakfast as soon as possible, which is at 7:00. We're clearly not the only ones with that thought because it is a bit of a mahem in the dining room when we
arrive, but we manage to get some cereal, bread and juice. At 8:00 we start walking. We pass through the hamlet that actually has a tiny grocery store which is also the local bar. The elderly couple that we met the day my shoe broke down is waiting for it to open as they want to buy some bread to bring for lunch. Since we're still having a lot of cereal bars and stuff we decided not to buy any bread or lunch package today and just get rid off the cereal bars. And so we pass them and head for the first col of the day. Until the remains of an old military building (Fort de Plate Lombarde) we follow a gravel road winding up the mountain. It is in places in bad condition, but generally it is not too difficult or steep. After the fortress we now have a narrow trail that hardly goes up anymore. We were walking quite high above the small stream Riou de Fouillouse but now going upstream and not climbing means that at some point we will be next to the stream again. And indeed that happens. We cross the stream and start climbing again through pastures. The tricky part here is that from a distance the climb through the pasture looks pretty gentle, but in practice it is not. The final climb to the col is a rather steep and very rocky path up that we climb very slowly. Ahead of us we see the group of 6 (formerly 8) French and behind us still the elderly couple. So the whole mob from Maljasset and Fouillouse is going to Larche as well. At the top of the steep rocky part we find out we're not at the pass yet. That is another 200m further, fortunately not climbing that much anymore. When we finally get to Col du Vallonnet the 6 French are about to pack their stuff and continue and so we sit down completely on our own while having something to eat. A few minutes later the elderly French couple arrives at the col as well, but they find it too cold here to sit too long (while we are in fact enjoying the cool breeze up here). Well, they will probably be descending faster than we do so it is good they go first. About 10 minutes later we also decide to buckle up and start descending. We don't have to descend much because other than other days we are not just going from the valley up the pass and back down the next valley on the other side. We will actually stay at higher altitude to pass a second col, slightly higher, before descending to Larche. And indeed, it is going down very gently along a small stream. At some point we see sheep coming from the right and it looks like they're going to cross the path we're walking on. Now sheep in this part of the Alpes means guardian dogs (Patous) and we're not fond of dogs in general. So we push for a little sprint to make sure the sheep will cross the path behind us. In front of us a family with 2 donkeys and 3 dogs appear and the dogs of the family and the Patous of the herd have an interest for each other, and not necessarily friendly. Wasn't there some kind of rule that one should keep dogs on a leash? Anyway, we don't like to be in the middle of this and decide to walk on and leave a possible inter-dog encounter behind us. We pass what was supposed to be the lower Lac du Vallonnet, but the lake is completely dry. Where the path to St.Ours splits off we the descent is mostly done and from here to the old military road of Viraysse we now roll up and down over a narrow track along the mountain side. The military road is just a gravel road passable for 4x4 vehicles only, leading to old military barracks dating back to the late 19th century. We can in fact already see the barracks and the walk there is not too bad. At the barracks we see the col is really not that much higher and within 10 minutes we're there. The elderly French couple is already there and we have the feeling they were waiting for us to arrive, because shortly after they said they will descent a bit because they again find it to windy and cold up here. We don't mind the wind, and so we sit down a bit sheltered behind a rock to have something to eat. The descent is again very well laid out as we have noticed before in this part of the Alpes. The path winds down in many hairpins but is never steep, just a bit narrow though. There a few very eroded bits that require a bit more caution, but then we arrive on the Plateau de Mallemort and we descend gently down a grassy slope. We also see our French friends here again who are indeed having lunch. And of course here where it is getting easier I manage to fall. Not hard, just on my butt, but to get up I put my hands on the ground, my right hand in some nasty little thorn plant so that I end up with a hand full of little nails. I can get quite a few out but some are already to deep and now grabbing the handles of my walking poles is rather unpleasant with those nails in my hand. But not much I can do about it. Until we reach another bunker the descent is very gradual, but after that it becomes steeper again and since we're getting tired and I'm not on the most ideal shoes we have to be careful. In this part the French couple passes us again and they descend so much faster that they are soon out of sight. We are happy to reach the wider gravel road along the stream that brings us to Larche. Almost there. When we enter Larche and arrive at the main road to Italy we see that at the terrace at the other side of the road the group of 6 and the elderly couple have sat down. When they see us they beckon us to join them and so we do. We have to wait 2 hours for our shuttle to Barcelonnette so we have some time to kill here. It ends up being a very nice end of this year's walk with fellow walkers and a drink. To our surprise the Dutch girl that we met on Col Girardin also arrives and apparently in Maljasset she was in the same refuge as the elderly couple, because they know her too. So she joins the whole bunch as well for a drink. Then it's time and the shuttle arrives. We say goodbye to the other walkers that will continue a bit more - most of them will go until St.Etienne-de-Tinée whereas the Dutch girl actually wants to go all the way to Menton. It has been a pleasant though slightly hot 2 weeks. Until next year. |
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