Béal Traversier tour with bivouac (Queyras)

Description

Note: this stay is proposed only on request and for constituted groups.

The conditions of accommodation in refuge being sometimes a little more complicated than usual in this summer 2020, it was necessary to innovate: why not set up a stay in comfortable bivouac but without portage?

This trek is the opportunity to have an original itinerary in this massif which is not very frequented by hikers and for good reason, there is no refuge! But no problem, we have our own! The one, two or three person tents are transferred each day by a logistician who will also take care of the luggage, the cooking and the campfire (or even the grills!).

As usual, the programme includes beautiful wild routes, large alpine pastures and rocky gaps, lost passes and forgotten lakes and of course superb panoramas of the Queyras and the Écrins in a peaceful mountain atmosphere. The little extra, a gentle return to the roots of hiking with comfortable bivouac accommodation in beautiful valleys far from the crowds.

If you want to discover differently this magnificent Queyras massif, I propose you several other treks:

• the discovery of the beautiful lakes of Ecrins and Queyras,
• the revisited tour of Queyras,
• the Viso tour off the beaten track,
• the discovery of the Queyras and its most beautiful lakes,
• the ascent of easy 3000 meters summits between Écrins and Queyras.

And to go further in your practice, you can follow this training in orientation and autonomy in the mountains which takes place in the Hautes-Alpes.

Program

D1: The Fontouse valley.
Starting from Arvieux (meeting point at 9am) we will first climb through a pretty larch forest to reach the small valley of Fontouse under the Dent Ratier. Once we reach the pass, the view opens up onto the Guil gorges below and a clever route will allow us to switch to the Baoude pastures via a small gap from where we will have a panoramic view of the entire Queyras. The rest of the descent will be done quietly towards a nice flat area where we will join our logistician and set up camp for a first evening in a bivouac.
Positive altitude difference: 650 meters, negative altitude difference: 450 meters, 4 hours and a half of walking.

D2: The Furfande chalets and the Lauzet lakes.
The Furfande barns are vast grassy areas, topped by high cliffs and dotted with ancient alpine chalets made of larch wood, reddened by time. They are a delight for hikers who take the time to climb there. We will not sulk in our pleasure and we will cross them entirely to reach the col du Lauzet and its lake perched at an altitude of almost 2200 meters. If you want it (and if the weather is OK) we will visit the two superb upper lakes nestled in their rocky cirque.
Bivouac between 2000 and 2200 meters of altitude!
D+: 650m (850m with the variant), D-: 450m (650m with the variant), 4 hours and a half of walking (6 hours with the variant).

D3: From the Pra Reboul valley to the Bouchouse valley.
A long day, mostly off-path, in the mountain pastures to go from the Pra Reboul valley to the neighbouring Bouchouse valley. After a warm up descent in the melèzin we will take the shepherds' paths to reach the ridge and why not the summit of the Croix de Ratier and enjoy the superb view of the upper Durance valley and the Écrins, from the Serre Ponçon lake to the Vanoise and why not to the Mont Blanc if the weather allows it! We will then set up camp in the large welcoming plain of the Bouchouse valley where we will stay for two nights.
D+: 700m, D-: 1050m, 6 hours of walking.

D4: The lakes of Ascension.
After a good night's rest and a short warm-up through the old mountain pasture hamlets and the forest, we will go around the glacial locks of the Alpavin to reach the large plateau of the Ascension lakes. A beautiful end-of-the-world atmosphere in vast grassy areas dotted with lakes. Return to the Buchouse valley via the Peyron pass.
Night in the plain of Bouchouse.
D+ / D-: 600m, 5 hours of walking.

D5: The Pansier valley then the mountain pastures, lakes and chalets of Clapeyto.
At the bottom of the Bouchouse valley, the Pansier valley, overhung by the imposing Roc Chabrier, looks like a vast bumpy funnel invisible from below and defended by a glacial lock. It is a delight to walk along it to the Terre Blanche ridges and their strange gypsum craters where the famous alpine pastures of Clapeyto, their lakes and their chalets can be discovered. It is a postcard landscape that we will cross gently to Brunissard, then a short shuttle will bring us back to Arvieux, to the cars and to a cold drink to share to finish in beauty!
Separation in Arvieux at 5pm.
D+ / D-: 750m, 5 hours and a half of walking.

NB: The programme is given as an indication. I am the only judge of the programme, which I can modify at any time, for safety reasons or according to the weather conditions, or according to the physical and technical level of the hikers. The indications for the times of ascent and stages are given as an indication.

The price includes

• Supervision by the mountain leader.
• Accommodation in tents.
• Full board from the evening of day 1 to midday of the last day (prepared meal in the evening and picnic for lunch).
• All the necessary logistics for the bivouacs.
• Reduced price according to the number of participants.

The price does not include

• Your snacks.
• First day's picnic.
• Personal expenses: drinks, aperitif, etc.
• Civil liability, repatriation and cancellation insurance.
• Transport to and from the meeting point.
• Anything not mentioned in "The price includes".

Accommodation

• In a tent. Logistics provided by us. Equipment provided: tent, sleeping bag, ground pad. Recent and good quality equipment.
• Solar shower or torrent for the amateurs.
• Campfire, starry sky and grilled meat on the menu...
• The tents are transported from one bivouac to another by the logistician. The hike is done with the day backpack.

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