Cabin de Charger

A lovely, quiet valley walk into the Écrins National Park with spectacular cliff scenery.   

TOTAL DISTANCE: 15km
APPROXIMATE TIME: 4hrs

START: Les Gourniers
FINISH: Les Gourniers

You do not always have to be slogging up a hillside to have a good walk; this valley walk at the very edge of the Écrins National Park is a varied walk with beautiful scenery. 

The view which awaits you at the head of the valley.

The walk begins in the small hamlet of Les Gourniers, a few hundred metres up the road from the village of Realon.. Les Gourniers is beautifully quaint and very tranquil: the highest settlement in the Realon valley, cars are not allowed into the hamlet unless for access; the Écrins National Park information centre is found in the basement of a small cottage; the sound of the river Realon - which bisects the hamlet - is often the loudest noise you will find here. There is a lot to love about Les Gourniers, not least its walks; this walk to the Cabin de Charger is one of the best. 

Park at the very entrance of the town near the small shelter and toilet block, and head towards the main cluster of houses which makes up the small settlement. Continue up through the houses and pass the aforementioned national park centre. Despite the presence of the centre in Les Gourniers, you'll have half an hour's walk before you reach the national park boundary itself.

Continue out of town and onto the dusty track which leads up the valley. There is an incline but it isn't steep.


View this route on a Larger Map

As the path veers left and you head towards some of the magnificent cliff faces of the valley, you'll become aware of the river Realon below you in the valley; this river is your companion for much of the journey.

As the path now runs next to the slabs of rock to your left, make sure to glance at the opposite hillside of rock and pasture. This is not only because of the ethereal waves and patterns on the cliff faces, caused by thousands of years of erosion, but also as you may be able to spot a marmot. If you're lucky, you may even be able to spot a chamois (the alps' elusive mountain goats). Binoculars are a recommendation.

Following the cliff faces, the torrent of water from the hillside above intrudes on the path somewhat on its way down to the Realon; take extra care on this section of the path, particularly as the you climb further and further away from the river.

Soon after, however, you will reach the sign indicating the boundary of the Écrins national park. Just beyond this is the first of three buildings on the walk, this one being an old catholic chapel.

In many of these isolated areas of the Alps, these old chapels are some of the only buildings for miles. They are almost always very small and quite plain, with occasional rock sculptures or ornate windows marking some apart from others. They are almost always worth a look inside, whether you are of that religious persuasion or not. 

Continue along the path towards the head of the valley. Very soon after the chapel, there is a fork in the path. Make sure to take the bottom of the two paths, the one indicated by the right arrow on the small yellow signpost.

Soon after this you will reach a ford. Cross the two small bridges and perhaps take a break; the small river itself offers a good stopping point, and if you are fortunate the edge of the gorge will also provide some shelter from the sun.

Continue up the track. This is perhaps the steepest section of the path, though it is not far to the next building on your journey. This is the first of the two cabins (the other one being your objective, the Cabin de Charger). Here, the river rises up to meet the path and much of the walk from this point on takes the form of open alpine meadows, with beautiful wild flowers sharing the land with greenish grass.

This doesn't mean, however, that the scenery becomes bland or stale: spectacular rocky landscape and cliff faces tower above you to the left, while views of scenic waterfalls open up in front of you as you continue along the path towards the head of the valley and along the river.

The valley's rocky scenery and alpine pastures

Also notable are the alpine cattle, which occupy the higher pastures which you will reach at the end of the walk and occasionally inhabit the area around this first cabin also. The bells around their necks mean you will always hear them approaching and they are not at all aggressive. However, they can prove troublesome by occupying sections of the path. Walk around them and not through them if it is possible.

Continue along the track through the meadow and you will come to another ford. Cross the little bridge and follow the path up the hillside; soon you will get an even better view of this tributary river and a tremendous view of the cliff faces behind it to boot. The path is somewhat overgrown here, so check for insects on your legs once you've cleared this section.

Continue up this steeper section of the path and soon you will come to the cabin itself. Though it appears fenced off, access can be gained by going around to the right hand side of the fence.

For an even better view, carry along the path for approximately fifteen minutes and perch on one of the hillocks or drumlins which occupy this cirq. Sitting down facing the valley you can appreciate the cliff faces on both sides of valley. 

The view back down the valley

You can also see to your right the slopes of the famous Morfroide massif, while smatterings of snow can be seen on the ridge to the left.

Patches of snow on the ridges. You may also be able to see herds of alpine cattle (bottom right corner of picture)

Also look out for marmots, as they love high upland pastures like the area around the cabin de charger.

A marmot peaks out of its hole.

The one problem with valley walks is that it is difficult to form a circular route, thus retracing your steps is a given.  However, this does not feel like a chore with this walk, as the scenery is constantly changing and always spectacular. In fact, you'll probably enjoy the way back even more than the ascent.