Crête de La Gardette

A serene alpine pasture walk to a mountain pass and a hill with tremendous views.

TOTAL DISTANCE: 10.2km
APPROXIMATE TIME: 2hr 30mins

START: Les Gournieis
FINISH: Les Gournieis

This walk sees the return of the hamlet of les Gourniers, though rather than a valley walk the Col de la Gardette is a mountain pass at the end of a pleasant - though in places steep - walk up hillside and through meadow. Navigation can be tricky in places, but the views at the top are tremendous.

Start in the car park of the lovely little settlement of les Gourniers. While the entrance to the Ecrins national park swings on the road round to the right, instead travel along the road which skirts the east of town and up a slight incline. You should pass a series of (rather dusty) fields occupied by horses, who, depending on the weather, are probably sweltering in the summer heat.

Follow this road upward and past all the various clumps of houses. At the final huddle of houses the tarmacked road becomes a rocky track. The sign should indicate a track which cuts back across the road but higher. Take this track.


View this route on a Larger Map

Be sure to follow the red spots on the various rocks and trees, as these will guide you to the summit from  now on; if you haven't seen a red dot for some time, you're probably on the wrong path.

Continue along this track, until you come to the next signpost. Follow the route indicated as 'Col de la Gardette'. At the outset this is a terribly steep and rocky path, though if you persist the path becomes thinner and less harsh underfoot, and the incline becomes a little gentler.

Continue along this path through the forest; the red dots on the trees should be there to reassure you. At the next junction, on the brow of the final steep incline within the forest, there is the last signpost for a while. Follow the path round, as indicated,to the left, and you will find yourself in a glade. There is then a thin slither of a wall of trees, and then back into another clearing. From here, walk to the start of the next patch of woodland.

When you get to the entrance of this area of woodland, stop. Although there is what looks like a distinct path running through the woodland, fight your instincts and do not follow it. Instead,you should see a red dot on a tree to the right of this path. Walk to that tree. At this tree, you should see a further red dot to the south, beyond the trees. This rock marks the start of the actual ascending path up the open hillside.

From here navigation should be easy, as there are red spots mere metres from each other along the path, even if the path itself is indistinct. This path ascends through beautiful mountain meadows, before beginning to plateau and run along the contour of the bulk of hills above you.

As this happens, the land to the left of you begins to fall away in the form of rocky outcrops. Continue along the side of this level path along the steep section below you, after which the hillside opens up into a series of alpine pastures. These pastures explode with beauty; all of the time, the smell of wildflowers is ever-present.

The path continues up the side of a small revine; if there's no water in it make life easy for yourself and travel up the middle. At the head, carry the now-level path through another series of meadows before ascending briefly to the small Cabin de Gardette.

There's not much to see here, so carry the track round to the left. Pass the fairly new farm shed and cross the small plastic fence, then continue along the path all the way to the Col de la Gardette; you get a fantastic view of the Col and the little hill which sits atop it, the Crête, for the remainder of the journey.

Reaching the col, you get great views both behind you, towards the Ecrins, and through the gap in the hillocks, towards Gap and the Vercours. Its about to get even better.

Follow the path up the edge of the nobbly hill to the south east of the col – its not as treacherous as it looks –and sit atop the peak.

The Col de la Gardette

The view before you is fantastic: behind you, the pyramidal peak of Mourefroid juts out the top of the wall of the similarly-shaped mountains which mark the start of the Ecrins national park and the glacial wonders beyond. Below you to the south east the Lac de Serre-Ponçon sits shining, a constant tranquility of aqueous wonder. To the south, beyond the small peaks near to the town of Chorges, you may be able to see Mont Ventoux in Provence.  To the south west, the Vercours, the most westerly of the alpine national parks,  begins in earnest.

From here, you can take the path back down through the valley back to Les Gourniers, though because this consists of walking along roads I suggest to retrace your steps.

If you choose to retrace your steps for your descent, keep your eyes peeled. As you amble through the high alpine meadows, look to the north east and you may be able to glimpse the behemoth of the Brec de Chamberons and the Italian border. Similarly, look to the south east and you'll see the back of the rugged crags of the Aigiles de Chabrière.

A fantastic walk despite quite difficult navigation, this walk has some of the most unique views of any of the walks so far.