Pic de Chabrières via the Serre de Mouton

A steep climb through woodland and ski resort-style open hillside, with great views to the south and east. 

TOTAL DISTANCE: 8.4km
APPROXIMATE TIME: 2hr 15mins

START: Lac de Saint Apollinaire
FINISH: Lac de Saint Apollinaire

If you are anywhere near the Lac de Serre-Poncon, you cannot help but notice the jagged points above its western edge. These are the Aiguilles de Chabrières, which sit proudly above the small village of Saint Apollinaire and its eponymous lac. This walk, whilst not taking you onto the craggy Aiguilles themselves, leads you onto the point in front of it, known as the Pic de  Chabrières. 

The Aiguilles de Chabrieres

The walk begins at the Lac de Saint Apollinaire. While calling it a lake is a slight exaggeration, this sheet of water is no doubt beautiful, and from here alone you have fantastic views of Pic de Morgon and the Queyras mountains.  I suggest parking outside the Campéole campsite, as there is usually a lot of space here, and then walking to the right hand side of the pond, heading towards the steep uphill track indicated by the white and red sign (see "Notes on signposting").

View this post's route on a Larger Map

From here, ascend up the path; this should take between 20 and 30 minutes, though due to the steep contours, perhaps allow for a little longer. The path snakes up through the pine forest; in summertime the paths are littered with pine-cones. 

At the top of this steep path you will hit a wider forest track which follows the contour of the hill. While in a couple of later posts we will be following this track round to the right, on this occasion follow  the track round to the left until, around the corner, appears another equally wide tributary track heading diagonally up the hillside. 

After following this track you will come to a small plateau or platform, on top of which nests a rather ramshackle hut or shelter. There is also a small water trough here; it should be fine to drink from though if there isn't a sign saying "l'eau portable" its probably best just to leave it alone! Take the signposted track to the left of this shack.

The following path through the remainder of the pine forest takes the form of lassettes, which is French for laces, basically meaning zigzags .

The nature of the path here therefore means that an otherwise steep trek up through the pine trees becomes a gentle walk, with the forest often giving way to open, sunny glades with yellow grass, wild flowers and a rainbow of butterflies making the ascent an ever-changing and interesting one.

This is without even mentioning the view, which appears occasionally as the tree cover decreases. Lac de Serre-Ponçon is ever-present, the deep blues contrasting with the greens and browns of the mountains above it.

The view gets even better once the forest is completely behind, and open, grassy fell side is all that is left until the top.

The ascent here becomes somewhat steeper without the lassettes of the forest to make the incline gentler, and on a hot day this ascent can prove quite tough indeed. However, this is of coursed counterweighted by the improving view, with Mont Guillaume and the start of the Provençal hills appearing to the north and south respectively.

Mont Guillaume from the seating area at the top of the Pic de Chabrieres

After a short climb, a peak of sorts is reached; the path intersects two small knolls. This is the summit of the Serre de Mounton (meaning "edge of sheep", which is strange because there doesn't appear to be any sheep for miles!) These two little hills have fantastic views: the southern knoll in particular has great views of the lac and the mountains towards the Mercantour  national park and the Italian border.

From here, a brief descent is followed by the final ascent of the day, the path veering off to the left at the bottom of the dip and towards the cliffs' edges along the mountain's southern edge. As a result, a different route is recommended, with the wide, flat track to the right followed by the steep ascent up the ski slope before joining the track at the top suggested.

This area between the Serre de Mouton and the Pic de Chabrières is also a great place to find marmots. For those of you who don't know, a marmot is a small beaver-like animal which is native to much of the Alps and the Pyrenees. They live in burrows and tend to reside in large alpine pastures or other high, upland areas. Indeed, in this small area between these two hilltops, we saw at least five different marmots. You have to know what you're looking for, though: many people walk a tremendous amount in the Alps but hardly ever see a marmot at all. 

An elusive marmot hides among the shrubs.

   Back to the walk. At the top of the last ascent, you will see a small hut used for skier's chairlifts. Ignore this, and instead follow the track up to two fenced areas: the first of these is a seating area (pictured above); the second is an observation table. This is the pinnacle of the Pic de Chabrières. On a clear day you can see Mont Seoline to the east (beyond Mont Morgon) and towards the Queyras regional park to the north east, with the flat-topped gable-like Brec de Chamberons indicating the Italian border. To the south, you may even be able to see Mont Ventoux in Provence. This whale-backed mountain, as the observation table confirms, is over 90km away.

Me in front of the Pic de Chabrieres, with the Aiguilles 

You can ascend onto the crags of the Aiguilles de Chabrières, though experience (and climbing gear) is recommended. Instead, either descend the way you came up (this is particularly enjoyable as the view remains in front of you) or use one of the routes I will describe in future posts as your descent. 

As mentioned, we will be returning to this mountain later on. Nonetheless, this route offers a beautiful and varied - yet quiet - walk with fantastic views and a great starter to any Alpine holiday.