Walking in the Alps. Kev Reynolds

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      Queyras

      The Cottian Alps, of which the Queyras forms a small, yet important part, stretch from the road pass of Col de Larche northwards to Col du Mont Cenis, effectively running in a narrow strip along the Franco–Italian border which acts as the watershed between the Po and the Rhône. The highest, and without question the most distinctive, of its peaks is that of Monte Viso (3841m), first climbed in 1861 by the Victorian pioneers William Mathews and F. W. Jacomb, with their guides, M and J. B. Croz. But apart from this notable peak, the district holds little of mountaineering interest beyond the attention of local activists, although there are a good many summits attainable by strong mountain walkers, offering extensive views as their reward.

      Col de Larche (1991m) takes traffic from the French valley of the Ubayette, flanked on the south by the Réserve Naturelle du Lauzanier, into the Italian Valle Stura. From St Paul on the French side another low pass, Col de Vars, crosses the mountain rim that marks the boundary between the départements of Hautes-Alpes and Alps-de-Haute-Provence, on the north side of which access by road is made possible to the Queyras district.

      With the Massif des Écrins rising to the north-west, the Queyras lies fully within the old administrative region of Dauphiné, and presses like an elbow of mountains against the Italian frontier which curves round it in a protective wall on three sides. Monte Viso has a dominating influence on much of the region, but since it stands just across the frontier it is thereby not counted as one of the Queyras peaks. Of these the major summits are Pic de Rochebrune (3320m), Grand Glaiza (3293m), Le Pain de Sucre (3208m), Tête des Toillies (3175m) and Le Grand Queyras (3114m). There are no glaciers, although evidence of past glaciation is abundantly clear in many valleys and the rugged scenery reflects its Alpine pedigree.

      Parc Naturel Régional du Queyras

      It is an isolated district, tucked quietly away in a seeming back-of-beyond with only one year-round road of access. In 1977 the Parc Naturel Régional du Queyras was established in order to reconcile the demands of ecology and local economy, to check a steady population drift away from the harsh demands of mountain life, while at the same time protecting the quality of the environment. With an area of some 650 square kilometres, the boundaries of the park extend from the Gorges du Guil in the west to the Tête du Pelvas in the east, and from Col Girardin in the south to Col des Thures in the north. The classic approach from Briançon is via the spectacular road pass of Col d’Izoard, which is open for only a few weeks in mid-summer, and which links the valley of the Durance with that of the Guil, the main Queyras river whose valley is the major geographical feature.

      Draining the west flank of Monte Viso and those frontier peaks grouped around it, the Guil cuts right through the Queyras from north-east to south-west, its major tributaries flowing from attractive valleys on the southern side, while the northern half is drained by a few short glens. At first the Guil flows north-west, collecting a few early tributaries on the way, then curves south-westward at Abriès, which sits at the confluence of the Guil and the Bouchet flowing from the north. Beyond Abriès the river passes Aiguilles, the so-called capital of the valley, before rushing below the medieval, fortified Château-Queyras (with the inevitable Vauban additions) perched on an outcrop, and soon after enters the deep and narrow Combe du Queyras. A hundred years ago the only ways out of the valley below Château-Queyras were along paths that climbed hillsides high above the river. ‘Now a remarkable road traverses the gorges,’ announced one commentator just before the last war, ‘crossing and recrossing the torrent and often gouged out of the perpendicular sides of the immense cleft which it has cut.’ Above the left bank the lovely village of Montbardon sits amid flower-rich meadows dotted with pine and fir trees. Further down, near Guillestre, the Guil washes into the Durance, the river that drains the eastern slopes of the Écrins.