August 2, 2024

Valfrejus, Gîte des Tavernes, 1.630m

Departure around 7.45 am with Holger and Gilles. We start climbing towards the Col de la Vallée Étroite.

Col de la Vallée Étroite, 2,434m

From here, we leave Savoie and enter the Hautes Alpes. We descend towards the Vallée Étroite.

Lots of nice bivouac spots around here, along the river and then in the forest. But it’s late morning, so it’s not really time to take advantage.

Les Granges de la Vallée Étroite, 1,765m

We pass 2 Italian refuges (even though we’re on the French side of the border, there are lots of Italians, and everything is written in Italian), and stop for lunch. Polenta speciality, so I let myself be tempted by the cheese, onion and chilli polenta. By the time it arrives, I’m beginning to wonder how I’m going to get through the climb.

We leave Gilles at the refuge, as he’s having trouble walking with his leg problem, and head up to the Col de Thures with Helgar.

Col des Thures, 2,194m

Bivouac possible, water point 10mn further on

We thought we’d bivouac at Lac de Chavillon, but the spot isn’t incredible, and neither is the water in the lake, so we decide to continue towards Névache. The terrain changes completely on the way down, it’s quite sandy and very dry. We feel like we’ve completely changed climate.

Névache, 1.583m

We head for the Lame campsite after shopping for dinner.