Located between Mont Blanc and the Mediterranean, a sizeable portion of this rugged, uncompromising landscape lies within the Parc National des Écrins, the largest and highest of France’s national parks, with an area of some 91,800ha. It has scores of peaks over 3000m high and the Alps’ most southerly 4000m summit, the 4102m Barre des Écrins, from which the district takes its name. La Meije, one of its consorts, towers over La Grave and was the last major Alpine peak to be climbed. Bronzed by the alpenglow, it stands as a mighty cornerstone, lording it over the Vallée de la Romanche.
This is the background to the GR54, otherwise known as the Tour of the Oisans. Why Oisans? Well, the Massif des Écrins answers to several names: Haut Dauphiné, Massif du Pelvoux, or l’Oisans. And Tour of the Oisans has become the established signature of the Grande Randonnée 54.
La Meije turns bronze with the alpenglow, seen here from Le Chazelet
A circular route of around 176km, it takes between 10 and 12 days to complete, and with more than 12,800m to climb across a series of cols, it’s an undeniably tough route. Some claim it’s one of the toughest of all Alpine treks, and when you consider the lofty ridges that act as spokes pushed out from a hub of mountains – spokes or ridges that confuse, interrupt and challenge the way – there should be no surprise at this claim.
The first half of the trek works around the north and eastern fringes of the massif, from Bourg d’Oisans to Vallouise, and though less demanding than the second half, which goes around the western side, it still has its ‘moments’. One of these comes right at the start, as we shall discover.
Bourg d’Oisans to La Grave
Within minutes of leaving the heart of Bourg, a waymarked path edges alongside the lovely Cascade de la Sarenne, then suddenly arrives at the foot of rock slabs that support the east wall of the Sarenne gorge. GR54 ascends these slabs by a series of minor ledges, narrow, grit-strewn and sufficiently tricky to demand caution. Here the steepness and severity of the slabs will make you curse any unnecessary weight in your rucksack, but fortunately lengths of fixed cable safeguard the route where it is especially narrow or smooth, and as you gain height, so the town comes into focus below and across the Romanche. Though of only modest size, Bourg is the administrative capital of the Oisans district, and flanked by steep-walled mountains it acts as a gateway to the Écrins National Park. Reached by bus from Grenoble, it’s the obvious place from which to begin the Tour of the Oisans. But the way up those slabs above the Sarenne cascade makes for a tough initiation.
An enchanting region of little meadows, streams and pools lies below the Cirque d’Arsine
When the slabs peter out, meadows and patches of woodland lead to tiny hamlets that gather the sunlight. Linked by tree-shaded paths and stretches of tarmac, practically every step from one to the other is upward. Until, that is, you come to the huddled buildings of La Rosay, 830 muscle-stretching metres above Bourg. Here you leave tarmac, inch past renovated stone houses and a small chapel, cross a meadow with grasshoppers exploding around your boots, then descend into the gorge to find the stone-built Pont Romain spanning the Sarenne – a narrow stream which pounds and pummels water-smoothed rocks among deciduous trees that turn yellow and gold at the tail-end of summer.
On a summer’s day the walk through the wooded gorge makes a welcome interlude, but then you emerge to another road easing through a shadeless scoop of a valley up to the 1999m Col de Sarenne, with a smart, privately owned refuge snug in the pastures nearby.
Over the col you leave the road to plunge steeply down into the Vallée du Ferrand, from which the Roche de la Muzelle can be seen far off. The penultimate col of the trek passes just below this peak, but that will be several days and a lot of puff away. For now the route passes through Clavans-le-Haut and its much smaller neighbour, Clavans-le-Bas (no accommodation at the first, but two options at the second), before making an abrupt climb to the one-time customs post of Besse-en-Oisans. With its well-preserved traditional stone and timber houses, Besse is a charming village and an opportunity to restock with supplies. It also has a hotel, a gîte, and a basic campsite 1km further on up the road.
Out of Besse the way passes the campsite and takes a footpath angling up a steep hillside to gain the grassy crest of Col Nazié at 1902m. It’s not much of a col, just a dip in a ridge from which the way continues upward for another 300 vertical metres to reach Col Bichet overlooking a vast open pastureland. Way ahead, above and beyond the hidden Vallée de la Romanche, La Meije and Le Râteau rise above their glaciers – it’s an exciting view.
The Tour of the Oisans crosses the pastureland known as the Plateau d’Emparis with La Meije appearing seductive all the way, while a short diversion from the trail leads to the Lacs Noir and Lérié, which make a perfect foreground to the big peaks and glaciers.
From the far side of the plateau the trail dips steeply into a groove scoured by the Torrent du Gâ, climbs through the village of Le Chazelet (two gîtes and a hotel), then swoops down yet another knee-aching hillside to La Grave on the true right bank of the Romanche at 1474m. La Meije soars a giddy 2500m above the village.
La Grave to Vallouise
Out of La Grave a very pleasant and fairly easy trek leads to a refuge set upon a shelf of grassland above the infant Romanche, amid an arc of big mountains. Should you have time, Refuge de l’Alpe de Villar d’Arêne (2077m) is a near-perfect location to relax for a day or two, for there’s some spectacular country to explore nearby. But even without time off from the trek, a night at the refuge is recommended. When you finally leave, it will only take an hour to reach the 2340m Col d’Arsine, a trough-like saddle below a massive rib of black moraine, overshadowed by stark rock peaks and loud with the call of marmots, and this leads to a wonderland of streams and pools gathered in the most enchanting of meadows and natural rock gardens below the Cirque d’Arsine. It’s almost impossible to resist the temptation to throw off the rucksack and either lie in the grass or perch upon a rock to dream for an hour. Or two.
It’s a long descent from Col d’Arsine to Le Casset in the valley of the Guisane. Or at least it seems long, for there are so many idyllic places on the way that threaten to delay progress. Streams disappear and reappear 200m lower down the valley. Waterfalls spray in long ribbons; there’s a tiny lake, milky blue with the run-off of a fast-shrinking glacier. Mountains loom on either side; there are delicate flowers, wild raspberries and bilberries to pick in season; then fragrant larchwoods whose paths are carpeted with needles. At last Le Casset appears; a village of thick-walled houses, a gîte and a bar/restaurant where you can slake your thirst at a marble-topped table, and downvalley, less than an hour’s walk away, lies Monêtier-les-Bains, the largest habitation since leaving Bourg d’Oisans. As well as hotels and a gîte, Monêtier also has restaurants, a supermarket and a bank with a cash machine.
Sadly, the pass that takes the Tour of the Oisans out of the valley of the Guisane and on to Vallouise has been partially desecrated by cableways and bulldozed pistes, for here on the outer edge of the national park the Serre-Chevalier ski circus leaves its indelible mark long after the snow has melted. However, the trail begins