Kit and Raymond in the Alpes Maritime, 2014

An off-road randonnée into the highest reaches of the ‘Alpes Maritime’, a camping trip across high peaks noted their scenery, animals and wild flowers. Raymond and I took the Euro-Tunnel to Calais and drove to a motel at Reims. I ordered a steak and Raymond chose the horse burger - it was rather good, perhaps it was a Tesco sell off…

After two more days driving we arrived at Lantosque, near Nice, where we crossed a light bridge at the end of the village and hit the starting point for our seven-day off-road excursion. We were following a route-plan prepared by our mountain guide, Bernard, who provided a descriptive graphic for every turn and twist of the track. He noted the distance from the previous turn and the satellite fix for the important ones.

Monday 30th June We drove up a very long, gravelly, bumpy, hair-pinned track. After 2 hours we reached an out-of-season ski resort, their first visitors since March. Even the chalet dogs came out to greet us, an overfed Alsatian and a little French poodle.

After coffee and dog-talk we took a serious mountain track higher up the valley, passing alpine pastures carpeted with wild flowers and bound by precipitous cliffs and sheer sided valleys.

We met no one and saw no one. The track was rough, bumpy and fairly hazardous, and it demanded full concentration. We stopped for a light lunch of brioche and pate beside a sparkling mountain spring, shielded from the bright Alpine sun by tall firs throwing a dappled shade.

Hawks circled in the pure air while jays and magpies flitted through the pine canopy and song birds punctuated the silence. A hoopoe flitted up our track and perched nearby. We continued ever upward, reaching above the tree line at 6,000ft where we encountered our first July snow drift. We stopped to take photographs and made a small snowman. However, the snow was partially blocking our route and the access around it proved dangerously restricted.
Worse was to come…

At 7,000ft the main piste ended but we continued on our route. This was a rough gravel track, an old smugglers trail, weaving uneasily around rocks, bound by impassable terrain on either side.
Passing a sign that gave conflicting information about snowfalls, we continued around the foot of the mighty 2,802m (9,190ft) Mt Bonette, served on the south side by the highest road in Europe.

Suddenly Raymond shouted out “Oh look, a Marmite”. “No, Raymond, it’s called a MARMOT” …
Within reach of the summit our journey came to an abrupt end – a melting snow drift had slithered down a gully and spilled across our track. The available access was less than 3ft wide.

While I considered the options, Raymond, fighting fit at 91 years, was all for reaching for the shovel and digging a way through. But the snow was deep, hard packed and frozen solid, and the adjacent ground was saturated and undriveable. Not an inviting prospect for two travellers driving alone in a mountain wilderness. And at 9,000ft, exertion was breathless.

I announced a measured review of the route options and Raymond reached for his maps. We noted our satellite position and I made a hazardous, multi-point turn to the amusement of an inquisitive marmot who came to watch. Two hours later we had retreated down into the lower valley, took the easier southern route and reached the summit of Mt Bonette. We passed the junction to our track which showed, from our elevated position, that there were several more snow slides decisively blocking our proposed route.

Restored to our off-road route plan, we drove into a long, wild and blind-ended basin, Vallée Sagnes, and followed a secluded track into a mighty gorge that got higher and steeper as we advanced. When almost at the end, we found a level glade where we pulled off the piste and set up our camp. It was grassy and verdant with many wildflowers. Ray pitched his tent and I opened the ‘Kitmax Twin-top Tuckbox’ and made preparations for dinner.

The altitude was over 6,500ft. The setting sun cast lengthening shadows on the unclimbable, ungrazeable, bare barren wall of the gorge across the river.
At sunset the tinkling bells of a flock of sheep heralded the arrival of a lone shepherd, 5 dogs, a nuzzling mule and an enormous, uncountable flock of sheep. They surrounded our campsite, spilling out around the Land Rover, encircling Raymond on his chair. I moved up the hill to take some photographs and another 300 sheep arrived from below the glade. The Land Rover, the tent and both of us were fully surrounded by sheep on all sides.

One sheep came up and put it’s muzzle into my hand before grazing on with the flock. It was am amazing sight, and long after the sheep had gone the big friendly dogs came back for a scratch and a cuddle. The old boy of the pack stayed with me until dusk, long after Raymond’s bedtime.

We had a drink and I cooked a chicken casserole, and we spent a quiet, secluded night in the silence of this isolated world. After breakfast next day we returned down the gorge on a lower road nearer the river and watched an unwary chamois close by. Then we watched some marmots playing hide and seek in the rocks.

Tuesday 1stJuly We left this wonderful Vallée Sagnes, drove down the long track, reached the village and bought supplies. We crossed a road and took a steep, hair-pin track back into the mountains. All went well for several hours of spectacular driving in unparalleled mountain scenery until we arrived at a recent rock-fall. This marked the end of our planned trail, and the work-around was a long detour which Raymond researched on his map.

Eventually we picked up our track some 30k further on where we climbed steeply up into a great, sheer, uninhabited Alpine valley. We found a carefully camouflaged site, deep in the woods and down by the river, for our second wild campsite. Camouflage promises seclusion, you never know who might drop in for dinner… A great meal followed and we retired to bed at dusk

We found two enormous ants nests (see picture above) which were uncomfortably close to our camp.They were big black wood ants and gave us no trouble. At dusk we were visited by a big bushy-tailed creature which I finally identified, in the falling light, as a stray dog of Alsatian descent. He was taking a keen interest in my TwinTop Tuckbox. Pity it wasn't a wolf, a lynx or a mountain fox.

Wednesday 2nd July Today we drove a long rocky track, up into the Parc Écrins, a high wooded area with good grazing. Charolais cattle roamed free as their white calves frolicked.

We followed some great tracks and after dropping below cloud level, came into a green and verdant rain forest. We were now near Briançon, right on the Italian border.

We crossed into Italy and drove a succession of wild mountains tracks. We climbed onto a high rolling plateau where the old mountain track had been used by drovers for centuries.

It was a magnificent drive with great views to the distant horizon. The track was reasonably passable but occasionally ran uncomfortably close to the edge. Here and there a snowdrift clung onto north facing gulleys, even in July, all ready to slip down and block the track like we experienced earlier this week.

We found Spring Gentian (Gentiana verna) flowering, at around 8,000ft altitude.
Tomorrow more of the same, then along a high crest track back into France.

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