Today we hike from the Queyras to the Mercantour through the Ubaye massif. Pretty soon the climb begins from the valley to the higher parts. The first climb to Col du Vallonnet at 2390 meters is a big one with more than 900 meters of ascent over 8 kilometers. This one goes over beautiful meadows and past some settlements. This is followed by a stretch through a beautiful high valley with many bare peaks. The second climb to Col de Mallemort at 2558 meters passes some old military barracks. The descent of almost 900 meters to the village is steep, but easy to hike. It is a wonderful stage with lots of altimeters!
We had a lovely quiet night at this closed campsite. And a cheap night, because we didn't see anyone from the village... We're on sandy ground again here, with the advantage that the tent is wonderfully dry and we can pack everything extra quickly. A little after 8 o'clock we walk from the campsite. A thin layer of fog hangs over the campground lake and the sleek gray-blue water reflects on the mountains around us. What a beautiful sight in the quiet morning, not a bad start to the hike.
The first few kilometers today we're not following the GR5, but the GR56/GR6. This trail joins the GR5 a little further on. That means we don't have to walk the 3.5 kilometers back on asphalt. We are glad that we have chosen this variant, because after a little ascent we walk through the most beautiful valleys with old trees and fresh green grass at dawn. Here and there in the meadow, giant mushrooms lie together in groups. They have the shape and size of a soccer, some even bigger. It's the "giant bovist" and they are indeed huge. Meanwhile, everywhere we walk it's teeming with mushrooms anyway: more and more signs that the season is progressing.
The plain where we are now takes us across the little river la Baragne to the GR5 near the village of Fouillouse. A small mountain village at 1,900 meters with a church and a few houses. There should be a small epicerie in an auberge somewhere, where we could do some shopping for today and tomorrow morning. In the next village there's no store, but on the website of the campground we read that they sell some necessary items at the reception. So we'll only buy what we need along the way, right now. We drop the backpacks at the little church and Malou walks to the epicerie, a few hundred meters away.
"The door of the store is open and in front of the building is a small truck, from which someone is bringing in new supplies. I take a look around and it looks like they have everything we are looking for, nice! But after waiting a while, still no personnel of the store comes so I'll just go looking for the owner. The door to the auberge is open, but no one responds when I call. Once outside again, the man unloading the truck tells me that the owner isn't here right now, and he points to a paper on the door. "I'm gone for five minutes. I'll be in the pink house with the balcony, if you're looking for me". I try to call Mark to discuss what to do, but there's zero phone coverage in this village. Let's go looking for the pink house then... When I arrive I notice that the frontdoor of the house is open as well and a friendly female voice answers when I call inside. It takes a few minutes before the lady arrives at the door. A small, crooked, old woman appears on the doorway. When I ask her if she owns the store, she answers that she'll come with me. But first she has to finish what she was doing and grab her hat and hiking poles. About 5 minutes later she carefully steps out of her house and foot by foot, the lady and I shuffle up hill to the epicerie. On the counter all the supplies we need are already waiting to be paid for. When I let her see the items, the lady tells me that she doesn't know how the cash register works, nor what the prices of the products are. Hmmm... so I have to get to work with the calculator myself, no problem. Fortunately all the items in the store are priced, except for the apples... "How much do the apples cost, madam?" "Um, I think one euro each, or something like that? Okay, two euros for the apples then :). I put the total amount on the counter, where the lady leaves it be. We leave the epicerie together and the door remains open..."
What a strange experience. But oh so typically French! Super nice that we still managed to get the groceries. A little heavier and an experience richer we walk out of the village, on our way to the first col, about 5 kilometers further on. Once again we pass a beautiful green valley with the occasional abandoned cottage and against the slopes we see the familiar red-colored blueberry bushes. The peaks around us get higher and higher. On either side is a ridge well above 3,000 meters. Just before we reach the col, we take a break in the lee of a small valley. The temperature isn't very high today and in the wind it is quite chilly, but here out of the wind and in the sun, it's quite warm due to the solarpower at this altitude. What a lovely and beautiful place to take a break.
The last bit of climbing to the col is the steepest part. On zigzag paths among the blueberry bushes we walk to Col du Vallonet at 2,524 meters. The valley in front of us is a bit different from the one behind us: it looks rough, with jagged gray cliffs and high barren peaks surrounding it. Down in the valley there are patches of grassland, but for the rest it's gray because of all the rock around us. Wow, how jagged but beautiful this is. Another one of those views you could look at all day.
The col we are standing upon, is the first col of today. We descend a bit into the valley and will then climb to the next col, which is a bit higher. Down in this valley it turns out to be a bit more lovely than expected from above. There are beautiful streams flowing between small islands of grassy plains and bits of marsh. Here the mountain marmots have adapted well too and are present in large numbers. On the way up, we pass some old military barracks. We take a look inside the largest, which is abandoned and half collapsed. Smoldering fire indicates that bivouacking hikers still use it. Standing here, among the crumbling walls, it gives a strange feeling to think that people used to be sent here and lived for quite a while in this sinister mountain landscape. On top of the highest point we can see another fort, we are close to the Italian border here. The last bit to the summit, Col de Mallemort, is on a wide path and we are at the top in no time. At the top we have a view of the valley where we'll sleep tonight, with a river, many trees and lost of grass it immediately looks a lot lovelier than the valley we just came from.
The descent that follows is long and steep. We descend a bit and take a break on a rock in the sun. Time for an apple to refuel our energy for the descent. But before the apples are finished, we see a couple of sheep coming our way over the next hill. And if there's one sheep, many more are guaranteed to follow, including a few dogs... So better not hesitate: backpacks back on and on the road again. 'Cause we really don't feel like sitting in the middle a flock of sheep with guard dogs today...
We descend quickly, arriving at the campsite a little after 4 o'clock. Fortunately it's open, but the store and restaurant are not... Also the epicerie in the village is now closed, so we have to improvise. We order a baguette for tomorrow and consider what to do. After next stage we'll be wild camping because there isn't a campsite on the route, so we do need plenty of provisions.
But first let's pitch up the tent and make a cup of coffee. In any case, it feels nice to be back at a normal, open campsite...
