Nico Vermaas

Would it be possible? Would we be able to have a remote backcountry experience in the middle of summer in southern France? At the end of our trip through the Cevennes National Park in October we kept our eyes open for other area’s to explore and more or less by accident we stumbled on a mountain plateau in the Vercors area. A Regional Park south of Grenoble, not far from the French Alps. No snowcapped giants, but a plain high up in the air, 1500 meters higher than the surrounding area. Now, how would it be like up there, how hard would it be to climb those 1500 meters with full gear in the middle of summer, would we be able to find what we look for on the Haut Plateau?

Eight months later, and here we stood in a humid 30 degrees Celcius looking up to the ridge. "Uhoh, that looks a lot higher than it did on the wide angle photographs we took last year", I told Petra. She said nothing and just gave me an accusing look. "This is going to hurt", I thought but I didn’t want to discourage my wife and said, "but it probably looks a lot worse from here that it really is".

We still knew next to nothing about the plain up there in the sky before us. We have tried to find information on the Internet, hikers who have been out there, pictures, maps, experiences, but nobody seems to even know the place. The only comforting thing is that the trail that we plan to hike has a name: GR91, Grand Randonnee 91, and somebody actually wrote a guidebook for it. It is in French, but we only have to look at the maps and learn the French word for "source", which is "source", how convenient. All we found out is that there is hardly any water up on the plateau, just some sparse sources that may or may not run.

"Wow, this is harder than I thought, this is almost as hard as it looked like from below". The backpacks where heavy and we where sweating like we’ve never sweated before. Swarms of big black flies where buzzing around our heads and if we just stopped for a few seconds to cool down they tried to occupy every piece of bare skin they could find. Oh god, and we where only on the trail for 15 minutes!, what are we doing to ourselves. My mind drifted back to earlier this morning…

…We got up at 4 am when it was still pitch dark. The only way to climb 1500 meters in this hot humid atmosphere is to try to beat the sun to it. We broke up our tent, packed our gear and filled our canteens. We decided to take a lot of extra water in case the first source was dry. Even if there would be no water, we would still stay on the ridge for a night and return the following day. It meant that our packs where over 20 kilo’s, but you can’t take the risk. It was too dark to see the ridge towering above us, and maybe that was just for the best.

As we ascended the sun rose and when we saw our progress our spirits went up. The temperature stayed at a constant 15 degrees because we climbed into cooler air just as fast as the rising sun could warm the earth. There was even a thin layer of clouds against the mountain so we could climb in the shade.

After 4 hours of slowly ascending things started to change fast. For the last hour or so we had been ascending through foggy woods because we reached the cloud layer. But now suddenly our heads popped up above the clouds and at the same time we came above the tree line. A fresh green landscape greeted us, a grassy plain with numerous wildflowers. We expected a gray rocky country because of the lack of water and we where pleasantly surprised. We found the source nearby, lots of clean sparkling water bubbling from the ground.

We where now on the edge that we watched from deep below. It was still early on the day and we just sat near the spring and watched in awe. When the sun rose, the sea of clouds below us evaporated and we looked into a 1500 m deep abyss, woooooow. Deep, deep below us we saw the sleepy French town of Chatillon-en-Diois from where we started our trip this morning and we could even hear the church bells sing for us from far below. From this high up civilization looks a lot less important and we realized that this would be the last that we would see of it for several days.

The plateau is about 150 km long, but only 1 or 2 km wide. And at the tip where we where it was only a few hundred meters wide. We discovered that we where not completely alone up here. In a shallow valley near the source we found a sheep fold where a shepherd and his wife lived with their herd. We pitched our tent near the sheep fold and just walked from one edge to the other edge for the rest of the day, taking in the scenery. In the east we could see the snowcapped Alps and in the west we could see the Diois and Rhone valley deep below us, we felt like being on top of the world.

"Man oh man…I can’t believe this view". I wasn’t doing anything really momentous, just the thing everybody does first thing in the morning. But I was doing it 1500 meters down a ridge, hah! We camped just a few meters off the ridge and this was a great place to wake up. It just felt like we where on an island in the sky. From where we stood we could overlook the plateau and we saw the Alps sticking their heads above the clouds. The plateau is so steep that you have to stand on the very edge to see the bottom, so when you are not right on the edge you have no reference to the valley floor at all and you feel a bit detached.

We left most of our gear behind and went back to the source to cook breakfast and replenish our water supply and for one more look at the rest of the world. And then we started our traverse over the plateau.

The trail was easy to find and easy to walk. The French GR’s are all marked with red/white markings on trees and stone men (piles of rock to indicate a trail). At first the plateau was so narrow that the trail winded from the western edge to the eastern edge and back, but after a few hours the landscape started to broaden.

Occasionally we did cross dry stony plains and valleys like we expected to but mainly the scenery was much greener than we anticipated. Lots of wildflowers, butterflies and in the distance we even saw a vast pine forest appear. On the edge of the plateau the mountains Grand Veymont and the strange square table mountain Mont Aguille dominated the view.

Our plan was to just hike from source to source. On our first day on the plateau we had to walk for about 6 hours (excluding the breaks) to reach the next source, but after that it all got a bit easier. The sources became a bit more abundant and we where becoming more confident. None of the sources was dry and we learned that the land itself is not arid, but the water is just absorbed into the ground real fast. That is why there are no streams or ponds, but the land itself is green and vivid.

As the hours and days went by we where being completely absorbed by the landscape. We later learned that this was one of the largest pine forests of Europe. The plain had become a broad valley, at least from our perspective. In the west we only saw forest, but in the east there was a low mountain ridge right on the edge of the plateau. Only a few hundred meters away and only a few hundred meters above us. Clouds where always right at the tops and we could vividly imagine how it would look at the other side of that mountain ridge, a 1500 m drop to the valley floor. For days we followed that mountain ridge to the north.

Because of the altitude it was pretty chilly at night, just above freezing from time to time and we where glad we did take our cold weather gear with us, even in the middle of summer to southern France.

We sat up straight in our sleepingbags. "What the hell was that!, where is the flashlight?!". I heard our pots and pans rattle below and something fell on the ground. I turned on the flashlight and got out of my sleeping bag. I started to descend the wooden stairs with the flashlight in my mouth. As our only light left the room, in my mouth, Petra started to mutter "heh, you can’t just leave me here in the dark.. with that… thing!".

Earlier that night, we found this uninhabited cabin. When we opened the door we found a wooden table, a few benches and a fireplace. This was one of the ‘refuges’ that are built for hikers. Usually we just pitch our tent, but we wanted to try a cabin like this once. It was remarkably clean, a bit dusty, but no trash and not even dead bugs.

We where almost out of water when got to the refuge, but there was supposed to be a source a few hundred meters further so we left our gear in the hut and followed a small trail to the source. We had been hiking for days and suddenly as I saw the clear water emerge from the rocks I realized that I had exactly found what I was looking for on this trip. Here we where, just the two of us in the setting sun, surrounded by forest, birds and whistling marmots. No other sounds or smells than nature and we would be completely self-sustaining as long as our supplies lasted. As the water slowly trickled into our flasks I told myself that this was the place to come back to in my mind. This is what backpacking is about.

But, my thoughts where not philosophical as I climbed down that rough wooden ladder on my bare feet with a flashlight clenched between my teeth. On the table in our pan there was the biggest rat I’ve ever seen. I didn’t even recognize it as being a rat, I just saw a huge rodent staring at me while it seemed to think. "heh, human, this is MY house, get lost…". The rat ignored me and went back to what it was doing. Searching our gear for food. I took the light out of my mouth and started to shout at curse at it and when I climbed down the rat jumped on my backpack and showed its teeth in a grin. Then it ran up the wall right to the attic where Petra was, "uh oh". I heard a soft scream and hurried back up. When I followed the sound of scurrying feet with my light Petra recognized the rodent as a big rat. We announced the state of emergency and I brought all our gear up. We put everything around us with our sleeping bags in the middle. With our hiking poles in our hands we felt like soldiers behind sandbags. I didn’t have enough battery power in my flashlight nor in myself to stay awake, so we just tried to get back to sleep while we kept hearing scurrying feet around us…

…’CLENG BENG!!! Oooooh my god!!…’, this time it came from right next to my head, where I put the pans. I switched on the light and grabbed the plastic bag with the pans. "Aaaaaa!!! I caught it!!", I shouted …I had a bag with the rat right in my hands. "Kill it!! kill it!!!", screamed Petra but that was just a bit too much. I kind of agreed with the rat in the bag that it was more his house than ours. And I also didn’t like the thought of trying to get all the dead rat parts out of the pan the next morning. Carefully I released the animal and it ran off again, not without leaving a lot of droppings in our pan, yuck, "we have to remember to clean that before making the porridge tomorrow morning" I thought.. I shouted that the next time he wouldn’t get away that easy, and that helped because the rest of the night we slept (light) and the rat didn’t come back…

We started to run out of supplies and there was no way to get new supplies high on the plateau. We had to descend and we didn’t like that a bit. Earlier on the trip was had made a small but impressive excursion to the mountain ridge on the eastern edge, and Petra wanted to have one more look there.

So we left the cabin and started to climb to the eastern edge. It was only 400 meters up and maybe a kilometer away so it wouldn’t take too much time, a two hour round trip. Slowly we climbed up along an unmarked trail and we looked back to the south over the vast pine forest in the center of the plateau. Deep in thought we went around another bend in the trail and suddenly there they where. Right in front of us stood 4 huge Ibexes. They where the size of large deer and there horns where huge! They Ibexes didn’t even blink an eye, they just stood there right on our path. They where fully aware that this was their territory and that it was all up to them, and so where we, my god, so where we. They could choose to throw us over the edge or they could choose to let us go on our way.

They had mercy and let us pass. Politely, silently and very impressed we passed these magnificent animals and we climbed the last meters to the top of the mountain ridge.

What a strange land. We sat on the crest of the ridge and we felt like we observed things that weren’t supposed to be seen my mere mortals. In the west we saw the now familiar plateau below us, brightly lit in the summer sun. In the east we looked down 1500 meters as expected, but saw almost nothing. It was dark, foggy and cloudy there. The land was covered with clouds until the cover was torn open by the very mountain ridge where we where sitting. I felt like a hobbit in a Tolkien novel looking at a magical weather machine. And the ibexes just stood there, watching. As if all of this was just everyday routine in nature… which it probably is.

Our hiking trip wasn’t far from over, we where only halfway there. We descended from the plateau at the western side and we got back to civilization. We resupllied and continued our trip through woodland and sunny fields. Later the scenery changed to bright purple lavender fields and golden fields of wheat. Finally we ended in the town of Die, a beautiful town in the Provence with great food and wine and a good atmosphere, back into the Diois valley.

But I only saw all of that through a haze, my mind was still on the plateau. I walked like a robot and cursed the heat down in the valley and thought of the cool nights in front of our tent. I looked at the barking dogs and saw the proud silent ibexes. I tasted the chloride in the drinking water on a campground and thought of the clear springs in the mountains.

After a few days I started to enjoy myself again, but the plateau really left an impression. We really achieved our goal, we found the ultimate backcountry experience in peek season in one of the most popular places in Europe. So on our way back we kept our eyes open for other area’s to explore next year…

Nico

For this trip we use Topo-Guide 903, ‘Tours et traversees en Vercors’, ISBN 2-85699-765-1 which sells for 90 French Franks (US$ 10)

It is not really necessary to buy additional maps, but they can be handy for planning or for locating the sources. The hiking maps to use in France are the Carte Bleu series from IGN. These are 1:25000 topographic maps with the GR trails clearly marked. For traversing the plateau we used IGN 3237OT and 3236OT. The maps can be easily obtained locally, just as the topoguides. The maps cost about US$ 10 a piece.

In the Regional Park it is officially not permitted to camp, but they make a difference between camping (camper) and just pitching your tent for a night (bivaquer). You are allowed to put up a tent near the trail and near the cabins between dusk and dawn.

There are no supplies in the park and water has to be taken from sources. There are not many sources, but if you plan your trip wisely then that should not be a problem. The sources are well marked on the map and are easy to find. Take 2 liters a person a day with you and be sure to end near a source at the end of the day.

Because of the altitude (1500 to 2000 meters) it can be chilly. The plateau is fairly flat, so it can also be windy.

Except for the climb up and the descend at the other side, the trail is easy. There is one rough section about halfway, but that is only 300 meters down. The rest is an easy stroll in the park.

Climb the mountain ridge at the east side of the plateau. You can even climb and traverse the highest mountain in the area, the Grand Veymont. 2341, almost 800 meters above the trail.

Chamois, Ibex, Marmots.

Maison du Park (park headquarters)

BP 14

38250 Lans-en-Vercors

tel 04.76.94.38.26

Maison du Tourisme,

14 Rue de la Republique

38000 Grenoble

tel. 04.76.54.34.36

E-mail: nico@hacom.nl