More snow on the glaciers than we’ve ever seen on our hikes in the Valgaudémar valley of the Écrins, the massif in the Alpes-de-Haut-Provence. There was little traffic in the high valley of the river Séveraisse as the road from La-Chapelle-en-Valgaudémar was strewn with debris and the Chalet-Hôtel du Gioberney at 1650 m. was still closed from this harsh winter.
We hiked up the path towards the Réfuge du Pigeonnier, enjoying magnificent views of the Cirque Glaciare de Gioberney and the peaks above it around Les Rouies (3589 m.), though we were too close to see the famous peak, L’Olan (3564 m.).
We reached the snow line at just under 2000 m. A group of us discussed the route with people coming from the Béfuge-Bivouac higher up. Clearly the loop we had hoped to hike was impractical for us because of the soft snow. We settled at a belvédère and enjoyed our picnic with fantastic views of the snowy glaciers opposite around Les Bans (3669 m.) and Pointe Richardson (3312 m.).
Plenty of water in the cascades and waterfalls that we saw on our descent and we were lucky to catch sight of three Bouquetin (Capra ibex) grazing at margins of the snow far away.
Pointe Richardson was named in honour of the British climber Kathleen “Katy” Richardson (1854-1927) who completed many major climbs with her partner Mary Paillon.
