Tour of The Vanoise

[backpackerchick]

Tour of the Vanoise (Figure 8)
July 2012
Guidebook: Tour of The Vanosie, Kev Reynolds (Cicerone)
Map: Rando A3 Vanoise
Description: 150 km route often described in 11 day stages. Incorporates parts of the GR 5 and GR 55.
Time: 7 days. Included significant detours.
Note: This Walk is often compared to the TMB in terms of time and difficulty. I think Tour of the Vanoise is easier.

I used available shelter and food.

Impression: FANTASTIC Walk! Relatively EASY.

The photos below should be in chronological order.

Begin and end at the Modane train station. Several airports within 2 or so hours. I used Geneve.

For those who know the area, this was a detour…and a strenuous one.

The cutest refuge ever? Private refuge, not CAF. Room to myself.

Fresh Snow in July. Bitterly cold winds.

The path. The glaciers are receding.

The highest refuge on any GR route.

Circuit complete. The little church on the outskirts of Modane.

[David Noll]

Hartley Nice. I assume the gear used is the same as in your last trip report.

[backpackerchick]

David, I took a better camera! (Can't you tell…just kidding!) Panasonic Lumix LX5 (now in later iterations) with the $10 after market auto lens cap…makes it more or less a one handed camera. But pretty much the same stuff. I USED the Gore Tex socks (with my pants tucked in)…lots of walking on soggy glaciers and new snow. Yaktrax (nothing more!) would have been useful. Happy I didn't carry them, though. I used my rain jacket and pants a lot too.

I also took an Osprey Grab Bag on this trip. Clever…check it out. Left behind on GR 54 because I was expecting that route to have some challenges for which I would not want anything extra strapped or hanging off my body. I also took an even simpler camera on GR 54 this reason. As it turned out, no such situations existed on GR 54.

This walk is much nicer and much easier than GR 54!

I am adding more stuff now :)

I guess I really should post all my gear and weights (I have this info)…it is BPL…I'm afraid I'm too sensitive ;) But my pack was so small, I didn't feel it.

[Ian]

Lovely pictures and looks like a wonderful trek.

[backpackerchick]

Thanks for the nice comments.

I will add some captions and more info later. This is not a very user friendly process. Or I haven't figured it out. I have newfound respect for those who have posted elaborate trip reports.

I will post elsewhere too so there is geotagging, maps, etc.

This is an AWESOME walk! It has everything.

[David Noll]

Hartley,
Thanks for the info. I looked up the Osprey grab bag and bookmarked it. My wife is finishing up the Camino Santiago del Norte tomorrow. She is talking about more hiking in Europe for the two of us. I will keep this one in mind.

Dave

[backpackerchick]

Hi Dave:

Maroon Bells? Lucky you! Got the 4 pass loop in my sights! Recent big snows, yeah?

Camino del Norte? That's no slouch so I read!

A video from Osprey demo-ing the Grab Bag. Can be turned into an across the body shoulder bag (or waist pack — not for me!) . Kept my camera, phone, passports, money, a very small sack of sunscreen, lip balm Hydropel (RIP), little multi tool, etc in there too. Fit nicely. Not a fan of the concept but this one seemed tolerable! I used it as an across the body shoulder bag traveling, etc…but I tend to travel in Crocs…so go figure ;)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=78KXxebuwS0

I would rather have TWO decent size pockets on the hip belt of my pack. This seem to be a big ask!

Cheers,
H

[Opogobalus]

To bump this thread – couple of questions.

 

Was the guide necessary, or would this be fine with just maps? For anyone who has done the gr5, how does this route compare? (I’m tossing up a section of the gr5 and this tour – I know this includes nits of the gr5)

[Roger Caffin]

Having a guide book is really helpful as it has notes about features and phone numbers for Refuges and … it’s worth while.
We did the GR5, so only part of the Tour. High country. Rather good.
Wasn’t impressed with Modane, but you only zip through it.

Cheers

[Cameron M]

This has a lot of info:

http://www.moveyouralps.com/en/gr5-alps/e2-gr5-hiking-trail

From what I have read you would want to at least do the GR55 part through the Vanoise.

[Opogobalus]

Thanks for the link Cameron, super useful! Yes I think it would make sense to mix and match a little.

Having a guide book is really helpful as it has notes about features and phone numbers for Refuges and … it’s worth while.
We did the GR5, so only part of the Tour. High country. Rather good.
Wasn’t impressed with Modane, but you only zip through it.

Cheers

Ah thanks for that Roger. Any other bits of the gr5 you’d recommend section hiking?

[Roger Caffin]

Just about all of the GR5 is good.
We left the GR5 at the south end and went through the Vallee des Merveilles on the GR52. That was worth while. Rock carvings.
South of Modane it started to get hot and dry. Very different from the northern end – but I think there may also have been a major weather change to add to that.
The last two days south of the V des M to Menton were HOT, stinking HOT. The last day we did an Alpine start at 3 am or 4 am and managed to get to the top of the range before the sun was really up. Utterly worth while.
Menton was a shock – utter tourist chaos. Should have stopped at Sospel (sp?) the day before. Oh well. (But Nice at the end of the GR5 would have been worse!)

Cheers

[Opogobalus]

Thanks Roger. Looks like I could just pick somewhere accessible to a friends house (have a few in France) and do a section of the GR5, or simply do a tour in Vanoise. Decisions decisions..

[Roger Caffin]

One might say that anything above 1,000 m is good :)
Cheers

[Mark Fowler]

The Vanois is nice and several options for doing a loop. Also consider the Queyras area a bit further south which is less visited but quite high and some nice peaks.

Roger – on my GR5/GR52 trip I stopped in Castellar just above Menton.  I couldn’t face the tourist crush down on the coast after 100+ days on the track.  Nice little 1 star hotel with dinner overlooking the Med and a delightful Belgian couple for company – perfect.

I felt that in summer the magic altitude in the south was about 1,500 metres where one transitioned from the heat of the coast to the really pleasant mountain climate.

[Roger Caffin]

Hi Mark

You might have been wise. Menton was a shock, but our goal had been the Med. No matter: one night there and then off to Chamonix for a few days.
Sospel was also nice, with a nice dinner. An interesting town in a shaded valley. We got in early enough, and sat in the local park for an hour watching some fierce games of petanque.

Cheers

[Amy Lauterbach]

Roger,

We couldn’t help but notice your comments about Menton. This summer, we thru-hiked the GTA (trip report under construction) and our trip terminated at the Med in Ventimiglia. Now that was a shock to our equanimity. Absolute chaos, the cheapest room priced at 450 euros, a dreadful campground, and a lousy stone-covered beach. After a couple of hours, we fled by train to Menton, which seemed by comparison, at least to us, a place of calm and quiet dignity. And it had a tolerable municipal campground, which was a great relief as we desperately needed a place to stay. Count your blessings.

James and Amy

 

[Roger Caffin]

Hi Amy

I had a peek on Google Earth, and I see what you mean. Wall to wall tourism – hence prices.
Not sure we noticed any ‘calm and quiet dignity’ when we were in Menton, but at least the hotels were reasonable. We only stayed one night though: that was enough of that!

Moral: stay the night up in the mountains and pass through the valleys in the middle of the day. Especially if there are ‘tourist attractions’ down there.

Cheers

[backpackerchick]

Just noticed this more recent action since my original post. A couple years ago, I set out to walk the Alpine portion of the GR5. I walked from Lac Leman to Briancon and then had to return home for a commitment. September, I plan to walk across the Pyrenees, probably the HRP for the most part. I am considering taking a couple weeks before to casually finish up the GR5, diverting through the Mercantour Park and finishing in Menton. This is the first I have heard of any “issues” in Menton, other than suggestions that it is a non eventful place with easy transportation options. Was the walk through the Mercantour “worth it” or would you have preferred to finish the GR5 proper in Nice?

[Roger Caffin]

We have seen Nice, and we do NOT want to go there, ever! Oh God NO.

Menton was ‘civilisation’, with an excessive (in our opinion) helping of tourists. However, it was on the Med, which was our ‘target’. We bought a T-shirt each in the tourist market – but they did not feature Menton. But there are far, far worse places (and prices) around.

Yes, the Mercantour was worth it.

IF (unlikely, as there are so many other good routes in Europe which we have yet to visit) we were to repeat the south end, I believe we would stop at Sospel, one day to the north. Transport? ANY decent sized little town in France (or Europe) has a bus service at least.

Cheers

[Author]

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