Pavé lake and mountain refuge

Description

A hike for immersion in incredible alpine landscapes, where the goal is to discover the Pavé lake. Life, zooplancton and phytoplancton, already exists in this recent lake, at an altitude of 2800 m. "Recent studies indicate that the Pavé lake is the deepest of the massif with a depth of 58 m. The mountain refuge is exceptional by its history. At first, it was a "site hut" during construction of the mountain refuge that was destroyed in an avalanche in its first winter. The sheet metal shelter, untouched, was enlarged and became THE mountain huté. Eric Vannard, warden Parc national des Ecrins From the start, at the car park at the bottom of the La Gravière, beyond the Arsine bridge, the footpath to the Pavé mountain refuge first follows the very popular footpath to the Alpe de Villar d'Arène refuge (GR54). It leaves this path at the summit of the glacial cross-cliff that the locals call "Les voûtes". It then goes alongside the Romanche on the right bank for 2 km of the Plan de l'Alpe, which was previously of interest for the construction of a hydroelectric dam. At the Valfourche bridge that marks the entrance to the heart of the Parc National des Ecrins, the route then crosses to the left bank. It leaves the Romanche valley to go up to the Cavales valley, along the edge of the stream of the same name, until it reaches Les Pichettes, where the alpine meadows end. The valley is then purely mineral. The footpath follows the ridge of the remarkable moraine, up to just below the Clot des Cavales pass in order to circumvent a series of rocky ledges and leads to the Pavé lake and refuge.

Difficulty

Official rating: difficult, by Parc national des Écrins.

Before you go

• Make sure you have everything in your bag for this hike, as weather conditions can change quickly at this altitude.

Getting there

Start: Parking de la micro centrale du plan de l'Alpe, Villar-d'Arêne (05).

Sources

• Track: Parc national des Écrins, Licence Ouverte 2.0, Licence Ouverte 2.0 (Etalab) (destination.ecrins-parcnational.fr/trek/903514-Le-refuge-et-le-lac-du-Pave). Time estimated by GPX Path with the Mac app rule, breaks not included.
• Official elevation gain: 1,336 m, Parc national des Écrins