Lac de Plate Lombarde walks

The Grande Traversée des Alpes (GTA) mainly follows the GR®5, with a few possible variations such as the crossing of the Haute Vanoise via the GR®55 and the Via Alpina, which this route takes instead of the GR®5 route via the Col de l’Iseran. It crosses the French Alps from north to south, from Saint-Gingolph to Nice. The guide includes web links to the many accommodation options along the route or nearby: mountain huts, lodges, campsites, cabins and shelters, excluding hotels. Although this guidebook details the GTA as a three-week trek, it can be adapted to suit your own pace, with stages of varying lengths, either completed in one go or in sections over several years. This journey, fuelled by the joy of freedom in unspoilt natural surroundings, will remain a superb and unforgettable experience, offering, moreover, the opportunity to meet many people with whom you can share this same passion for the mountains.

This sixteenth stage completes the crossing of the Chambeyron Massif and, after Larche, enters the Mercantour Massif. From Les Granges de Fouillouse, the GR®5 follows the Riou de Fouillouse upstream, passing the ruins of Fort de Plate Lombarde, then, via the Plate Lombarde valley, reaches the Col du Vallonnet. It then descends to Lac du Vallonnet Inférieur, where it heads due south to join an old military road that climbs towards the Viraysse barracks. From there, the GR®5 crosses the Col de Mallemort and descends to the hamlet of Larche. The route follows the Ubayette, then crosses it and reaches the Pont Rouge car park, which marks the entrance to the Mercantour National Park. It then heads due south, climbing to Lac du Lauzanier, then on to Lac de Derrière la Croix, before reaching the Pas de la Cavale. The descent starts off quite steep but then becomes gentler. After the Salse Morene plateau, the path climbs the Col des Fourches and, from the Camp des Fourches, reaches the hamlet of Bousiéyas.