La Fracha

Made up of grains of sand held together by silica, which is very slightly soluble in water, sandstone is a sedimentary rock. It is formed at the bottom of the oceans with the accumulation of sand coming from the erosion of old mountain ranges. It can now be found at altitude, since the Alps rose up.

In the undergrowth, there are plenty of clues as to the presence of deer, (hoofmarks, signs that they have rubbed against trees, droppings), rubbing their antlers to mark their territory or to remove the velvet from new antler growth. Their diet mainly consists of tree shoots and brambles, but also herbaceous plants and acorns.These animals live in family groups (mother and offspring) for much of the year and they join together in herds of ten to fifteen individuals in the winter.

This is the biggest woodpecker in Europe. Almost entirely black with a red cap, it eats ants and other insects and larvae which it finds under the bark of trees. The black woodpecker marks its territory with the characteristic noise produced as it drills into dry tree trunks. To rise its chicks, it digs a cavity into a tree. Drilling these “lodgings” requires both the male and the female to work for two or three weeks.

The forest you walk through on this hike mainly consists of fir trees, although there are a few smaller deciduous trees, such as rowans, willows, elders and boxwood. The tracks through the mountains are directly linked to the wood industry.Beech trees, which can reach up to 30 to 40 metres in height, is almost entirely absent from Vésubie. There is nevertheless a beautiful such forest at Peïra-Cava. The two trees which can be seen on the ridge towards Col de Turini are perhaps a sign that this wood is expanding its territory.Beech nuts are edible and can also be turned into oil. Note the smooth bark that beech trees have, even very old ones.