Lake Niré

During the climb towards the refuge, you will see the summits of recent mountain chains like the Alps.Glaciers, water, wind and gravity are the agents of erosion which will gradually break down the mountain reliefs and transfer the eroded materials towards the Mediterranean.In the Maritime Alps, glaciers were the initial agents of active erosion. They have now disappeared and the erosion continues die to mountain streams and rivers which wear away the floors of valleys, the cycles of freezing weather followed by thaws which crack the rocks and the effects of gravity on the steepest slopes.

The western flank of Grand Capelet and the steep high peaks overlook the itinerary to the Nice refuge and Lac Niré. This wild glacial cirque is characteristic of the rapid and intense erosion during the last period of glaciation. 20000 years ago, glaciers covered all of the valley and then hollowed out the Gordolasque valley into the shape of a trough. Today, there still remains evidence of glacial erosion along the itinerary: immense smooth slabs on which you walk at times were smoothened by this phenomenon.

A mammal of the Bovidae family and the subfamily of the Caprinae, the chamois (Rupicapra rupicapra) is a mountain dweller par excellence. It can climb 1000m upwards in 15 minutes (a hiker would take 3 hours). It can be recognised thanks to its horns, which are straight and then curved backwards, and quite small compared to those of the ibex.

The track which leads to the Nice refuge is one of the secondary passages of the Salt Road via the “Pas de Pagari”. Frequented since ancient time, this Pas gets its name from Paganino dal Pozzo,an Italian entrepreneur who, in 1453, was appointed as salt tax adjudicator by the Duke of Savoie.Paganino was responsible for the construction of a new route via the “Pas de Pagari” to transport salt from Provence to Cuneo in Piedmont.

Just above Lac Niré, on the right bank of the mountain stream, among the migmatite, can be found very dark rocks which take the shape of huge lentils (geologists call them “black puddings”).When you look closely at these one of these lentil, you can see very different minerals to the ones you find in migmatite. The rusty red coloured ones are garnet and the darker ones are amphibole.This very distinctive rock with characteristic fine and very dense crystals is eclogite; it is quite rare and a remainder from oceans which have disappeared. It is a metamorphic rock which springs from the transformation of basalts, ancient lava from the oceanic crust.