Around Lake Serre-Ponçon - Gravel

The Durance is the most important river in Provence and the third largest tributary of the Rhône, behind the Saône and the Isère. It rises in the Hautes-Alpes in the municipality of Montgenèvre and is soon joined by the Clarée and Guisane rivers, which flow past it despite being longer and having a greater flow at the confluence point. The Durance valley has been a major communication route for centuries, and its capricious nature has been controlled by the artificial lake at Serre-Ponçon and a canal running downstream. The old proverb from the Ancien Régime, which once claimed that "the three scourges of Provence are the Mistral, the Durance and Parliament", has now been forgotten, and the Durance now brings nothing but life to the land it irrigates..

Nestled amongst peaks approaching 3,000m, such as the Grand Parpaillon and Pic Saint André, the village of Crévoux occupies a deep valley that has seen the establishment of several hamlets, including La Chalp, which extends over a narrow alluvial terrace. Once at the heart of a major craft industry, with the rise of basket-making and cabinet-making, the village now revolves around its small ski resort, created in 1937, making it one of the oldest in the Hautes-Alpes.

This hut is a memorial to the Spanish refugees who were mobilised in Crévoux to maintain and repair the Parpaillon road, a militarily important road in those troubled times. The Spanish camp at Crévoux was set up in 1939, on the eve of the Second World War and in the twilight of the Spanish Civil War, which saw Franco's victory and the flight of many Spanish republicans to France.

This is the Provençal word for shepherd. The trail got its name because of its many traces of pastoral activity along the way. Among other things, you can see the remains of ancient shelters known as muandes. These were used as stopovers between the farm and the mountain pastures during the transhumance up to the summer pastures at the start of the summer and during the transhumance to lower pastures in the autumn..

Characteristic of Hautes-Alpes architecture, it was built around 1501 and is remarkable for its size and painted decorations.

The Hautes-Alpes offers all the right conditions for the development of larch and is home to half of France's larch trees. The larch needs open, sunny land and colonises abandoned plots: it is a "pioneer" species. It can live for 500 years and is the only softwood to shed its needles. Its rot-proof wood can be used to make gutters, fountains and shingles. Its strength makes it ideal for carpentry and its colour also makes it popular in joinery.

This bellflower is highly characteristic, in particular because of its bell-shaped flowers. The bellflower has hermaphrodite flowers, that is to say, both male and female. This rustic plant loves the sun and dry ground. Some species of seedling can withstand arid soils at high altitude.

This is a beautiful tree that can reach 15 m in height. Its leaves can be identified by the white tomentose down on the underside. Its white flowers are grouped together in an inflorescence and bud fruit called "alises", which appear at the end of summer. This species likes a lot of light and tolerates dry conditions well. It can be found in open woods and on sunny, even rocky, dry slopes in the mountains..

From this spot, you can see the Lac de Serre-Ponçon. This is the second biggest artificial lake in Europe. It covers 2,800 hectares and is fed by the Durance and Ubaye mountain rivers. Filled with water in 1960, it offers numerous water-based activities, beaches with amenities and lifeguards and small harbours for pleasure craft. Despite all this, the majority of its shores remain wild with numerous craggy coves which make Serre-Ponçon so charming, as the nearby Baie des Moulettes illustrates. 

The Addos mountain stream (torrent in French) is 4 kilometres long. A mountain stream is a natural water course located in the mountains. The flow regime is characterised by a steep gradient, with a very fast and therefore turbulent water flow producing significant erosion. It is also defined by a significant variation in flow rate depending on precipitation levels. In this mountain stream, as in many others, numerous small sills (small dams) have been created to slow down the water flow and limit the impact of floods.

The Golden Eagle is a large bird of prey with a wingspan of up to 2.30 metres. It is a predator par excellence, armed with fearsome weapons: rapid flight adaptable to the most acrobatic situations and powerful, sharp talons. Its sharp eyesight, eight times sharper than a human's, lets it detect its prey: from marmots and young chamois to ptarmigan and hare. The Golden Eagle is also a keen scavenger, especially in winter when food is scarce.

In the undergrowth at the beginning of the route, then in the meadows, it stands out with its long upright flowering stem. It is embellished by three to ten flowers that are a purple-pink and crimson and have long orange stamen.  Admire them without smelling, as they are as beautiful as they are smelly!

The retaining walls are made of dry stone. They are called restanques in Provence. In steep areas, they can be used to create farmed terraces by retaining the soil. At the time, their construction enabled generations of farmers to make a living from their land, which became fertile and arable. Today, many researchers and craftsmen are trying to bring back this age-old technique.

The Common Rock Thrush likes sunny rocks. It only visits us in April until the end of August to nest either on the ground, or in a rock cavity. Orange breast, blue head, white rump, its song consists of sweet, clear melodious stanzas.

Mr. Black Redstart sports a grey skullcap and white marking on his wings, a black tail and rump. Originally a mountain bird, it has adapted to other environments, as long as there is a rocky atmosphere. Which is the case here, on the slope of the Roche Méanne. The Black Redstart is a common bird, bright and very lively: it constantly hunts insects in flight and on the ground. Often perched up high on a wall or a rock, it makes brief cries of alarm while bending its legs. Its chatty song, punctuated with sounds of « paper rustling » is characteristic. Partially migratory, it spends winter in the bottom of the valleys.

Numerous abandoned farms can be seen. Some are no longer visible today because they have been overrun by vegetation. They were abandoned during the significant agricultural decline seen in the region during the nineteenth and early twentieth century, commonly called the "rural exodus" This altered the landscape significantly, with vegetation taking over in the abandoned fields and around ruined buildings. It is easy to imagine the harsh living conditions endured here by the peasants.

In the very steep areas of the mountains, growing conditions were difficult. In order to alleviate the difficulty of cultivating steeply sloping ground, dry stone retaining walls were built. In Provence, they are called restanques. These had the effect of retaining the earth and levelling out the ground, making it possible to grow crops. This is known as terrace cultivation.

This vantage point from the Pra Marin wood offers a sweeping view over the Lac de Serre-Ponçon. To the far left, the bridge of Savines-le-Lac and the Pic Morgon can be seen; to the right the view extends almost as far as the dam downstream from Sauze-du-Lac. In clear weather you can see in the background the La Blanche mountain range and the L'Estrop massif, in Alpes-de-Haute-Provence. On the right-hand shore of the lake stands the hamlet of Chèrines, together with the ski resort of Réallon at the foot of the Aiguilles de Chabrières.

The common chaffinch can easily be recognised by its double white wing stripe. It is the most common and widespread of the three species of chaffinches. Territorial during the breeding season, it gathers into large flocks to feed in winter. From the coast to the alpine zone, a year-round resident in the mountains, it is demanding, although it has a preference for open and cool forests. It is usually a seed-eater, it becomes an insectivore during the breeding season. 

The king of mountain trees in the Southern Alps, the larch is the only conifer to drop its needles in winter. In spring, its cones are a characteristic dark purple. The larch is one of the few European tree species that is imputrescible, that is to say, it does not rot. This is why, despite the fact that it twists as it dries out, it is widely use in frameworks, drinking troughs and other water holding vessels in the mountain villages. Incapable of germinating in its own undergrowth, it needs natural openings such as avalanche corridors for the young shoots to develop. It is found at altitudes in excess of 2,200 metres, adopting dwarf forms in these "combat" zones. The larch tree growing at this point on the trail is several hundred years old.