THEMED PATH: The precipice path

In ancient times, the Durance valley was a key communication corridor. Rama was a kind of staging post on the Roman road. In the Middle Ages, Rama was a small town with a noble's château. But the village was devastated by the capriciousness of the Durance and the Biaysse rivers on numerous occasions and the inhabitants gradually deserted the site, moving to neighbouring villages. The attachment of the parish of Rame to that of La Roche in 1446 is indicative of this decline.

À l’époque des grandes glaciations, l’énorme glacier de la Durance a creusé son lit sur une épaisseur de plus de 200 m de haut. Le glacier de la vallée de Freissinières affluait à la surface de ce glacier. Leur fonte a laissé une grosse “marche d’escalier” nommée gradin de confluence. La Biaysse rejoignant la Durance, a peu à peu creusé ce gradin, d’abord en tant que torrent sous glaciaire puis après la fonte du glacier.

Protected from Atlantic influences by the Massif du Pelvoux, the high Durance valley has a very dry climate with wide seasonal temperature fluctuations. It has grasslands very similar to the steppes of Central Europe which are rare in France. It is part of the Natura 2000 “Steppique durancien et queyrassien” (Durance and Queras valley steppes) site.

The Sentier du Gouffre has sometimes been described as a Roman road, but we do not know the exact route the Roman road followed. One thing is certain, it used to be used by the villagers to reach their fields and vineyards, and for any other journeys they had to make.

During the major glaciation periods, the enormous Durance glacier carved out its bed to a depth of more than 200 metres. The glacier in the Freissinières valley flowed onto the surface of this glacier. When they melted, they left a large "stair step”, called a confluence terrace. Flowing into the Durance, the Biaysse gradually carved a path through this terrace, first as a subglacial mountain stream and then after the glacier melted.

At small colony of jackdaws has taken up residence in the ravine. A member of the Corvidae family, the jackdaw can be identified by its small size and grey plumage with darker wings and a black cap on its head. It is a species not often found in the mountains, remaining in the valley bottoms and generally found no higher than 1,500 metres. It nests on cliffs or in human habitats: castles, towers and ruined buildings!

Europe's biggest owl, the Eurasian eagle-owl lives in the vicinity of the ravine. It nests on ledges on the cliff faces but has a very large home range, hutting not only large insects but also snakes, voles, hares etc. Unfortunately, it is very sensitive to disturbance and has already deserted a large number of rock faces now used as climbing routes and equipped with via ferratas. It has also fallen victim to collisions with electricity lines. 

Le parcours s'arrête avant la prise d'eau de Pallon. En dessous, la Biaysse a dû creuser une gorge étroite et profonde (une gorge de raccordement), nommée le gouffre de gourfouran, pour rejoindre les eaux de la Durance.

A red flash on the path, then nothing... But yes, there it is! A completely grey cricket has settled on a grey rock. Another red flash: he has flown off and settled again... creating surprise and confusion. Just what is needed to confuse a predator. This is how the red-winged grasshopper protects itself, folding its colourful wings down under its wing covers when at rest, and thus exploiting its camouflage colouring. A blue flash? That's its cousin, the blue-winged grasshopper!

Pallon marks the entrance to the ancient glacial valley of Freissinières, enclosed behind a bar of hard rock. As they melted, the glaciers left behind a lake, trapped by this bar. It is said that this natural dam has been breached on numerous occasions. In the Middle Ages, suddenly released into the Gourfouran gorge, the water is said to have laid ruin to the village of Rame, standing on the plain.

Du fait de son implantation stratégique, l’histoire de Pallon est riche et mouvementée. A la croisée des chemins, Pallon est aujourd’hui une étape du GR 653D Montgenèvre – Arles qui suit la voie domitienne empruntée par les pèlerins d’Italie en route pour Compostelle et les pèlerins français en route pour Rome !

This small tree is present in North Africa, the Iberian Peninsula and in a few departments in southern France, including the Hautes-Alpes. It is regarded as a relic from a warmer period far back in history. It has found a refuge in well exposed situations, on warm sunny slopes. Its needles are in the form of scales, lying against the branches. It is a monitored species.