THEMED PATH: In the shepherds' footsteps

At an altitude of 1700 meters, this hamlet is inhabited in summer, at the beginning of the summer pasture. The old dairy has been spruced up to become a snack bar. It’s pretty little chapel dedicated to Saint Jean is very simple and bare.

Together with its entire catchment area, the Chambran valley constitutes an enormous alpine pasture. Sheep belonging to several different owners are gathered here for the summer grazing season. Many of them come from the department of Alpes-de-Haute-Provence. The landscape (sheep paths, old hay meadows), vegetation, built structures (old dairy, pastoral cabins)... everything has been marked by centuries of animal husbandry.

In the valley, the ruins of numerous piles of stones resulting from the removal of stones in the hay meadows are witness to another age. Most of these old prairies are now grazed by sheep. Pastoralism has evolved: no more local flocks so less hay, the valley is now occupied by a large flock from the Haute-Provence Alps. 

The two slopes of the Chambran valley are very different: the right bank, minerals are very present. There are granites and gneiss making up the crystalline base of the Ecrins massif. On the left bank, the prairies are sandstone and chalky. These are part of the glacial thrust sheet: they are ancient sediments deposited mostly to the East, in the Alpine ocean, then carried here by compression at the time of the formation of the Alps.

Lower down as you cross the area, near the pastoral Cabane de l'Eychauda, you can make out piles of stones, the clapiers formed by the removal of stones from the hay meadows. In order to feed the livestock right through the winter, it was necessary to garner a large amount of hay! With changes in livestock farming practices, there are no longer cut for hay, but used for grazing. Only a tiny area of the valley - the flattest - is still mown for hay, mechanically.

The path winds around large blocks of limestone, fallen from the overlooking cliffs. Limestones are ancient sediments, deposited on the alpine ocean seafloor and then raised up, folded, solidified, broken and displaced by the compression forces which resulted in the disappearance of the ocean and the formation of the Alps.

This little carpet-forming plant is characteristic of rocky limestone terrain. Its leaves are indented at the tips, giving them the appearance of a heart - with a little imagination! The purple-blue flowers are arranged into little round heads, hence the name, globe daisy. It is a very fast coloniser and can cover stony ground and boulders... even to the point of being invaded itself by other plants once it has fixed the soil.

The slope opposite, on the right-hand side of the Chambran valley, is part of the crystalline basement of the Les Écrins massif. The peaks and needles of granite and gneiss are quite unlike the imposing limestone cliffs overlooking the path! The glaciers left their mark here, carving out the rock and then leaving behind vast stretches of moraine as they retreated. Unfortunately, the Séguret glacier up ahead, extremely reduced in size and having retreated to the bottom of its cirque, has not escaped the effects of climate change.

It is high summer and at the hottest time of the day the crickets start to chirp. The presence of crickets in an alpine meadow, their density and diversity are signs of the quality and good management of the meadow. If cricket numbers are low, the meadow is over-grazed!

A flight of black birds twists and turns before descending on the alpine meadows. The choughs are seeking out meagre takings, preferably small invertebrates. Great acrobats and sociable birds, they stand out with their yellow beaks and red legs. Sometimes a few red-billed choughs mingle with them. These are more timid and have a red beak and red legs. Both species nest on cliffs.

Remnants of a way of life that has disappeared, the Chambran chalets were once a high-altitude village where flocks stayed during the summer months. Today this is a welcome stop along the GR54 and the starting point for hikes towards Lake Eychauda.