Col d’Anon – Col des Lauzes (no. 7)

Sur ce versant exposé au nord, nommé ubac, le sapin se plaît. Ses aiguilles ont 2 bandes blanches en dessous. Elles sont implantées de part et d’autre des rameaux et non tout autour comme chez l’épicéa. Les cônes allongés sont dressés et non pendants. Il est ici bien présent, souvent mélangé à du mélèze, à l’ombre duquel il peut pousser. À l’inverse, le mélèze, arbre de lumière, ne peut pousser sous un couvert de sapins !

The Fournel valley is well known for having the biggest colony of blue globe thistles in the Alps. This colony is growing in Les Deslioures, at the end of the road. But there are other colonies in the valley, like this one. Because this rare species is adapted to high-mountain hay meadows, agro-environmental measures have been introduced to delay grazing or hay cutting until the late summer so that it has time to set seed.

This trail passes close to the Cabane des Lauzes, the "base camp" used by the shepherd or shepherdess responsible for the Crouzet-les-Lauzes alpine pasture. The lower areas of this pastureland are difficult to oversee as they are covered by forest where it is easy to lose sight of animals among the larches. The higher areas, exploited in August, are very remote.

Dragonflies can be seen gliding around the lake One of them is relatively easy to identify: the four-spotted chaser. It is called this because there is a spot on each of its four wings. The female lays her eggs on floating vegetation and the larvae are aquatic. The dragonfly feeds primarily on mosquitoes and midges which it catches in mid-air. The male and female also mate while in flight... A real acrobat!

This cabin stands in an alpine meadow on the south-facing slopes within the municipality of Freissinières. Although most sheep are usually kept for meat, here some of them are milk ewes. And their milk makes an excellent Tomme cheese!

Although only one house (recently renovated) remains standing, Crouzet used to be a sizeable hamlet. If you stop for a while and look around carefully, you will make out numerous ruins spread over a wide area, old retaining walls and the traces of old ditches. This place used to have fine meadows which the people of L'Argentière would come here to cut. These meadows have long since disappeared, like the houses, and are now used for grazing. So not only an architectural heritage but also a floral heritage has been lost.

It is only after close inspection of rotting dead wood - pine or larch in the main - that you might hope to spot the very inconspicuous and rare shield-moss. It is a moss which has no leaves and only its sporophytes (tiny spore-containing sacs) give its presence away. It reaches a height of no more than 7 or 8 mm! It is rare because it can only live in ancient forest and it is severely threatened by timber exploitation, so it is an indicator of the good health of a forest. It is a heritage species, that is to say, protected at national level.

No, it's a snail, not a musical instrument! This relatively rare mollusc which can reach 2 or more centimetres in diameter is seldom seen in the Pays des Écrins, but appears to enjoy living in the Fournel valley. It takes shelter among cool damp boulders which are, as its name suggests, non-calcareous... Something quite unusual for snails, whose shells are made up essentially of calcium carbonate!