100 Hut Walks in the Alps. Kev Reynolds
by the graceful Aiguille Doran. Using the hut as a base a number of fine expeditions are possible, and unless your plan is to tackle the Tour of the Vanoise, or one of its variants, it would be worth booking in for two or three nights.
Beginning at Modane railway station (served by main-line trains via Chambéry) wander upvalley along the main road towards Modane ville. Shortly after passing a supermarket turn left on a minor road signposted to le Bourget. This takes you beneath the railway line and into the village of L’Outraz. Follow red-white waymarks ahead at a staggered crossroads, continue uphill between houses and bear right by a small chapel. The road soon becomes a tree-lined track. When it forks bear right over a bridge. Winding uphill among trees the track narrows to a footpath.
Climbing through the forest you will come to many trail junctions. Mostly the way to take is obvious – the path is part of the GR5 which makes a traverse of the French Alps from the Lake of Geneva to the Mediterranean. Signposts or waymarks appear wherever doubts could arise, with Orgère on most of the signs. Eventually emerge from the trees to a lovely open meadow by the solitary stone chalet of Pierre Brune (about 2½hrs), from which good views are had to the east through the Haute Maurienne. Across the meadow come to a track where you bear right for a few paces, then join a continuing trail rising to the left. (About 5mins further along the track stands another hut; the privately owned Refuge de l’Aiguille Doran with 40 places and meals provided from mid-June to mid-September.) The path re-enters forest, then contours round the hillside to a fork just below a minor road. Go up to the road, leaving GR5, and just ahead stands Refuge de l’Orgère.
Refuge de l’Orgére
Refuge de l’Orgère belongs to the Vanoise National Park and is one of the ‘portes du parc’. It has 70 places and restaurant service when it is manned. This is from mid-June to mid-September (Tel: 04 79 05 11 65, email: [email protected]). Advanced booking advised.
A nature trail runs along the eastern side of the valley, while a more demanding trail makes a high traverse of the western side. There’s a route over Col de la Masse to Refuge du Fond d’Aussois, or a circuit to be made of the Tête Noire. Alternatively follow the Tour of the Vanoise to Plan Sec where there’s another privately-owned hut.
WALK 14
Refuge de L’Arpont (2309m: 7575ft)
| Start | Termignon (1304m: 4278ft) |
| Valley base | Termignon or Aussois |
| Distance | 7km (4 miles) one way |
| Total ascent | 1005m (3297ft) |
| Time | 3-3½hrs |
| Map | Rando Éditions Carte de Randonnées A3 ‘Vanoise’ 1:50,000 |
Located on a grassy shelf high above the west bank of the Doron gorge, and with tongues of the 11km-long Glaciers de la Vanoise glinting from the upper ridge, Refuge de l’Arpont is a fine place in which to spend a night. Ibex are often spied grazing nearby. Cascades shower over high cliffs, and from a bluff behind the hut La Grande Casse and La Grande Motte are both on display. The hut is visited by walkers tackling the GR5, and by both the Tour of the Vanoise and the shorter Tour des Glaciers de la Vanoise, but the approach described below is the direct route from Termignon in the Maurienne, upvalley from Modane, by which it is served by bus. It’s quite a tough walk, in that the trail which climbs out of the valley makes few concessions, and gains something like 700m in less than 3km.
From Termignon wander along a narrow surfaced road (D83) heading northwest beside the Doron river towards le Villard and la Fontanelle. After about 2km come to the Pont du Chatelard and a small parking area at about 1347m. Cross to the west bank of the river where you soon join a path which begins the steep climb to a group of farm buildings at le Mont. It is a steep climb too, twisting in numerous tight zigzags to the west, then northwest, up the hillside a little south of the Doron gorge – a dramatic cleft through which the river is fed by a whole series of streams falling from the icefields above the Arpont hut.
On gaining the farm buildings and ruins at le Mont (2038m; 2½hrs) join the GR5 and bear right through thickets of alder and with occasional views down into the gorge. As the way progresses you come to the first alpenroses, while Pointe de la Réchasse gives the impression that it’s blocking the valley ahead. Footbridges lead the path across stre ams that have dug channels through the rock, water-falls spray above the trail and you pass a few ruined hutments, the Chapelle St-Laurent and a small farm, with the hut now in view on a spur jutting from the Dôme de Chasseforêt. This is gained by slanting up a final easy slope at 2309m.
Refuge de l’Arpont
Refuge de l’Arpont commands a fine view to the south. Owned by the National Park authority it has 92 places, a full meals service and kitchen facilities. It is manned from mid-June to mid-September (Tel: 04 79 20 51 51, [email protected], www.arpont.refuges-vanoise.com).
Above the hut to the southwest lies the little Lac de l’Arpont at the foot of the Glacier de l’Arpont. A 2hr round-trip to this tarn is worth making, if it is your intention to spend a night here. Other routes from Arpont lead down-valley along GR5 to the privately-owned Refuge du Plan Sec, and upvalley to either Refuge du Col de la Vanoise, Refuge d’Entre Deux Eaux or Refuge du Plan du Lac (see Walk 15).
WALK 15
Refuge d’Entre Deux Eaux (2120m: 6955ft)
| Start | Bellecombe (2307m: 7569ft) |
| Valley base | Termignan or Aussois |
| Distance | 5km (3 miles) to the hut |
| Total ascent | 124m (407ft) |
| Time | 1½–1¾ hrs up, 1hr down |
| Map | Rando Éditions Carte de Randonnées A3 ‘Vanoise’ 1:50,000 |
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