Day 19 - Ceillac to Maljasset - Two Lakes and a Col

Lac des Pres Soubeyrand

I'm really looking forward to today's hike because I'm going to stay in the refuge at Maljasset. I've never been to the hamlet but I've heard it described as a Himalayan village - right at the end of a long, high, isolated valley just before the Italian border. I've also heard good things about the hut. 

To get there I have a big climb over the highest col on the hike - the Col Girardin at 2700 m. The initial climb goes up through some open forests and then passes two lovely lakes. The first is the Lac des Pres-Soubeyrand and it's surrounded by grass and forest. The second - Lac Sainte-Anne - is a strikingly blue and surrounded by rocky peaks and moraines left by disappeared glaciers. I'm in no rush - today's guidebook time is a tad over 6.5 hours and today may be the shortest day left on the hike - so I linger. Then a short climb takes me up the Col Girardan. From here there are great views in all directions. I can see into the Ecrins, including the Glacier Blanc and La Barre des Ecrins (4102 m); this is a bittersweet moment , I climbed it on skis around 25 years ago and I've just learned two of the people I climbed it with are dead.

Lac Sainte Anne and the Ecrins from the Col Girardin

At the col I also entered my own department (like a county) - the Alpes de Haute Provence - and it's really the first sign I'm getting near the end of the hike. A steep descent to Maljasset and I get installed in the excellent hut. After a shower I read outside - it's a very pleasant temperature. There are quite a few people staying in the hut and the evening meal is very convivial; it is also excellent - thick vegetable soup (more like a stew), polenta + sausage and lots of apple crumble - maybe the best on the hike.