The Pisse Cabins
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The Pisse Cabins
Valjouffrey

The Pisse Cabins

Flora
Panorama
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The ascent to Basse-Pisse arrives at the sublime view over the Font Turbat valley.

When you arrive at the Basse Pisse panorama, you are immediately plunged into the world of the high mountains. The Olan is majestic, crossing the Bonne valley, and opposite us is the Pic des Souffles, which is just as impressive. On the other side, in the untamed valley formed by the Haute Pisse corrie, you enter the mineral world of granite!


9 points of interest

  • History

    The Désert-en-Valjouffrey

    No sand or barren lands, the name of Desert comes from the word "essarter" which means to clear the land of forest in order to produce a clearing. Forest clearing was necessary for the implementation and the development of agriculture in the mountains... Nowadays, the Desert is one of the only hamlets at altitude which is inhabited all year round in spite of the harsh mountain climate.

  • Know-how

    Hay Fields

    The hayfields where the grass is mown have been improved over the generations by the extraction of stones which have then been stacked in piles which are known locally as “clapiers”. These piles of stones mark the boundaries between the crops and the flocks. 

  • Fauna

    Common Chiffchaff

    A bird that you hear but do not see, the Common Chiffchaff nicknamed the "écu counter”. Its song, which is very easy to identify, evokes the sound of gold coins falling one by one in to the cash register as they are counted. Green-brown and greyish on top, its feathers are off white underneath, beige on the chest with a barely visible pale brow.

  • Geology and geography

    Glacial valley

    The high valley of Bonne, or Font Turbat, is a typical glacial valley in the form of a trough with morainic bars marking the stages of the retreat of the glacier. The lower shelves or glacial shoulders are suspended above the trough 500 to 600 m in size of which the steep sides dominate the layers of scree and the alluvial fans (mass of debris transported by the water It finishes upstream by a vast cirque at the imposing foot of the rocky wall of theOlan (3 564 m), hemmed in at its foot by the Maye black glacier. At the time of the last glaciation  of Würm, 10 000  years ago , the two glaciers of Font Turbat and Maye joined together and fed into a powerful glacial tongue in the Bonne valley. It formed the valley in to the shape of a basin by scraping and polishing rocky walls in the granite. The lowest moraines, masses of rocky debris transported by the glaciers are situated around Châtellerat cabin.

  • Flora

    Cob web House Leek

    Thick leaves organized in tight rosettes shoot up towards the sky twists of white hairs  which are quite similar to  the traps woven by certain spiders. Not less competitive than the rhododendrons, The Cobweb House Leek is adapted to resist drought. The main rosette and the smaller shoots well grouped together; make a real water reserve which is then marvelously stocked by the fleshy leaves... It also develops many kinds of hairs that collect the dew.

  • Flora

    Rhododendron

    Nicknamed the rose of the devil, the rhododendron ferrugineum has the capacity of placing itself between the rocks and boulders where the soil is rare. It keeps its stiff leaves which are dark green and shiny and rust coloured underneath right through the winter. It gets its name from this rust colour. Every year, between the end of July and the beginning of August its branches are crowned with bouquets of flowers coloured rose and purple.

  • Fauna

    Apollo

    A big white butterfly with black and red markings is not shy; the Apollo is easy to see between the middle of June until the end of July... It lays its eggs on the White Stonecrop, a perennial plant with white flowers living on scree and gravel... The male Apollo is born before the female and waits patiently to procreate. It is to be noted that it benefits from national protection; its transport and destruction are forbidden.

  • Fauna

    White-throated Dipper

    Easier to observe than the Common Chiffchaff, the White-throated Dipper lives beside rivers and mountain torrents... A little red and grey bird, with a short tail, it has a fine beak, a white mark on the chin and on the chest. This astonishing sparrow has the particularity of being able to walk under the water against the current in search of food. It flattens itself down and grips on to the bottom with its claws, opens its eyes, which are protected from the flow by a fine membrane and spots worms, larvae, little crustaceans and fish.

  • Water

    Cascade de la Pisse

    With its origin in the high crystalline ground, the torrent bounces down waterfalls and cascades until it meets the Pisse at a height of 40 m.


Description

From the car park, walk up the road. At the crossroads in the village, turn right. At the intersection, cross the GR54, which goes down to the right (Col de la Vaurze) and the path rising to the left (Col de Côte Belle, Valsenestre) and take the path opposite, across the bridge. At the fork, continue along the dirt road opposite. You enter the Parc des Ecrins and follow the path along the Bonne torrent. Cross the pastoral barrier. You pass the foot of the Pisse waterfall and cross a footbridge over the torrent of the same name. From the Pisse waterfall, continue for about 8 minutes as far as a signpost to Basse Pisse on the left.
The route first follows an overgrown scree then runs through a small wood of mountain pine, rowan, birch and a large number of hazel trees. Last, we arrive at some ruins and a former hay meadow looking down on the Font Turbat valley. Follow the same route on the way back.

  • Departure : Le Désert en Valjouffrey
  • Towns crossed : Valjouffrey

Forecast


Altimetric profile


Sensitive areas

Along your trek, you will go through sensitive areas related to the presence of a specific species or environment. In these areas, an appropriate behaviour allows to contribute to their preservation. For detailed information, specific forms are accessible for each area.

Alpine ibex

Impacted practices:
Aerial, , Land, Vertical
Sensitivity periods:
JunJulAugSep
Contact:
Parc National des Écrins
Julien Charron
julien.charron@ecrins-parcnational.fr

Recommandations

Herd protection dogs

In mountain pastures, protection dogs are there to protect the herds from predators (wolves, etc.).

When I hike I adapt my behavior by going around the herd and pausing for the dog to identify me.

Find out more about the actions to adopt with the article "Protection dogs: a context and actions to adopt".
Tell us about your meeting by answering this survey.
Is in the midst of the park
The national park is an unrestricted natural area but subjected to regulations which must be known by all visitors.


Information desks

Maison du Parc du Valbonnais

Place du Docteur Eyraud, 38740 Entraigues

http://www.ecrins-parcnational.fr/valbonnais@ecrins-parcnational.fr04 76 30 20 61

Reception, information, temporary exhibition room, reading room and video-projection on demand. Shop: products and works of the Park. Free admission. All animations of the Park are free unless otherwise stated.

Find out more

Access and parking

From Entraigues take the D117 to Le Désert-en-Valjouffrey

Parking :

Car park at the entrance to the village of Le Désert-en-Vajouffrey

Source

Parc national des Ecrinshttps://www.ecrins-parcnational.fr

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