Day 2 - Wildlife Spotting or Lake Snowshoe
Wildlife Spotting in the Champoleon Valley
Half day introduction to snowshoeing, winter wildlife and snow safety in the mountains in winter
The Champoleon valley is a wild winter wilderness frequented by chamois and ibex.
It is walled by 3000 meter peaks with a river along the valley bottom, a scattering of traditional alpine villages, trees and cliffs.
There are several walks to be done in this valley and you'll spend half a day walking along the valley looking out for signs of wildlife and if you're lucky you'll get to see the chamois frolicking in the snow.
This will be a gentle start to your week, to help you get used to wearing snowshoes and warm up your walking legs. The guide will also explain the safety of the mountains in winter!
OR:
Lac de Barbeyroux
Half day walk through mixed forest and alpine snow meadows to a frozen lake
On a day of fresh new snow - this is one of my favourite winter snow shoe walks in the whole of the Champsaur valley.
Walking along the south facing side of the valley, the sun is with you all the way, sparkling off the snow.
The beech woods, with a layer of snow delicately balanced over their leafless tangled branches, the pine trees laden down with snow blankets just waiting to be pinged, the open meadows of virgin snow crying out for you to be the first to mark your tracks and finally the lake itself with its unique crystal formations, icicles and ice patterns.... all extremely beautiful and breathtaking!
Again there are several options for getting to the lake, some involve a bit of a climb and some involve a simple traverse - we can decide on the day what you fancy!
