Spring Wolf Tracking Trip and Itinerary
Roe deer hair from wolf eaten carcass
Price: 444€ per person
A once in a lifetime wolf tracking wilderness adventure following the tracks of one of the most elusive predators in the Alps, with the 'hopefully' new litter of wolf cubs just born!
Read journalist Judy Armstrong's article about the wof tracking trip
Walking with Wolves in the Walking World Ireland Magazine and her other article in France Magazine. Copyright Judy Armstrong.
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Dates:
Thurs 28th March - Sat 30th March 2013 PLACES AVAILABLE
Price Includes:
• First breakfast en route to the wolf tracking.
• 2 nights in a winter refuge - food for evening meal and breakfast provided but you will all cook together.
• Picnic lunches
• 3 days with 1 overnight with expert wolf tracker and wildlife expert and high mountain guide.
• Snowshoes and poles if needed
• Transport during the trip
• Transfers to and from Gap train station
We have put together an example itinerary for you so you can get an idea of what to expect on your spring wolf tracking adventure.
But it is not set in stone and we will adapt it to suit the group.
The main thing to remember is that you will be following wild animals so it is really they who will be dictating the itinerary!
Although it is officially spring in April, it can still be very wintery conditions with lots of snow. However, it can equally be quite warm with very little snow on the ground so you need to be prepared for all weather possibilities!
Our aim is to be out in the wild for the whole trip so we will need to take everything with us but we will drop some equipment off at the refuge as early as possible on the first day to avoid walking with heavy packs.
We will either collect you from Gap train station or meet you directly at your hotel if you made your own way here yesterday.
We will have breakfast together and Bernard will talk through recent wolf activity and go through a plan for the next few days. After breakfast, we'll prepare our sacks and then off we go!
As we will have quite heavy packs, our first objective is to get to the refuge where we can drop off overnight kit and food, so we have a light day pack to spend the rest of the day with.
We will be watching out for any signs on the way, and if we find anything we may well return. If not, or if we deduce that the tracks have gone in a certain direction (there are certain known patrolling routes!!) we'll continue on after the refuge covering a route that criss crosses the popular wolf routes to see what we can find.
Walking is likely to be ‘off piste’ in a wild, all terrain environment but wolves do tend to follow the paths of least resistance so there will be some respite on easy tracks and paths to break up the technical parts.
We will be looking at the signs of all the different animals; chamois, wild boar, mouflon and deer, living in the wolves' territory. You will learn how to identify and interpret their prints - whether they are fresh or old, running, walking or ambling, you'll see what food they eat, discover their favourite places, where they drink, their dens..... all useful information to help locate and understand the wolves.
If we find fresh wolf prints our route will be determined and we'll follow their tracks and interpret their behaviour along the way... do they separate to hunt, are they running or slowly patrolling their territory, do they play or rest, what are they looking for and where are they going? Have they recently hunted and eaten or are they hungry in search of prey.... ?
By the end of the day you will have a really good insight into the behaviour of the wolves and mountain wildlife as they eat, sleep, mate and carry out their lives under the threat of their biggest predators.
After making sure we have enough water and firewood for the night we'll patrol around the refuge to see if we can see any signs - the evening is also the time of day for wild boar to start moving about.
Throughout the evening we'll go out to see if any visitors have passed by and also to try and get a response from the wolves by howling.
Being in the wilds of the Alps under the stars and moonlight listening to the sounds of wildlife at night is a truly special experience. If you are lucky enough to hear the wolves howling, it is a sound that you will never ever forget!
We'll cook dinner together and warm ourselves by the fire before settling into our sleeping bags - it's a fun evening! If you have never staying in a winter refuge in the Alps before it is likely to be an experience you'll keep in your memory bank for life!
We will also place an infrared, movement triggered camera overnight so you can see who came to visit you whilst you were fast asleep!
Breakfast outside the refuge
scanning the mountainside for wolves
Sleeping outside in wolf country
After a hot coffee and breakfast, we'll pack our sacks and set off for the second day of our wolf tracking adventure.
Our route will largely depend on what we saw or heard yesterday and overnight. There is the possibility of moving to a different refuge to try and target a different part of the territory or continuing to explore around here.
By now you'll be getting a real feel for the local wildlife and will know where to look to find chamois and mouflon as they graze, you'll notice where roe deer slept the night, where wild boar traversed in search of food and will be able to tell the difference between a dog and a wolf print.
Who knows what we'll find today, one thing is guaranteed though and that is that it will be a wildlife adventure that you won't forget!
We'll be looking vigilantly for the wolves and signs of their activity and will try howling to try and start up communication with them. It may feel bizarre howling out loud into the wilderness but the wolves do respond. It is one of the official ways to find out if wolf packs have reproduced. You can tell in the replies if it is a youngster or adult!!
At the end of the day, we'll head back to the refuge and prepare for the evening.
Another evening out in the wilds of the Alps under the moonlight and stars. We know there are animals out there, we will hear them in the dark... and there is a strong possibility the wolves are even watching us...
We'll put up the camera again, maybe in a different place this time to see what goes on around the refuge at night!
Carcass of a wild boar eaten by wolves
Spot the pack of five wolves behind the sheep
There is the option of a pre-breakfast, dawn walk around the refuge to capture this fascinating time of day as the night creatures are looking for their daytime hide-outs and the day animals are stirring to embrace the new day. It is also a time when wolves are very active, making the most of the shift changeover!
After a hot coffee and breakfast, we'll pack our (much lighter after having eaten all the food) sacks and set off for the last day of our wolf tracking adventure.
We'll head back from the refuge, again following signs of the wolves, ultimately in the direction of the minibus but maybe with a detour depending on what we have seen or heard.
It's the last chance we'll have to see if we can catch a glimpse of where they are hiding so we'll take our time scanning the mountainsides with our binoculars! We'll also spend more time howling (depending on previous results) to see if we can elicit some communication with the wolves.
At the end of your adventure, you should be able to tell the difference between a dog print and wolf print, a chamois, deer or wild boar print, and whether it was running or walking and in what direction, you’ll have discovered the hiding places and dens of the animals and seen and heard plenty of wildlife. You may even have been lucky enough to have caught a glimpse of the wolves in action or heard them howling!
We'll then head off back to civilisation. We'll stop off for a shower and after trip drink so you can go off on to the night train feeling refreshed!
This is where we will have time to download the night pictures onto the computer and find out what all the strange noises were in the night!
We'll also fill out the forms to send in records of all the wolf activity we have seen to the wolf network and forest guards. This is all recorded and contributes to the knowledge database of wolf activity in the area and ultimately the environmental management of the region.
We'll give you a lift back to Gap train station for your night train or to your hotel for the night if you are staying an extra night.
