Lac de Crachet

A beautiful hidden gem.

START: La Chalp
FINISH: La Chalp
DISTANCE: 7km
TIME: 2.5 hours

It's funny how everything fits together. If you stand at the carpark just up from the little village of a La Chalp and look south, the hillside which faces you is that of Le Meale, the focus of the walk from a few days ago. Le Meale is not the focus of today's walk, however: that is the picturesque Lac de Crachet. 



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Begin at the aforementioned carpark and walk along the adjacent path down the valley. This takes you through a series of sun-drenched meadows, where you will be met by a cacophony of crickets and grasshoppers.

Soon the path begins to rise: it is quite a long, drawn out ascent up many zigzags and switchbacks, but you will not mind because it is so lovely: the scorched yellow grass transforms into lush green as you climb, with all manner of wildflowers; lone groups of trees make the sunshine dappled across your path, and there is even a lovely river for you take a break at. It is a lovely ascent, and is topped off when you get high enough, when round the corner you can glimpse up the head of the adjacent valley a beautiful waterfall as it falls from the far-off corrie. Up that same corrie is a tunnel built by the alpine military to access Barcellonette.

Continue up through the meadows and soon the trees become slightly more dense and the gradient flattens. As you make the last switchback, you will be able to glimpse the white water rapids hurtling off the hillside from the Lac de Crachet: so far I have not seen such spectacular running water, and to see it both in the distance and close quarters like this is truly special.

You will notice in the nearby sign that you will have to watch out for sheep and their accompanying guard dogs; I did not see any such herds, but keep your eye out nonetheless and, if you do see them, steer clear.

Just after this sign the woods open up and you are into a high alpine pasture. The colours here are amazing: blues, yellows, reds, purples, pinks all sparkle in the sunlight as you walk along the bottom of the corrie. You may notice to your left a small ramshackle building: this is the Cabin de Crachet, which evidently is only used by those desperate enough to do so.

Just passed the cabin the path begins to ascend out of the meadow and towards your destination: the Lac. On this ascent, be sure to look back the way you came: not only do you get a great view of the meadow in its colourful splendour, but you also gain a fantastic distance view of the Aigilles de Chabrières. Take in this view and then continue to the crest.

The Lac de Crachet

Just over the crest sits the Lac de Crachet. A cute little lake, akin to some of the finest tarns in the Lake District, it is relatively shallow with a great jutting peninsula in the centre where you can have a snack and dip your feet in the water to your heart's content. There was a tremendously large (and decidedly angry) frog when I was there, but this should not be a concern. There is also great near scenery: cliff edges all around, with the Pic de l'Eyssene standing robustly to the north.

When you have relaxed your feet in the cold water and soaked up the sun's rays to a sufficient degree, retrace your steps.

A walk which is not too tasking, not too spectacular. But one which is beautiful from start to finish. From the colourful pastures to the gushing rivers to the beautiful Lac de Crachet itself, this is a lovely walk.