Go Alps:Walking over the Alps from France to Italy is heaven for hikers just as long as you're not wearing ancient military garb, writes Holly Hunt
‘WARRIORS OF Hannibal, now, in the name of Carthage, we shall march on Rome. To Rome!” boomed our modern day Hannibal. Arghhh, roared a haphazard band of strangely dressed warriors as they rushed under the arch, over the moat and into the mountains towards Italy.
Our rather minuscule army, 11 of us, were looking at the possibility of setting up a charity challenge event in the Queryas National Park of the southern Alps. The idea was to recreate part of Hannibal’s route over the Alps, with participants being sponsored to hike 75km over two days. We began at the fort of Mont Dauphin in France and finished at the source of the River Po in Italy.
For authenticity’s sake, I had persuaded the National Theatre Costume Hire in London to lend us a mishmash of helmets, breastplates, spiked ankle thingies and swords. An hour later at the top of the first hill a number of these ardent warriors abandoned their heavy leather armour, wheezing only slightly. Deduction number one: modern day businessmen are not quite as tough as the members of Hannibal’s army.
Other things seem to have changed in the 2,200 years since Hannibal marched on Italy: nowadays we rather like Italians, especially their pizzas and pastas; animal rights groups aren’t too keen on us bringing elephants on high mountain hikes; and you don’t have to pillage the local villages to be served fabulous wines.
Parts of the southern Alps, though, remain unchanged. One can still disappear from the world until all you see are mountains smothered in Alpine flowers, snow-capped peaks and turquoise lakes.
There are numerous arguments as to where precisely Hannibal crossed the Alps to begin 16 years of warmongering on Rome. With him marched 20,000 foot soldiers, 4,000 horsemen and numerous elephants. But all signs of their passing have been buried in the gorges of the Alps. There is no hard evidence to confirm any of the disputed routes. So we choose the most picturesque of them all.
What we discovered was a hiker’s paradise. Miles and miles of marked trails that lead you through villages where wooden shuttered windows overflow with flowers; potters and painters tout their wares; markets are filled with artisan cheese and winemakers; coffee shops with red and white chequered tablecloths sell strong espressos; and the local mayor can be found planning festivals in the elegant Maison du Marie.
In the spring and summer refuge huts open up to hikers, but it is such a well-kept secret that there are few of them there, and even less are native English speakers.
Perched high above the Guil River Canyon, Mont Dauphin, our starting point, is a small 17th century town entirely surrounded by high rose-coloured walls. The town was fortified by King Louis XIV’s military engineer, Vauban, and in 2008 was listed as a Unesco World Heritage site. For only €17.50 one can stay in a hiker’s hostel on the main cobbled street.
Our route followed part of the GR58 hiking trail which is marked by small red and white paint marks on rocks and trees.
THE FIRST MORNINGtook us up over the Col de Furfande at around 2,500m. Once above Mont Dauphin you disappear into a forest of heavily scented Scots pine, juniper and larch, emerging above the forest into a landscape worthy of The Sound of Music. Layers of blue jagged mountains and slopes of summer-bleached grasses stretched out to the horizon in every direction, the only sounds the distant echoes of cow bells.
Hannibal’s exploits, his march from Carthage and dramatic victories over the Romans, earned him the admiration of millions. One of his most passionate modern day fans is director Vin Diesel who for years has been planning the making of a film on Hannibal. It’s rumoured Hannibal the Conqueror will hit the silver screen by the end of next year but some critics are dubious that this will ever happen.
Further along, at the side of the track, stood a sign to the Refuge de Furfande and a menu advertising cold beers. As with the Iberian troops in Hannibal’s army all those years ago, there were mumblings of protest. But, unlike Hannibal who had to leave 11,000 men behind, our modern day leader managed to quell the grumblings with promises of pastries and ice-creams in Arvieux.
From Arvieux we followed the valley of the River Guil to our campsite above Aiguilles. Our leader, who had gallantly worn his helmet all day, promptly collapsed with heatstroke. Deduction number two: Hannibal couldn’t have worn an aluminium helmet – it would have fried his brain. We sat around our fire under the stars, drank cheap rosé and set the world to rights.
In the morning we watched the sunlight creep along the valley and then marched on to Italy. The Col de la Traversette is almost 3,000m high and splashes of snow remain here all year round. It was hard going and very difficult to believe that you could get an elephant up the narrow ledges. Dislodged shale skittered down below us as we inched along the track, finally reaching the top to look down into the swirling grey mist-covered Po Valley.
Stepping across an imaginary line we triumphantly entered Italy.
At the hikers’ hostel of Pian Del Re, without even a scuffle, we were served a delicious feast. We raised our glasses and toasted Hannibal Barca, a far tougher man than any of us could ever claim to be.
Queyras National Park
There are numerous hiking hostels in the Queyras National Park. They range in price from €30 to €45 per night, including dinner and breakfast. Details can be found at queyras-montagne.com. Not all these hostels stay open all year so check before you go.
Call Pian Del Re in Italy at 00-39-17594967. As long as there is no sign of you ever having been there, you can camp where you like in the Queyras National Park.
There is no need to hike the amount that we did to enjoy this area. There are just as beautiful shorter routes.
A great book for hiking information in this area is Tour of The Queyras, A Circular Walk in the Southern French Alps - GR 58 and GR 541by Alan Castle.
If you would like everything to be organised for you, Jean Paul Blanc is a good local guide. Tel: 00-33-620081151 or queyras-decouverte.com.
You can fly to Turin via London with Ryanair (ryanair.com). Cars can be rented from Avis (avis.com) or tel 021-4281111.
It is a two-and-a-half hour drive from Turin to Mont Dauphin.
For more information on the Hannibal Challenge charity event organised by WildFox Events see wildfoxevents.com or tel 00-44-1567-820409.