Trekking

If you’re new to bivouacking, remember the rule of nine. Before 9 a.m. your tent must be dismantled, and after 7 p.m. you can start setting it up. So, from now on, you can’t confuse camping-out (bivouac) with camping.

• Besides, you don’t have to pitch a “tent” – it can be a tepee, a canvas shelter or an igloo (in winter). The important thing is to leave no trace. So, no building walls. There is wildlife under the stones that can fall victim to stone-pelting and excessive civil engineering.
• Bivouac shelters are permitted in the Queyras Regional Natural Park and the Ristolas-Mount Viso National Reserve. To do so, you need to be 20 metres away from the marked itineraries in the latter.
• Any place is authorized unless explicitly forbidden. What you should avoid, unless you’ve had a kind and clear invitation, is setting up in the immediate vicinity of people who work in the mountains. It’s a long way from shepherds’ huts and flocks.
• You need to ask the warden for permission to pitch your tent in the vicinity of the refuge, and respect the area indicated.
• Stay away from unmowed meadows.
• Stay away from the banks of lakes and streams, which are often a watering place for wildlife and always a fragile ecosystem.

When can you go bivouacking in the Queyras?

All year round! The only limits are the weather and the quality of your equipment.

If heavy thunderstorms are forecast, your camp-out will have to be postponed.
And when summer is gone, remember to equip yourself like a warrior! Because when it gets cold here, it doesn’t get cold by halves! A -20°C sleeping bag won’t be a luxury when the snow is all around you and the Lombardy wind is sweeping the peaks.

Your smart bivouac shelter is one that is:

• Ideally placed, sheltered from the wind – avoid windy ridges
• Not far from a forest that will provide shade in the mornings – keep out from isolated trees that can attract lightning.
• The proximity of a stream is not negligible for rinsing your face or for tea water – But beware! if herds graze above, the water may be unfit for consumption.

Take tablets to purify the water you draw from streams. It may be contaminated by the presence of herds (excrement, corpses). Boiling water also works well (three minutes minimum).

For washing, fresh water from streams and lakes can be irresistible. Swimming in high-altitude lakes is not forbidden, but common sense is:

• Don’t apply sunscreen before getting into the water, as this will prevent residues from stagnating in the lake.
• Use a cat toilet without soap, or with the simplest soap possible.

Use a stove, not a fire, to leave no trace and to respect the regulations defined by prefectoral decree from March 15 to September 15. Fires are forbidden outside lakeside fire pits.

In certain protected areas, such as national parks and nature reserves, lighting fires is prohibited.

It’s simple: we bring ALL our garbage back. A tip? Remember to take out only what you need and put away little by little. Remember that anything light on the ground will blow away with the slightest breeze.

Even biodegradable peelings should be brought back and, if possible, composted in the valley. First of all, the local bugs won’t eat bananas, mangoes or cucumbers, and if they do, they’ll get upset. The place has to look just like the photo you took on arrival! Beware of noodles that have fallen out of the bag, or objects that you might misplace. And be gentle with the grass, tenderly ruffling it to straighten it out.

As for organic waste (excrement), organic waste of human origin can be full of chemical additives. Let’s avoid inflicting this on the wilderness, even in small token doses. So think of a little bag for your production and paper.