St Barnabé: Village Nègre hike

 

Village nègre St-Barnabé
Village nègre St-Barnabé


Using the parking of St Barnabé (960 m) as a starting point, we made a short loop hike on the north-eastern flank of Puy de Tourrettes. 

We headed southeast along the GR51 as far as to signpost #261. The initial part was almost flat. At #261 we forked right along the yellow marked path (La Caïre, Tourrettes sur Loup etc), and climbed to signpost #177 where we left the marked trail, again forking right. We followed a wide trail, and ascended to about 1050 m elev. not far from the power lines crossing the mountain flank.

GR51 from St-Barnabé
GR51 from St-Barnabé
Leaving GR51 at signpost261
Leaving GR51 at signpost261
Puy de Tourrettes
Puy de Tourrettes
Puy de Tourrettes northeastern flank
Puy de Tourrettes northeastern flank

We passed a pasture area and shelters, mostly ancient. We then stumbled on an airplane wreck lying in a small depression next to the trail. It must have been there for decades. Looking at the tail plane, it could be a Mooney. This wreck is less famous than the other one, a Rockwell Commander, lying on the southern flank of Puy de Tourrettes. 


We crossed an empty pasture field, climbed a bit more before starting to descend along a narrow unmarked trail, first heading northwest then north. There were several narrow paths crisscrossing the flank. From our location a bit higher, we could see the plateau and our starting point which made the navigation easy. 


We descended to a mysterious geological area named Village Nègre. Not a true “village” but big eroded limestone statues around clearings. We have seen similar albeit not identical formations above Caussols


Pasture at 1060m
Pasture at 1060m
Small airplane wreck
Small airplane wreck
Entering Village nègre
Entering Village nègre
Eroded limestones Village nègre
Eroded limestones Village nègre
Rock formations Village nègre
Rock formations Village nègre

We continued to the north along one of the trails and soon reached the parking. Using this itinerary, we never came near any areas or dwellings marked as private properties.


Distance: 5,5 km


Climb: 135 m


Duration: ~ 2 h


Map:  3642 ET Vallée de Estéron Vallée du Loup


Village nègre hike track
Village nègre hike track



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