LE CASSET, back on the Briançon road about 12km beyond the Col du Lautaret, is a hamlet of dilapidated old houses clustered around a church with a bulbous dome. The site is superb: streams and meadows everywhere, reaching to the foot of the larch-covered mountainsides, the Glacier du Casset dazzling above the green of the larches. A good day's walk is to follow the GR54 out of the village as far as the Col d'Arsine (about 3hr), from which point you can either turn back or go on down to La Grave on the north side of the park, making an overnight stop at the CAF Refuge de Alpe/Villar d'Arène (tel 04.76.79.94.66), below the col.The path from Le Casset crosses the Guisane and follows a track through dark woods, first on the left and later on the right bank of the Petit Tabuc stream. From the end of the track you cross some grassy clearings before entering the trees again and climbing up to a milky-looking mini-lake, the Lac de la Douche, at the foot of the Glacier du Casset. From here a clear path zigzags up a very steep slope, coming out in a long valley and eventually leading to the Col d'Arsine. About halfway up are some tumbledown huts, the Chalets d'Arsine, by a series of blue-grey tarns. Up on the left from the chalets are a whole series of glaciers. The biggest is the Glacier d'Arsine, hanging from the walls of the long jagged ridge suspended between the Montagne des Agneaux and the Pic de Neige Cordier to the west. There's a café and grocery store in the village of Le Casset, while for somewhere to stay, there's a campsite and gîte d'étape, Le Casset (tel 04.92.24.45.74), near the church, with another (tel 04.92.24.76.42) at neighbouring Les Boussardes. Other budget accommodation nearby includes a gîte d'étape, Fourou (tel 04.92.24.41.13; closed Sept–Dec & May) in Monetier-les-Bains, and a HI hostel at Le Bez in the ski resort of Serre-Chevalier.
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