St.-Veran, France — Gasping for breath in the thin Alpine air, we peered into the thick veils of clouds, desperate for a glimpse of the Italian plains stretching somewhere below. Above us, Monte Viso, the 12,600-foot, twin-peaked colossus of the southern French Alps, appeared briefly through the mist. But in the distance? Whiteout.
Striking a precarious pose on an icy ledge, my hiking companion Chris swung a climbing pick around his head. Then, primed on the works of Roman historian Livy, he proclaimed to the shrouded peaks, "Soldiers! ... You have now surmounted not only the ramparts of Italy, but also of the city of Rome."
It sounded pompous and absurd at that desolate height, but it lessened our disappointment and suited the location. This, after all, was Hannibal country. If the latest theories are correct, it was over this treacherous path high in the Alps that the bold Carthaginian general led his army of about 35,000 troops and 36 elephants more than 2,000 years ago.
Starving, decimated by fierce Celtic tribes and with snow thick underfoot, the great military column is thought to have rested on this mountain peak at the end of October 218 BC. Hannibal, intent on launching a surprise attack on Rome, gathered his exhausted troops the next morning and, revealing to them the fertile plains along the Po River far below, urged them downward into Italy.
The pass is known today as the Col de la Traversette and is one of the highest and most remote in the French Alps. It lies above La Queyras (pronounced "lah qway-rah"), a region of rugged valleys that only now is undergoing low-level tourist development, despite its position north of Provence and south of the elegant fortified city Briancon.
My wife, Eva, our two sons and I journeyed to La Queyras in summer 2003. Driving in trepidation along a road carved into the gorges of the Combe du Queyras, we emerged through a tunnel at the base of a picture-book castle guarding a valley of rich meadows.
Certainly La Queyras, a spur digging into the Italian border, has always been an isolated bastion. From 1349 to 1789, a medieval confederation of seven towns here formed its own independent, democratic government -- the Republique des Escartons. Even today the enclosing mountains keep the place secluded, which is reflected in the facilities. There are no ATMs, no shopping malls, no traffic lights. Pampered tourists will search in vain for a luxury hotel.
