Date of your route : Aug 27, 2019
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★☆☆☆ Disappointing
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
/!\ Important information
This hike was recorded in 2016, since then the trail has deteriorated significantly in the direction of Reposoir/Refuge de la Combe/La Dente des Portes/Le Reposoir.
I have been hiking for many years, equipped with IGN maps, and several groups of locals have also taken the wrong path. Let's not be afraid to say it, these successive failures have put us all in danger!
First of all, the Reposoir car park: the road is now closed, and the car park is 15-20 minutes further down the road, at a place called "Sanguinaire", with no signs. Worse still, the car park is also called Reposoir, which is confusing, so you will be tempted to take the first hiking trail on your left... This is a serious mistake, as it leads nowhere and is very steep. Some locals also got caught out on the same day as us.
Once you reach the real trail, the passage to the Combe refuge is unremarkable.
However, the second stage, from point number 8:
- You will arrive at PLANAY, where a recent 4x4 track indicates the Refuge de la Combe/Le Rosay in one direction and the Fontaine du Fayard in the other, BUT THERE IS NO indication of the pass leading to the Dent des Portes!
You will need to find the trail by following the mountain as far away from the 4x4 track as possible, it goes into the woods.
Once you have avoided this first mistake, you will need to find a fork in the path that leads downhill rather than continuing uphill, a mistake that two other groups made on the same day as us. We found ourselves in the bed of a small dry stream, where a cairn clearly showed that we were not the first to take this wrong path and indicated that we should continue. and then, to our astonishment, the slope became steep at more than 50° and the configuration of the stream prevented us from turning back. We were lying down, clinging to the vegetation to move forward, and 40 metres further on we discovered the real path, located 80 metres downstream from our position!
When I tell you that other groups were caught out, there were experienced locals, two elderly people, all of whom had to cross this passage at the risk of their lives due to the lack of markings and unclear directions!
It was only by forming a larger group to look for a way down that we finally decided to descend into the bed of a stream (on the IGN map, the first stream, marked with a cairn, is the one that passes between the letters "M" and "O" of Montagne du Charbon, and the stream that allows you to descend is the one marked with a dot at an altitude of 1666).
Similarly, at the top of the pass, the numerous traces of grazing animals and the lack of signposts are once again misleading, especially if you pass by the Chardonnay chalet and not the summit of the Dent de la Porte.
I can only advise you to do the route in the opposite direction. The lack of markings should not pose any particular problem, as the park has been alerted to the numerous errors and confusion. It remains to be seen how long it will take to remedy this...
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Visorando member
Very difficult 
Difficult 
