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From Bellegarde, take the Valserine valley (towards Lélex) to Confort. Turn right onto a road that climbs to the Menthières resort. When you reach the plateau at the Château, take the small road on the right that climbs southwards into the forest. At the hairpin bend, continue straight on along the Route du Sorgia (narrow forest road) and park at the junction with the pastoral road leading to Varambon.
(S/E) Continue along the road to a car park at an altitude of 1373m (from where it descends towards some antennas) then continue along the same path which leads to the mountain pasture.
Before it descends again at an altitude of 1,384 m, turn left, heading due east, to climb towards Sorgia d'en Haut.
(1) Here, the path becomes flat. Continue climbing to the left through the valley via paths that join theGR® trail coming from Sorgia at various heights. Follow it to climb up the valley and reach a flat area.
When the path veers left towards Crêt du Milieu, at an altitude of 1,526 metres, leave it on the right and climb up a wide curve above a pond towards Crêt du Miroir. Cut across the path coming from Chalet Bizot and continue straight up the slope towards the clearly visible Crêt du Miroir. There is no path, but there are tracks to follow, making the best of the terrain on grassy slopes that remain easy to walk on.
This will take you to Crêt du Miroir, the easternmost point of Crêt d'Eau.
(2) Descend westwards down the grassy slope to reach the path you crossed on the way up. Take it to the right until you reach theGR® coming from the left, which you left earlier.
Note: at this point, those wishing to shorten the hike can follow theGR® trail to the right, which leads directly to Crêt de la Goutte.
From the junction, head west up the slope, following the tracks rather than the path, keeping as close as possible to the contours of the terrain to stay on the grassy slopes and avoid the exposed rocks. You will reach the Crêt du Milieu ridge.
(3) From the summit, descend north along the ridge, then when it veers to the right, descend straight down the grassy slopes, keeping Crêt de la Goutte in your sights. You will reach a threshold where you will need to climb back up (altitude 1500m): veer to the right to rejoin theGR® trail.
Take it to the left to climb to the highest point of the massif.
The summit of Crêt de la Goutte has an orientation table.
(4) After enjoying the view, begin the descent to the north, first almost level and then along a grassy ridge that leads to the Pierre à Fromage, at the foot of Crêt de l'Equillon. There (altitude 1508m), turn sharply left to descend gently towards the west, following theGRP® Grand Tour de la Valserine. You will reach a major crossroads where a path arrives from the right from Crêt des Frasses.
(5) Turn left to descend the wide Varambon valley to the imposing chalet, which is clearly visible.
Pass in front of the chalet to take the right pastoral track leading to it.
At the bottom of the valley, the track turns left to enter the forest and rejoin the starting point at the same level, with a slight climb (altitude 1362m).
It is more interesting to leave this track here and take a path that continues down the valley and enters the forest. It descends diagonally to the right and then, at a crossroads, turns left towards the south to rejoin the uphill road (altitude 1275m).
Turn left to climb back up the road for 10 minutes to the car park (S/E).
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