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Park at the exit of the hamlet of Marmorières, on the Trassanel road.
(S/E) Turn left onto the steep, stony track and climb through the woods. This is a DFCI track. Turn right and stay on this track. Pass close to the antennas and the Moun Simel fire lookout. Begin a short descent and join a small tarmac road.
(1) Follow it to the right for about 100 metres, then turn left onto the path climbing up the hillside. Reach a flat area, then a wider track.
(2) Turn left and begin a gentle descent. Continue along this wide track, passing a rusty fire tank on a left-hand bend. Cross the intermittent Roquo Negro stream at a cistern. Continue the climb, which is very steep at the end but then easier in the heart of the Soulanes de Nore National Forest, composed of conifers on this southern slope. Turn right before reaching the ridge line.
(3) Continue along the wide track on the north side, which is much steeper and has more natural vegetation. Gradually, the Haut Cabardès wind farm comes into view opposite as you progress along the track. Climb, then stay at roughly the same level before beginning the descent. Turn right to leave the track and take a stony path, arriving at a crossroads with several directions. Here you will find the GR®36.
(4) Do not take the GR® but turn left onto a path that crosses ferns, broom and brambles on the hillside. Reach the bottom of a dry stream bed and follow it uphill on its left bank. The trail sometimes disappears, but crossing the dry and sometimes clear stream bed makes it easier to progress. Do not cross to the other bank. Towards the source of the stream, the path becomes clearly visible and wider. Climb up a circular loop to reach the plateau where the wind turbines stand.
(5) Continue opposite the junction with the access track to the wind turbines, on a dirt track that narrows after a right-hand bend and becomes a steep, uneven schist path. In several sections, the downhill path splits above in the undergrowth, either to the right or to the left, making it much easier to walk. Come out onto the RD8006 (with little traffic) and take it carefully to the right for about a hundred metres to rejoin the GR®36.
(6) Take it to the right and now follow the red and white markings. Climb through the national forest, which becomes communal after a hairpin bend. The path describes a wide curve to the left, then crosses the track on the west side of the wind turbines.
(7) Continue straight ahead on a slight incline until you reach the eastern line of wind turbines at the highest point. Start descending on the track along the line of wind turbines. Reach the end of this track at the third-to-last wind turbine.
(8) Continue along the GR®36, which becomes a path in the undergrowth, veering to the right of the gravel track. Descend gently through the undergrowth, then emerge onto the ridge at the edge of the woods, with a beautiful view of the rest of the route. Proceed with caution on the stony descent (still schist, which is brittle and slippery). Return to the multi-directional crossroads you took on the way out.
(4) Pass between two large boulders and reach the famous Pas de Montserrat, where the wheel tracks of ancient carts (an old Roman road) have carved into the stone. Follow the path (GR®36) along the hillside for a good kilometre, crossing two cattle tracks (see info below). Begin the descent on the path, which widens. You will reach a Y-junction in a clearing.
(9) Turn left onto the GR®36®. At a fork, turn left and continue 200 metres downhill to a track.
(10) Continue straight ahead on the wide track that descends (GR®36). After about 400 metres, take the path that branches off to the left and descends steeply. You will soon reach a concrete road. Follow it downhill to the entrance to the village of Trassanel.
(11) At the bottom of the descent, turn right onto Rue René Clerque. Be careful here, as the GR®36® markings are not very clear. Zigzag a little, given the position of the buildings, then turn left onto the square to pass in front of the town hall, then right to leave the village, and continue on a more traditional path than the concrete/asphalt version. Continue downhill through the woods until you cross the bed of an intermittent stream over some rocks. Climb up the other bank and continue through the woods for about 500 metres. Reach the top of this short climb.
(12) Turn right at a 90° angle onto a wider track (GR®36) which turns into an asphalt road. Follow it, including at the next intersection (road on the left towards Trassanel) until you reach the car park at the exit of Marmorières (S/E).
Visorando member
Moderate 
Very difficult 
