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The hike starts from the car park of the Marano hotel-chalet, located at the top of the Isola 2000 resort at marker 90.
(S/E) Follow the signs for Lacs de Terre Rouge and take the path that climbs up through the larch forest. Shortly afterwards, you will come across a ski slope and marker 91, where you should continue towards Lacs de Terre Rouge.
(1) Reach marker 92 and continue towards the Lacs de Terre Rouge, taking the path that climbs to the left.
(2) At the Terre Rouge lakes, follow the direction of Baisse de Druos, indicated by marker 93. The path overlooks the largest of the lakes and winds its way up to the pass without any particular difficulty.
(3) At Baisse de Druos, continue along the path downhill towards the first lake of Valscura, which you will pass on your right. You will then enter Italian territory.
(4) Pass the lower Valscura Lake and reach a marker at its eastern end, where you will need to follow the direction of Lago del Claus, Rifugio E. Questa. You will then walk along a superb path, partly paved, which is an old military road.
(5) Reach the signpost for Lago del Claus and continue in the direction of Rifugio E. Questa. The going is still easy and presents no technical difficulties. The refuge is reached in about ten minutes.
(6) Reach the Questa refuge overlooking the beautiful Lac des Portettes and head towards Passo delle Portette, as indicated by the signpost, taking the path that climbs to the right.
From this point onwards, the route becomes more difficult. The first part of the ascent is relatively easy, but the slope soon becomes much steeper and, towards the end, the path is poorly marked and the ground is unstable and slippery, sometimes requiring the use of your hands. Take care on the last few metres of the ascent. Watch out for falling rocks.
(7) From Pas des Portettes, descend on the French side. There is no real trail here, so you will have to follow your instincts and the few cairns scattered here and there. However, it is impossible to get lost in good weather as you can see Lake Tavels throughout the first part of the descent, so just head towards it.
When you reach a flat area, you will find a more clearly marked trail that you should follow to the lake.
(8) Reach the magnificent and wild Lake Tavels, then pass it on your right. Once you reach the end of the lake, continue westwards, following the numerous cairns. You will soon reach a scree slope that you will need to climb, then after a slight descent you will reach a second, much larger scree slope. Follow the cairns throughout and watch out for unstable rocks to reach the Mercière pass.
(9) From the Mercière Pass, follow the direction of the Lacs de Terre Rouge indicated by marker 95 located after the barrier marking the boundary of the Mercantour National Park. You will then walk along a well-marked path until you reach marker 92, which you passed on the way there.
(1) Back at marker 92, follow the signs for Isola 2000, taking the same route as on the way there to return to the starting point (S/E).
Visorando member
Moderate 
Difficult 
Easy 
