Gour de la Sompe - Pertus de Fabria

Moderator info 24/02/2020: Please note! Reviews of this hike suggest that the use of a GPS or the Visorando app is recommended, as indicated in the practical information.

Access: on the D1 between Vogüé and Lagorce, coming from the north, after two hairpin bends, there is a car park on the left of the road, just opposite the road leading to the Domaine de Chadeyron, indicated by a clearly visible sign.

(S/E) From the car park, join the D1 and immediately turn right onto a wide road that descends.
Continue along this path and cross two small streams.

(1) Go straight up to reach the road leading to the hamlet of Labeaume. Follow this road for about 600 metres. After the bridge over the Sompe stream, take the path on the right. A little further on, the path overlooks the stream.
You can go down to the edge to see the chasm and waterfall from above.
After rejoining the path, descend to the right at the rocks downstream, where you will have the best view of the site. Unfortunately, there is often not much water in summer, but after rain, when the waterfall flows into the large green pool (the gour), the spectacle is magnificent.

(2) Climb back up to rejoin the path. This path descends and joins a small tributary of the Sompe.

(3) Continue up the valley. After a narrow passage, you will arrive at an area where the valley widens.

(4) Take a wide path on the left, towards the rear, which climbs up the right bank of the valley. Continue along this path until you reach a large bend to the left.

(5) Continue right on a trail. After the first fork, take the right fork. The trail continues through the woods and then runs along the edge of the valley you just left. At the next intersection, take the right fork again to descend to the bottom of the valley. Be careful at these two forks, as it is easy to take the wrong trail.
When you reach the stream (dry), do not take the track (which is in poorer condition) that continues straight ahead, but turn right to cross and climb up the other side.
A hundred metres further on, ignore another track that continues straight ahead and take the correct path that climbs up to the left facing the slope.
The path is not always easy to spot but it is in good condition and follows the route indicated on the IGN map.

(6) The path leads to a wider track (which does not appear on the map). Take this track on the left and, after about 150 metres, turn left onto the Route Royale, a main road that you could follow to Villeneuve-de-Berg. Without going that far, turn right at the first crossroads, then right again to follow a path heading south-south-west and crossing several areas where trees have been cut down. About 400 metres from the last crossroads, at the end of one of these clearings, just before re-entering the woods, you will see a good path on the left. A small cairn at the crossroads marks its location.

(7) Take this path, which will lead you to the edge of the cliff overlooking the Ibie valley, where you will have a beautiful view of the valley and the Dent de Rez in the distance.
From there, retrace your steps.

(7) Take the path on the left. 750m further on, you will come to a path marked in white and yellow. Take this path on the left to reach Pertus de Fabria. The path descends through a narrow passage between the rocks (the "pertus", meaning "hole" in Occitan).

(8) Just at the end of this passage, leave the marked path and climb up to the right on a ledge path. This path climbs and then enters the woods. Pass a first crossroads with the path you took earlier on the right and a track crossing a scree on the left. Continue and cross a wide path straight ahead to arrive back on the royal road, which you take on the left.
Turn onto the second path on the right (after about 300 metres on the royal road) to descend back into the valley. At the bottom, leave a road that crosses the stream on your right.

(9) Continue along the path to the Sompe stream, which you must ford to take the path that climbs up opposite. This path continues on the left bank of the stream and rejoins the path taken on the way up.

(1) Turn left to return to the car park (S/E).

Caution
Most of the route is on unmarked paths. You may find white and yellow markings on some sections, but not for very long. Follow the signs carefully.
For this circuit, the use of an IGN map is even more recommended and GPS tracking can make things easier.
Variants
1- Easier: To avoid getting lost in the most difficult part of the route between (4) and (6).
At (4), continue straight ahead instead of turning left.
50 metres further on, turn right onto a road that goes up a small valley.
At the first crossroads, take the wide road on the left which leads directly to (6).
Although these two paths are very wide, they are not marked on the IGN map, but the first one follows the blue dotted line exactly.

2- From the (2), you can also descend to the water's edge by passing alongside the rocks, then rejoin the (3) by following the stream bed, but the descent is very steep.

3- From the viewpoint after the (7), you can follow a path along the cliff overlooking the Ibie for about 200m. Further on, this path disappears (or I couldn't find it), but you can cut across a track through the woods to rejoin the normal route.

4- Crossing the Sompe stream should not be a problem most of the time, but if the water is too high, you can always reach the D1 from (9).