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Parking in Arques, near the church or town hall.
There are yellow markings in places, but the route suggested here does not follow them in all sections: you should therefore rely primarily on the map and this description.
(S) Take the main road (D613) eastwards towards Col du Paradis, Albières. On leaving the village, turn right onto the small road that leads to the lake (signposted). The road crosses a river and then makes a hairpin bend to the right.
(1) At the end of the bend, the road splits into two branches. Take the right-hand branch (due west) and walk along the foot of a rocky mound on your left. At a fork, leave the lake road on your right and take a track that veers slightly to the left. Walk along the foot of a hill on your left (Sarrat d'En Carayol on the map), then cross a stream. Turn left and walk south-east, along the edge of the forest. The path makes a hairpin bend to the right and enters the forest.
(2) Turn right at a right angle and pass close to a shelter. Join a forest track, which you take on the left (south-east) for a few hundred metres.
(3) Leave the track and take another track that branches off at an acute angle to the right. After a left turn and then a right turn, you will come to a junction with a footpath.
(4) Take the path on the left. This path has a steady but steeper slope than the previous track. It continues in a general south-easterly direction to join a forest track at elevation 657.
(5) Follow this track for a few dozen metres to the right, then leave it and turn onto another path to the left. Continue to the ridge.
(6) Take the path that starts roughly opposite on the right, towards the peaks of Berco Petito and Berco Grando. Throughout the route, the path is on the ridge with a west-northwest orientation. It is mostly in undergrowth with varying degrees of shrubbery but has some clear passages.
(7) At the summit of Berco Petito, continue along the ridge to the west. The trail descends to a crossroads located just before Berco Grando.
(8) Continue straight ahead to climb to the summit of Berco Grando in about 15 minutes.
(9) Retrace your steps to the crossroads. N.B. In case of bad weather or fatigue, for example, you can skip the climb to this second summit.
(8) Take the path that forms an acute angle with the trail coming from Berco Petito (the one on the left when descending from Berco Grando, the one on the right when descending from Berco Petito). Descend due east and reach a forest track. Take this track on the left (west) and continue descending.
(10) When the track makes a hairpin bend to the right, continue along a path that branches off at the bend (west-northwest). You will reach another forest track, which you take on the right. Descend, alternating turns. You will reach a small road.
(11) Cross the road and continue north into a wooded area. You will come out into open terrain. The path turns right at the edge of the woods. Cross a river. Take a small road on the left to return to the starting point.
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