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From Grenoble, take the Villard-de-Lans road via Sassenage and climb to around 850m, then turn right towards Engins. Pass through the main town and continue to the hamlet of Le Fournel, where you can park, taking care not to obstruct the bus turning area.
(S/E) In Le Fournel, take a small road on the left that climbs straight up the slope to the last houses and continues along several paths or trails.
(1) Take the one that branches off to the right towards Sornin. The path enters the forest and climbs steadily northwards. Ignore the paths and tracks that branch off to the left or right and keep going straight ahead and uphill.
After an hour's climb, you will emerge from the forest into a gentler alpine landscape and reach the chalets of Sornin.
(2) Turn right onto a level path heading north-east. You can go to the cross overlooking the chalets for a first view. The path continues without gaining much altitude until it crosses a stream. Ignore the path that goes straight up to the alpine hut and turn right.
Continue climbing gently to the Dent du Loup. The site offers a beautiful view of the Cluse de Voreppe and Grenoble, but is also marked by an imposing high-voltage pylon.
(3) Retrace your steps for about 300 metres. Turn right onto a path that climbs through the grassland to pass to the right of a hill (another viewpoint if the Dent du Loup is too foggy). After a short flat section, the climb continues straight up the slope to reach the mountain hut, which is clearly visible from below.
(4) From this pastoral hut, climb a little further westwards, then the path flattens out on the plateau, which it crosses in a south-westerly direction. Follow the yellow-green markings carefully, as there are few landmarks in this sparsely wooded area.
Gradually, the trail begins to descend slightly until it reaches a crossroads: ignore the path on the left leading back to Sornin and descend sharply to the right (GR®9). After a few bends, halfway down the slope, you will reach another crossroads at "sharp limestone pavement".
(5) Leave theGR®9, which continues downhill, and take a more discreet but still marked trail on the left that starts at the same level in a quiet valley. The path climbs a little, goes around a chasm (Gouffre d'Engins or karstic cave de la Fromagère), heads right for a moment towards Plénouze, then turns left, resumes its climb towards the south-west and enters a gently sloping clearing. In this area, do not stray to the left into the wooded karst zone of Les Clapiers, with its treacherous sharp limestone pavement.
At the end of the narrow clearing, you will come to a collapse: the Puits aux Ecritures. Avoid it by going to the right, first descending a little to the edge, then climbing the slope towards the west to reach the Sentier des Génisses.
(6) Follow this path on the left: it runs flat in a straight line across the mountain pasture towards the south. You will reach the end of the Route de la Molière.
(7) At the end of the road, you will come to an orientation table facing east. From here, take the lower of the two paths heading south. It begins to descend into the mountain pasture, parallel to a livestock track below, passes near drinking troughs and then crosses this track at a building (hut below Le Tracollet) before plunging straight down the grassy slope.
The path, which is sometimes faint but marked, descends parallel to the edge of the forest towards the lowest point of the mountain pasture. There, a well-marked path branches off to the left and descends a steep, rocky slope, where it makes a wide right turn for a sustained descent, first diagonally and then more directly down the slope to a junction with a forest track and theGR®9.
(8) Cross the forest road and head eastwards along a ridge. A good path branches off to the right down the slope towards La Croizette: ignore it as it leads too low down on the road. A few metres further on, another path branches off to the left down the slope: take this path to descend along a wooded ridge. After a wide bend to the right, it leaves the forest and reaches the top of the hamlet of Fournel.
(1) Continue downhill to return to the starting point (S/E).
Visorando member
Difficult 
Easy 
