Circular Roselend via La Pierra Menta

Date of your route : Aug 20, 2023
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : Yes

Hike completed on 20/08/2023, starting from Cormet de Roselend but passing through Col Bresson and returning via GR5 GRE2.
You can sleep at the Cormet car park (in a van or bivouac – dry toilets and stream) to set off very early (6 a.m. in my case).

What can I say about this route?
The outward journey from Cormet de Roselend to Pierra Menta + Lac d'Amour (or Col Bresson in my case, as I had already done the circular Pierra Menta-Brèche de Parozan the day before) is enchanting. No difficulty, sublime landscapes.

However, I don't understand the point of returning by road. Between Treicol and the Col de Méraillet, the track is already uninteresting, but then on the tarmac road!? With the constant passing of vehicles, you have to enjoy walking in exhaust fumes and the noise of motorbikes

I would recommend returning from Treicol via the GR5 (or via Molledraz and the lake shore) to Plan de la Lai. Allow 8 hours of walking (at a leisurely pace) for this circular route.

Another option is to do it in two days, camping at the small lakes below the Col du Coin (Lac d'Amour is very busy), then returning the next day via the GR5 GRE2 or via Molledraz and the lake shore.

Thanks to Alain Blondel for sharing this route

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Hello! I'm glad to have shared this route. As for the distances, they are calculated based on the itinerary, but it's obvious that walkers will always cover a little more ground by taking small detours. As for the road between the Col de Méraillet and the Cormet de Roseland, it's actually very nice to cycle. On foot, I did suggest hitchhiking, as it's a bit long, although you can cut out a few hairpin bends. There are also some fairly narrow sections where pedestrians don't really feel welcome.

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Date of your route : Oct 10, 2022
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

So let's be very clear: the hike is 28 km or more, 30 km according to my Garmin Fénix 6 Pro.
Those who say it's 20 km have either taken the wrong path or bought their gear on Wish...

One big downside: 7 km of road at the start before finally taking a more 'natural' trail. If you can hitchhike, it's definitely worth considering to avoid the tarmac.

Once you accept that and start from Cormet, it's sublime and wild. Marmots, ibex, superb views. I loved it.

I encountered snow, which slowed down the end of the climb, but it wasn't a big deal, it's still doable.
In short, it took about 6.5 hours to complete the circular route that ended up being 30 km with 1,400 metres of elevation gain.

It was superb

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Date of your route : Sep 13, 2020
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

a very beautiful route with a multitude of different landscapes: mountain pastures, rocks, beautiful alpine meadows...
we did it in mid-September in perfect conditions, first skirting Roseland Lake before climbing up to the Presset refuge and descending via the combe. Note that the distance covered is more like 21 km, at least according to my watch, which is generally quite reliable...

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Date of your route : Jul 18, 2020
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : Yes

Left the Lai refuge for a one-night bivouac. Did the circular in the other direction, wanted to sleep at Lac d'Amour but arrived too early (around 3pm) and couldn't see myself spending hours alone there (even though there were several tents nearby), so I continued on to Pierra Menta and then the Presset refuge. There was still a lot of snow at this time of year above 2,400 metres. It was impossible to sleep in the area because there was a lot of snow on the ground and it was far too cold for my equipment... I finally crossed the snow-covered Col du Grand Fond (more than 40cm of snow) and slept below it at around 2400m. the last part is a bit tedious, walking on the tarmac road isn't great, I recommend cutting across fields and slopes! The hike was almost a bit short over two days, but otherwise very good, no complaints! Thank you

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Date of your route : Jul 18, 2020
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : Yes

We set off from the Plan de la Lai refuge and at the end, instead of returning via the lake, we took the GR 5 trail, resulting in a 24 km, 8-hour hike, but with magnificent scenery even with a little mist. A fantastic hike!

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Date of your route : Jun 27, 2020
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

I wanted to go on this hike at the end of June and camp at Lake Presset, but unfortunately I wasn't able to complete the trek. Right from the start, fording the streams proved to be dangerous (but not impossible) due to their high flow; you just had to take the time to observe where to cross without getting your shoes too wet. When I reached the foot of the pass, it was impossible to go any further due to the heavy snow. It was impossible to see where the GR trail was. I could have tried, but as I hadn't booked a place at the refuge and given the snow conditions, camping seemed ambitious, especially as a storm was beginning to brew.
I'm not giving up, I'll try again later in the season. This hike takes place in a magnificent setting, except for the first few minutes which are on a 4x4 track. It's also a shame that there are different paths in addition to the official route; it's easy for the uninitiated to get lost. It can be tedious to find the right path.

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Date of your route : Jul 20, 2017
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good

We did not return via Roseland Lake, as the drive back along the roads is tedious. Instead, we climbed back up to the mountain pasture at the Plan Mia refuge, where we had started.
eight hours of walking, 18 to 20 km
A superb walk

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Date of your route : Jul 20, 2017
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good

We did not return via Roseland Lake, as the drive back along the roads is tedious. Instead, we climbed back up to the mountain pasture at the Plan Mia refuge, where we had started.
eight hours of walking, 18 to 20 km
A superb walk

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Date of your route : Jul 15, 2017
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good

The path leading up to the Pierre Menta is not easy to find; a few of us hikers were wondering where to go. Once you find the right path (there aren't 50 of them anyway!), note that the climb up to the famous rock is a bit "rocky" at the end (a short climb that can be dizzying).
The return trip from Lac d'Amour to Lac de Roselend is quite long, so if you can, hitch a lift back to the chalet!
Finally, for the night, you can pitch your tent at the end of the lake (it's another 2 km walk after the Roselend chalet).
The entire route is superb, with marmots in sight!

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Date of your route : Sep 12, 2015
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good

Enjoy your hike with lovely views

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Date of your route : Jul 04, 2015
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good

Hello,
Thanks to your website, we were able to prepare for our hike by assessing the difficulty of the route and our own limitations.
We were able to organise our night (outside the refuge) in a bivouac, which led to some wonderful encounters with marmots and two ibexes.

The Beaufortain is a magnificent region and an ideal mountain range for hiking.
We will repeat the experience with a longer hike.

Thank you.
Gazaile

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Date of your route : May 27, 2014
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good

This is a hike that my wife and I did with friends about ten years ago, starting from the Roselend Dam and the Cormet de Roselend, then hitchhiking back to the dam (in the opposite direction to the proposed route).
We're going to do it again starting from Cormet, but leaving a car at the dam to avoid the long climb up the road.
A beautiful hike.

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Date of your route : Jul 14, 2013
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good

At first, we set off on this hike thinking it would be a summer stroll!
But no! That was without counting on the snowfall at the beginning of the month, which made the hike much more difficult!
In fact, to climb the pass on Sunday 14 July, walking sticks were essential! Two hours of walking in the snow... All the way to the PIERRA MENTA!
Lac du Presset was partially frozen, but what a joy it was to quench our thirst there after that difficult climb!
After passing the PIERRA MENTA and the Lac d'Amour, we found paths through the pastures... We encountered sheep, pigs and marmots!

In short, it was a challenging hike, but the scenery was well worth the effort!
MAGNIFICENT!

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