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Departure from Les Chenons. Park in the car park for the Balme and Fernuy cable cars at the end of Route des Chenons.
Directional signs at major intersections.
(S/E) Head west and return to the road leading to the car park (Route des Chenons). At the junction with Route des Confins (end of the 30 km/h zone), turn right onto a grassy path (not shown on the map) that climbs towards Les Confins. The path quickly becomes stony and shaded.
(1) You will come to a small road; follow it to the right. At the crossroads, take thesecond right, a stony path still heading towards Les Confins. Pass a chalet on your right and climb gently to an intersection (signposted "Crêt Braffaz").
(2) Continue straight ahead towards Les Confins and walk along a wide path through a sparse forest. At the next junction, follow a track on the right towards Lac des Confins. Pass a restaurant on your left and you will come to a zip line departure point.
(3) Then turn sharply left towards the lake (path not shown on the map). At the intersection that quickly appears, go straight ahead to go around the lake clockwise (the opposite direction is obviously possible). Stay on the path closest to the lake. Pass the zip line arrival point. Further on, cross a stream (potentially dry in summer) on a footbridge without railings, then on a small mountain bike crossing. At the fork that appears immediately, take the path on the left. Join a track and follow it to the right until you reach the zip line departure point.
(3) Continue straight ahead on the track. At the intersection you took on the way there, turn left towards Crêt Baffraz and reach the signpost bearing this name.
(2) Then turn sharply left towards Plan Lachat. Two parallel paths appear: take the one on the left (the one on the right is reserved for mountain bikes). Enjoy a pleasant walk along the contour line. The two paths meet at a cattle grid, which you must cross. Then pass under a ski lift line and ignore a path on the right leading to an alpine chalet. Climb up a wide path, pass under the Balme cable car line and come out onto a large grassy plateau.
(4) Leave the path, pass a marker post on your right and follow a track that crosses the mountain pasture towards the clearly visible railings of the Lachat reservoir. You will come out onto a track; follow it to the left until you reach the reservoir.
(5) At the fork near the water source, take the path on the right towards Combe du Voret. Walk along the reservoir on your right and, after about a third of the way around (signpost), turn left onto a steep path. When this path turns left, follow the MTB signs no. 14 and no. 21 to the right and descend on a path that winds through the forest.
(6) When the mountain bike trail turns sharply to the right, leave it and continue straight ahead, still descending, on a trail that is not very marked at first. Pass under the Fernuy cable car line and turn right; the trail gives way to a path. Pass under the cable car line again and continue straight ahead until you reach a wide track (the IGN map is approximate here).
(7) Follow the track to the left downhill and pass under the cable car line again. Pass a metal barrier (signposted "Sous le Bois du Merdassier"), turn sharply right towards Les Chenons and continue downhill. Pass under the Fernuy cable car line one last time, then under the Balme cable car line. Go around the lower station of this cable car on the right and return to the car park at Les Chenons (S/E).
Visorando member
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Extremely difficult 
