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Start at the hamlet of Les Chenons. Park in the car park for the Balme and Fernuy cable cars, at the end of Route des Chenons.
Signposts at major junctions.
(S/E) Head west and retrace your steps along the access road to the car park (Route des Chenons). At the junction with the Route des Confins (end of the 30 km/h zone), turn right onto a grassy path (not shown on the map) which climbs towards Les Confins. The path quickly becomes stony and shaded.
(1) You’ll come out onto a small road; follow it to the right. At the crossroads, take thesecond right, a stony track still heading towards Les Confins. Pass a chalet on your right and climb gently up to a junction (signpost “Crêt Braffaz”).
(2) Continue straight on towards Les Confins, following a wide track through a sparse forest. At the next junction, turn right onto a track suitable for vehicles, heading towards Lac des Confins. Pass a restaurant on the left and arrive at the start of a zip line.
(3) Then turn sharply left towards the lake (path not shown on the map). At the junction that appears shortly afterwards, go straight on to walk round the lake in a clockwise direction (the opposite direction is of course possible). Stay on a path as close to the lake as possible. Pass the zip line landing point. Further on, cross a stream (which may be dry in summer) via a footbridge without a railing, then over a small mountain bike portage. At the fork in the road that appears immediately, take the path on the left. Join a track and follow it to the right until you reach the zip line launch point.
(3) Continue straight on along the track. At the junction taken on the way out, turn left towards Crêt Baffraz and head for the signpost bearing that name.
(2) Then turn sharply left towards Plan Lachat. You’ll come to two parallel paths: take the one on the left (the one on the right is for mountain bikes only). Enjoy a pleasant walk, roughly following the contour line. The two paths meet at a log bridge, which you must cross. Then pass under a ski lift line and ignore a path branching off to the right towards an alpine chalet. Climb up a wide track, pass under the Balme cable car line and emerge onto a vast grassy plateau.
(4) Leave the path here, 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’ll come out onto a track; follow it to the left until you reach the reservoir.
(5) At the fork in the road near the water point, take the path on the right towards the Combe du Voret. Walk alongside the reservoir on your right and, after going about a third of the way round it (signpost), turn left onto a path that climbs steeply. When this path turns left, follow the MTB signposts no. 14 and no. 21 to the right and descend along a path that winds through the forest.
(6) When the MTB trail takes a sharp right-hand bend, leave it and continue straight on, still descending, along a path that is barely marked at first. Pass under the Fernuy cable car line and turn right; the path gives way to a track. Pass under the cable car line again and continue straight on until you reach a wide track (the IGN map is approximate here).
(7) Follow the track to the left as it descends and pass under the cable car line again. Pass a metal barrier (signpost “Sous le Bois du Merdassier”), turn sharply right towards Les Chenons and continue down the gentle slope. Pass under the Fernuy cable car line one last time, then under the Balme cable car line. Go round the lower station of this cable car on the right and return to the car park at the hamlet of Les Chenons (S/E).
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