Montartier Lakes – Refuge de la Thuile

(S) From the Lacs de Montartier, the bivouac site, follow the path taken the previous day to rejoin the main track and turn right. The stony path climbs gently towards the Champet ridge. You’ll reach the Passage des Moutons.

(1) Caution: below the ridge, you’ll encounter a series of secured sections. Use safety lines, footbridges, etc., and take care. A short, very steep climb allows you to cross the ridge. The climb then continues, leading to a viewpoint overlooking Lac de Clartan.

(2) Go round the lake and continue downhill, skirting the livestock enclosures, until you reach the Chalet de la Vénitier.

(3) Turn left onto the track through the forest. Descend, alternating between track and path, until you reach the Chalet du Tour.

(4) Continue along the track, then take the path on the right, heading uphill towards Pétillat through the woodland. A long series of short ascents and descents follows, some of which are quite steep, until you reach the waterfall.

(5) After a few hundred metres, you’ll reach a rockier, downhill path, and then a track leading to the Platières car park.

(6) Stay on the left bank of the Torrent du Lac Noir and begin the ascent along the hillside on a poorly marked path. Steep, winding and difficult, this climb eventually leads into the woodland and towards Lac Noir.

(7) Continue to the right along this path, which levels out briefly before becoming steep again, emerging from the woods and continuing along the hillside to the Col des Génisses.

(8) Here, you’ll come to a gentler path that runs alongside a marshy area.

(9) You’ll now find a final gentle climb leading to a viewpoint overlooking Lac Noir.

(10) Continue due west towards the ridge, then turn due north to follow it. The climb is still steep and stony. You will then cross over onto the western slope of the Petit Arc and, following a ledge, reach its north-western ridge.

(11) Continue along the path to the left, towards the Chalet du Marret. You’ll reach a four-way junction.

(12) Turn right downhill and follow a well-trodden but unmarked path to the small lake and its sheep pen.

(13) From the lake onwards, the route goes off the beaten track; the GPS track is very useful here:
Head north-east to cross the streams and stay on the right bank of the small torrent, then head due north, through the blueberry bushes, towards another small lake clearly visible in a more damp area.
Go round it on the left and keep heading due north, still through the blueberry bushes, descending towards a small valley on the edge of the woods.
Take a north-easterly track and head down through the blueberry bushes, rhododendrons and then ferns, eventually reaching the main path – turn right to reach the Chalet des Michellettes.

(14) Descend slightly, then begin a gentle but long and steady climb through the woods until you cross a ridge through the undergrowth and emerge into the meadows of the Refuge de la Thuile (E), today’s destination.

(2) Lac de Clartan: there is a spring here.
(5) Les Platières car park: there is a spring here.
(E) La Thuile mountain hut