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Car park at the Refrain power station. Yellow-blue signposting.
(S/E) The start of the path is to the left of the power station. Climb without fear up the wooden steps which will lead you to the ladders with such a daunting name: they are, in fact, comfortable staircases with wide steps and sturdy handrails that are quite reassuring. At the top, there are two superb viewpoints overlooking the upper and lower parts of the valley. Head towards the wildlife information board and set off again along the path behind it. Immediately at the fork, turn right. Then, shortly afterwards, at a clearing where there is a signpost with numerous directions, turn right towards ‘La Crampoulotte’.
(1) Shortly afterwards, at a signpost, ignore the path climbing to the left and continue straight on along this lovely stony path. You’ll soon come to a small spring flowing into a stone trough via a wooden ‘chute’. Then climb to the left, continuing in the same direction.
(2) At a place called La Crampoulotte, walk past the house. At the back, take the path furthest to the left. Shortly afterwards, at the hiking fork, turn right towards the Vieilles Femelles viewpoint.
(3) You’ll reach the Piolotte pastures. Ignore the gate and carry on a little further to the left, crossing a stream via a footbridge. Immediately afterwards, at the fork, keep to the right, following the edge of the woodland. About fifty metres further on, look for a sign on a moss-covered tree indicating you should head right into the pasture, squeezing between two trees. Cross the meadow lengthways, passing behind the isolated house. Turn slightly left into the second pasture to find a passage to the right of a gate.
You’ll join a recently gravelled track coming down from the left. Carry on straight ahead. Caution! Shortly afterwards, when the track bends to the left, the position of the sign might lead you to think you should leave the gravelled track and take a forest path branching off to the right, marked ‘private road’. Carry on to the left along the gravelled track.
(4) You’ll reach a fork in the hiking trails. Turn right onto the Chemin des Vieilles Femelles. When you reach the meadows, turn right, skirting the edge of the fir trees until you reach the corner. Then turn right onto the path leading to the Vieilles Femelles viewpoint.
(5) Return to the track and continue to the right, crossing the meadow. Shortly after entering the woodland, head down to the right, passing the ruins of the Charbonnière du Haut (shaded picnic tables).
(6) About a hundred metres past the ruins, at the old well, turn left. After a viewpoint, head down towards the river along a steep path that winds its way along the base of the rocks. Then follow the riverbank to the car park (S/E).
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