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Climb to Saint Hugues-en-Chartreuse:
- either from Saint-Laurent-du-Pont via Saint-Pierre-de-Chartreuse (La Diat),
- or from Grenoble via the Col de Porte.
From the village, continue south on the road towards Col du Coq and stop 300 m after the hamlet of Brévardière at a place called La Pérelle (sign and a few parking spaces).
(S/E) Take the marked path that leaves the road and immediately turns right, then follow it uphill. Halfway up the slope, it turns left to join the power line, which it follows to a flat area.
(1) Leave the marked path on the right (you will use it on the way back) and take a path on the left that climbs in wide hairpin bends through the forest. The last bend is preceded by a passage under some rocks and through very steep slopes in the forest. After this last right-hand bend, the slope levels out into a valley that leads to the Route Forestière de l'Océpé (this is often where you can put on your snowshoes).
Alternative: If there is too much snow (more than 20 to 30 cm), the path may no longer be visible on the slope and the passage before the last bend becomes problematic, so:
(1) Do not take the trail, but instead take the forest track on the right and follow the return trail to the Ocèpé forest road junction.
(9) Take it to the left and join the crossroads at the foot of Pré Giclat.
(2) Take this flat forest road on the right to the foot of a meadow. Then climb up either through the centre (summer path) or along the edge of the forest (more pleasant, GPS track recorded). This will take you to the right path coming from the Col du Coq and leading to the Habert.
(3) Turn left to climb this path, cut across its bend and, after a slight descent, reach Le Habert de Pravouta (open to visitors). Continue a few metres further for better views.
(4) Head south towards the slopes to reach the Col path, which you follow to the left (some sections are sloped).
(5) From the Col, the passage to the Col des Ayes is hardly passable in winter. Head south along the ridge, which leads up moderate slopes to the summit and its cross.
(6) Go a little past the summit and veer left onto steep slopes straight towards the clearly visible Col des Ayes, keeping the black grouse protection area on your left, which you must not enter. (See variations in practical information)
(7) From Col des Ayes, descend the valley, keeping to the right to join theGR® trail, which leads back to Col du Coq via a horizontal passage through the forest.
(8) Descend the road and at the first bend, continue straight ahead then turn left at the crossroads. The wide path flattens out: as soon as the embankment allows, cut right to descend near the Chalet du Col, join the road and take it on the right until the next crossroads (Ocèpé forest road).
(9) Continue down the road until after a left-hand bend.
(10) Take the marked track on the right which descends westwards, more or less following the power line. This track crosses the road for the first time and continues along the power line before descending into a wooded valley to cross the road a second time. Descend the forest track which starts level on the right to reach the junction taken on the way up.
(1) Descend on the left along the path that leads back to the car park (S/E).
The snow was very good today (sometimes a little frozen) so the snowshoes stayed attached to the rucksack throughout the hike!
, we didn't do the whole walk. At point 3, we went directly to point 8, then 9, then back to point 10. The walk is about 7 km long.
Visorando Member
Very difficult 
Association / Club / Walk leader
