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Park at the Artigue car park.
(S/E) Head south-east and follow the marked path to Refuge du Pinet. Quickly leave the path that leads to Port de l'Artigue on your right, cross the stream on a footbridge and continue left at the next junction. After about 800m, leave the Orris de Pujol path on your left. The path gradually emerges from the forest to lead to a mountain pasture with a magnificent view of the impressive Bassiès massif to the north.
(1) At the fork, leave the path on the right that climbs directly to the Refuge du Pinet and turn left towards the Étang Sourd.
(2) At the lake, walk along its right-hand side to the hut where the path to Le Pinet starts and continue to the refuge.
(3) At the Refuge du Pinet, head south and follow the path on the left towards the Étang d'Estats (2,420 m): there are grassy areas where you can camp.
(4) Continue to Étang du Montcalm.
(5) Follow the well-marked and clearly traced path that passes several rocky outcrops. The view gradually gets higher!
(6) At the trail junction at Col de la Coumette, turn left to reach Col de Riufret.
(7) From this pass, turn right onto the well-marked path that leads to the ridge and a small pass below Pique d'Estats.
(8) Turn left to reach Pique d'Estats. There is a remaining 40m climb where you will need to use your hands, but none of the passages are particularly exposed.
(9) On the narrow summit ridge, there are a number of crosses and plaques bearing the image of Catalonia. The wide view takes in all the surrounding mountain ranges of Ariège (Bassiès, Fourcat, Valier, etc.), Spain (Aneto visible today!) and Andorra! Descend to the small pass.
(8) Once at the pass, continue along the ridge opposite to reach the Pic de Verdaguer in 5 minutes.
(10) Once back at the pass, descend to the left and join the Col du Montcalm.
(7) Continue straight ahead on the ridge to reach the summit of Montcalm. This wide dome offers a splendid view of the Estats opposite.
(11) From there, we chose to descend via the Tables du Montcalm. However, as mentioned in the Practical Information section, this impressive route can be dangerous in certain sections and it is advisable for inexperienced hikers to take the same route back down as they took to ascend.
To pass through the Tables du Montcalm, follow the cairns carefully to descend slowly to the other side of the dome. The path is well marked until you reach the top of the first chimney.
(12) From there, you can see the Pla-Subra valley far below and appreciate the verticality of the slope to descend. Beware of vertigo! This chimney is about 100 m high and the rock is very unstable and crumbles easily. You will need to use your hands to descend.
(13) Grass-covered plateau. The route heads south-east, plunging to the right of a large cairn in a narrow, very steep scree corridor exposed to rockfalls. It leads to a wide plateau where the Tables du Montcalm lake is located.
(14) Stay at the top of the spillway and follow the small ridge to the east, avoiding descending too far towards the stream. Some passages are tricky (2-3m high rocks where you need to use your hands), but follow the cairns as closely as possible before reaching a new grassy plateau.
On the right, there is a grassy couloir (easier than the rock) which you must follow down to the bottom. The few rocks are unstable, but it is difficult to take the wrong route as the couloir is obvious and the cairns are visible at the bottom. We kept to the left side on the descent, which seemed easier than the right.
(15) Exit of the corridor. The path becomes better marked and begins a slow descent down the hillside to Jasse de Pla-Subra.
(16) Orris de Pla-Subra. The interior is very small, but it was enough to shelter us during a storm! Continue on the path heading north and join the Orris de Pujol.
(17) The path continues to the forest road and crosses it several times to cut out the numerous hairpin bends. Pay attention to the trailheads to cut across this track. This descent proved to be very long at the end of the day after all this walking. Join the Artigue road at the Chalet du Montcalm.
(18) Follow this road to the left to return to the starting car park (S/E).
Visorando member
Moderate 
Easy 
Difficult 
