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Park in the dirt car park behind the cemetery and the ruined church in Vernas.
(S/E) Turn right and follow the recently cemented road straight ahead for 600 metres.
(1) Turn right onto the wide path between the stone wall of Vernas Castle and the forest. A little further on, on your left, pass a small pond slightly overhanging the path, whose spillway feeds the castle pond.
Immediately after, climb the small path on your left for 20 m to reach the spring that feeds the pond, with clear, cold water flowing out of the mountain at the bottom of a small cave.
Go back down to the main path and continue your walk along the castle wall until you reach the crossroads.
(2) Turn right (there is a "no entry" sign on your left) and you will come to a fork. On your left, at the end of a small grassy area, there is a sign for paragliding (free flight).
(3) Turn onto the path that branches off to the left of this sign. Follow this path until you reach a fork (Chemin du Mollard d'Argeat) with a wooden gate leading to a property.
(4) Take the path on the left. After about 600 m, you will reach the steepest part of the hike (100 m elevation gain over 700 m), but it is not particularly difficult. The path climbs quite steeply through the woods and leads to a small plateau with cairns, revealing a wide panorama of the Rhône valley.
(5) From the cairn, follow the trail that branches off to the left for about 40 metres.
(6) Turn left onto the narrow path and follow it. Further on, to the right of the path, you will find a memorial to the 1969 plane crash and the remains of the aircraft.
(7) Follow it to the left until you reach the Notre-Dame de la Salette chapel.
(8) There is a wide view of the Ain plain with an orientation table. Against the back wall of the chapel, a commemorative plaque lists the 15 airmen who died in the 1944 plane crash. Through the chapel door, on the altar, are photos of the deceased pilots and the remains of the plane.
Continue along the path that descends to the left behind the chapel. Further down, you will come to a fork in the road.
(9) (signpost "le putier") turn left towards "Verna/Leyrieu" and arrive at another fork.
(10) (signpost "Mollard des barres") turn left towards "Mollard des bards" for 50 m.
(11) (signpost "Mollards des barres") turn right towards Verna. You will arrive at a wide path.
(12) Follow it to the left. Further on, take the small path that climbs to the left and leads to a fork you passed on the way there.
(2) Turn right and follow the same route as on the way there to reach the (S/E).
Visorando member
Easy 
