Pointe de la Québlette via the Col de la Buffaz

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A lovely walk in the Aravis, offering a beautiful view of the Glières plateau, part of Lake Annecy, Entremont and Mont Lachat.

Details

n°77498
Creation:
Last update:
Last review:
  • Walking
    Activity: Walking
  • ↔
    Distance: 7.37 mi
  • ◔
    Average duration: 6h 05 
  • ▲
    Difficulty: Difficult
  • ⚐
    Back to start: Yes
  • ↗
    Ascent: + 3,123 ft
  • ↘
    Descent: - 3,104 ft
  • ▲
    Highest point: 6,263 ft
  • ▼
    Lowest point: 3,222 ft
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Photos

Panoramic view from Pointe de la Québlette

Description of the walk

The starting point is at the car park in the hamlet of Le Crêt, above the hamlet of Thuy Dessus.

(S/E) Take the path on the right at the top of the car park. Don’t set off too quickly as the path is steep all the way to the end. After the Grosse Pierre, let a path branch off to the left towards the Têtaz refuge and carry on straight ahead.

(1) Turn right, cross the Nant de Thuy and arrive at Les Suets.

(2) Turn right and continue climbing to the Col de la Buffaz.

(3) Carry on towards the chalet, then take the path on the right behind it towards the Col de l’Ovine. Navigate several hairpin bends and reach the Chalet de l’Ovine.

(4) Walk past it and continue towards the Col de l’Ovine until you can rejoin the ridge on the left.

(5) From there, leave the path and head for the Pointe de la Québlette, which lies further back on the left. A path created by chamois follows the ridge to the peak. If the path is not visible, stay as close to the ridge as possible.

(6) Enjoy the view and then follow the ascent route exactly in the opposite direction to return to the car park (S/E).

Waypoints

  1. S/E : mi 0 - alt. 3,222 ft - Car park at the hamlet of Le Crêt
  2. 1 : mi 0.48 - alt. 3,714 ft - Three-way junction, on the right
  3. 2 : mi 0.99 - alt. 4,104 ft - The Suets
  4. 3 : mi 1.71 - alt. 4,921 ft - Col de la Buffaz
  5. 4 : mi 2.36 - alt. 5,804 ft - Chalet de l’Ovine
  6. 5 : mi 3.06 - alt. 5,837 ft - Pointe de la Québlette junction
  7. 6 : mi 3.69 - alt. 6,263 ft - Pointe de la Québlette
  8. S/E : mi 7.37 - alt. 3,225 ft - Car park at the hamlet of Le Crêt

Notes

Take particular care whilst hiking.
It is important to follow certain rules (as signposted along the path): do not take a dog with you, as three large Patou dogs are there to guard the flocks; they do their job very well and may well be very aggressive.
If you are near the flock of sheep, the Patou dogs will be there too; do not scare the sheep away and walk up calmly – you will certainly be stopped by the guard dogs (Patous), who look very intimidating. Stay still; they will come to sniff you and will not be aggressive towards you.
They will most likely accompany you until you’re clear of the flock.

Worth a visit

Enjoy the scenery.
On the way down, take a detour to the Hubert Thuet cheese dairy, which is next to the Aravis bakery; its cheeses are a real treat.

Reviews and comments

4.7 / 5
Based on 3 reviews
Reliability of the description
5 / 5
Ease of following the route
5 / 5
Route interest
4 / 5
dav1987
dav1987
• Edited:

Hello, well, I can see that nothing’s changed since 2014!! The walking guide was created in 2014, so it’s true that conditions may have changed since then, but the information about aggressive Patou dogs is still relevant

Things are a bit tense up in Le Sappey – a 250kg young bull was killed by wolves this year, so the farmers must be under a lot of pressure.

But that’s no excuse for the behaviour of the Patou dogs and the farmers towards walkers… coexistence is complicated!!!

Thank you for your positive comment and for sharing your feedback for future walkers! Perhaps the other path doesn’t cross the Patous’ route?!?!

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Opli
Opli

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

Date of your route : Jun 12, 2021
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

Hello,

A lovely walk, but there was one downside: the guide mentioned five Patou dogs, and they were particularly aggressive.
Two stayed in the enclosure, barking furiously the whole time, and three were on the path, very close to us, barking very aggressively.
We were walking with children who were very frightened, and even I – who am not afraid of dogs – felt a huge surge of stress when one of the Patou dogs came dangerously close to my calves whilst continuing to bark.
The shepherd in charge of the flock and his dogs, whom we met at the sheepfold on the Col de la Buffaz and to whom we reported the problem, was very rude and clearly unwilling to do anything to change the situation.

Apart from this inconvenience, the walking times given are accurate for children.

Lisa

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dav1987
dav1987
• Edited:

Hello, the 6 hours 15 minutes figure includes break time, so yes, you can easily save an hour… Back then I wasn’t very familiar with the app and I must admit I used to forget to pause the track recording…

Nowadays, I reckon if I went back, it would take me less time; I did the Pointe de Beauregard from St Jean de Sixt in 5 hours 30 minutes for 17 km

In any case, thanks for rating my route!!!

David

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aekpc
aekpc

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

Date of your route : Aug 09, 2020
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : Yes

A lovely view of the Glières plateau. If you walk at a brisk pace, you can easily save an hour.

Machine-translated

dav1987
dav1987

Thank you. To be honest, the path was very slippery the day we went up there.

Thanks for the comment

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ragoucy
ragoucy

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

Date of your route : Sep 03, 2018
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good

In the first section, you can choose between a track or a path (which is about 15 minutes longer): we did both (on the round trip) and the path is definitely much more interesting than the track

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