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Warning: as the walk follows an unmarked route beyond the Ouillon (5), the photos will help you identify the key waypoints.
(S/E) From the car park, follow the tarmac road due south towards Namière, which ends at a barrier after the first hairpin bend. Go through the barrier and round a second hairpin bend.
(1) Less than 100 metres after this, turn left onto a sunken track. This track, lined with trees, climbs straight up the east-facing slope and soon crosses a track suitable for vehicles; take this to the left to head north-east, towards Les Combes.
(2) At Les Combes, the route crosses another forest track coming from the left. Opposite this, on the right, a fairly steep logging track climbs up; follow it for less than 200 metres, first southwards then eastwards.
(3) At the first junction with another logging track, take the one on the right, which climbs due south through the forest. After a short, level stretch, the logging track turns into a narrow but well-marked path. After a few hairpin bends, this path is marked with blue dots. This brings you to the base of the Pas du Sappey.
(4) The pass is marked with old blue and salmon-coloured markings; a tree on the right bears the number 22 (see photos). This section is on wet rock, but a quick link on a bolt at the top of the pass provides a safety point for those who feel less confident. The path leads to the ridge of the Rocher de l’Église, marked by a cairn. Turn left to follow the ridge north-north-east, still following the blue markings.
(5) Reach the Ouillon, a distinctive isolated pillar with a hole at the top (see photos). Stay there, or, if you have gone to admire the Ouillon, return to the ridge to end up on a limestone scree slope, beneath the western flank of the southern ridge of the Rocher de Chalves. Cross this scree for 50 metres until you come to a point where the rocks are interspersed with grass and easy to climb (see photos for reference). If you decide to rope up, do so here and stow your walking poles in your rucksack.
Climb these easy rocks (2) to reach the ridge and swing round onto the east face. From here, the route is obvious and involves following the ridge line to a cairn marking the end of the difficult section. Along the entire ridge, stay mainly on the eastern face and close to the ridge line, except when going round a few large boulders or the bushes that sometimes obstruct the path.
At the cairn, stow your harness and rope, but keep your walking poles in your rucksack as you will sometimes need to use your hands. Continue along the ridge northwards, passing the intermediate summits, to reach the main summit of Rocher de Chalves (1,844 m).
(6) At the summit, a path heads north beneath the western face, then quickly turns due west after a hairpin bend. This path is marked in yellow. It descends over a grassy shoulder to join the Sentier des Bannettes.
(7) Turn left, heading south-south-west, onto the yellow-marked Bannettes path. Stay on this path until you reach the car park, following the signposts for Les Combes then Namières; it turns into a fairly wide forest track with wide hairpin bends.
(8) It is also possible to follow the paths cutting across these bends along the boundaries of the forest plots (light green solid lines on IGN maps). This is the option shown on the route map.
(9) Once at Les Combes, continue to the right along a tarmac road running alongside a stream to return to the car park (S/E)
Visorando Member
Easy 
Moderate 
Association / Club / Walk leader
Very difficult 
Difficult 
