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Park in the small car park (maximum 4 or 5 cars) below the entrance to the Monastery of the Sisters of Bethlehem, in Peyras.
(S/E) The path, which is fairly wide, starts to the right of the entrance gate. Bordered by rough stone walls, it runs horizontally for a few dozen metres. At the first Fork in the road, turn left towards “Refuge de l’Aülhet 3h” (straight on, the path leads to the Castets cave).
Very quickly, the path becomes very steep. It follows a very old transhumance route that is still in use. The path is clearly marked in yellow (the route partly follows trail no. 3 of the Pibeste-Aülhet Reserve). Numerous stone markers or rocks painted red dot the massif, marking the boundary of the state-owned forest. The ground is very stony.
(1) At the 824m mark, just before Pla de Bers, keep slightly to the right rather than the left; the markings are a little unclear here. Gradually, the dense forest and boxwood undergrowth thin out and the path winds through tall beech forests. After a walk of between 1 and 1½ hours, depending on your pace, you reach a semi-circular beech forest known as the amphitheatre.
The path resumes its ascent through this forest, passing a remarkable, moss-covered rocky outcrop on the left. At the edge of the forest, you’ll find a wooden signpost for the nature reserve – very handy for the return journey, especially if there’s a bit of mist.
You arrive in the mountain pastures. After a short climb, you reach the Aülhet refuge, once a simple shepherd’s hut clad in green sheet metal, now a beautiful timber-clad refuge, with a few recent cattle fences nearby.
It takes between 1 hour (at a brisk pace or running) and 2½ hours to reach this spot. The 3 hours indicated at the start are rarely needed...
The hut is open all year round and freely accessible. No shepherd lives here permanently any more, a local farmer assured me, whose herds graze in these pastures during the summer. But during an ascent or if caught in the fog, the hut can serve as a refuge for a farmer before their descent into the valley.
(2) We resume the route by climbing across the grassy slope behind the hut and heading towards the Col d’Espadres (signpost), also marked as Espades (Visorando app – IGN map). Pass the rock on the right, with its commemorative plaque marking a weapons airdrop in 1944.
Head towards the nearest peak, the Soum d'Artigue, and reach the small pass of Aülhet at 1,215 m. A vast pasture opens up before you (“Artigue” means “pasture acquired by clearing” in Occitan). Take the narrow path that winds to your right up the slope, towards and then beneath the rocky massif.
Pass by the Fontaine de la Digitale (note as you pass that a pipe channels this spring to a drinking trough slightly below and on to the Aülhet hut). The route is still marked in yellow but the markings are more widely spaced. Take care not to miss a mark!
(3) Reach the Col de Larbastan (1,350 m, below the nearby Pic de Larbastan at 1,368 m). Continue the ascent to the left, passing beneath the Pics de Miquéu (1,542 m) and de Hourbilagous (1,465 m) (which look pointed from the valley; they are misnamed “pics” as, once there, they are simply small hills). Continue along the slope, on a path that looks more like cattle tracks. Pass beneath a low tree, which is striking in this setting, marking the edge of the woodland below.
Once on the ridge, you pass the Bosc deth Troncar small pass (1,455 m), where a signpost indicates the direction of “Plateau de l’Isarce” and “Col d’Espadres”.
A few sinkholes, of varying depths (marked on the map by a circular contour line with an inward-pointing arrow and dots inside), dot the left-hand side of the path during this final part of the ascent. Be careful not to climb down into them, as they may collapse!
Head towards Col d'Espadres for about 500 m, to go round the Soum and reach it from the south.
After leaving the copses of trees on your right, make your way northwards between the tops of the striking sinkholes (the “Cuts d’Ausets” = “birds’ nests” in Bigourdan). The landscape here is absolutely exceptional, almost lunar...
(5) Following a safe route through the sinkholes, you finally reach the summit of Soum de la Génie Braque, at an altitude of 1,529 m (allow between 2½ and 3 hours to reach the summit).
NB: this is an interesting alternative to the direct, signposted route via the Serrat.
The Génie Braque is the torrent that rises on these slopes and joins the Gave de Pau after gathering countless streams in the cirque of the national forest. From up there, the view is breathtaking, offering a 360° panorama of the plains of Tarbes and Pau, the main range of the Pyrenees and, closer by, the Cirque de Saint-Pé, the Soum de Moulle (1,544 m), the Pic de Hourbilagous (1,465 m), the Soum du Montné (1,387 m, with its electricity pylons), ...
The return journey follows the well-marked ridge, then retraces the outward route to Bosc deth Troncar (S/E).
Visorando Member
Moderate 
Easy 
Very difficult 
