Country:
District:
Start: Park in the Col du Minier car park (D48).
(S/E) Leave the car park on a forest track heading due south. Walk about 850 m to reach a fork in the road.
(1) Take the left-hand track which leads to a path on the GR® 66-71 (white and red markings).
(2) Turn left on this path, heading south-west, and walk for about 2.5 Km until you reach the intersection with a forest road; you'll see a stone shelter on your left.
(3) Turn right onto the forest track and walk for approx. 600 m.
(4) Take the path to the left towards the Col des Portes, continuing to follow the GR® 66 - 71 to reach the pass (alt.1302 m).
(5) At this point, leave the GR® and turn right onto a track running due north up to the Lac des Pises through a beautiful coniferous forest. Be careful, a few metres after this intersection, you should always follow the right-hand track, ignoring the one on the left.
Continue until you reach the end of the forest, where you'll find another forest track. Continue left, with a bare plateau on your right. Just before the ford, leave the track and continue on a small path to the left until you reach the Pialot hut, a clearly visible building in a sparse wood.
(6) From here, continue uphill to a ridge that hides the lake from view; at the end of this path, with a fence on your left and at the top of the ridge, join the GR®.
(7) Keep left to descend to the footbridge over the Ruisseau du Lingas. Head due north (left bank of the lake) until you enter a forest at the end of the lake.
(8) At the intersection, follow the path to the right down part of the right bank of the lake, crossing a succession of wooden pontoons. Then turn left at 90° onto a path that climbs through the forest, heading northeast. Walk straight on, turn right again at 90° to the intersection of the two paths, and continue walking for another 300 m to the next intersection with two tracks.
(9) Turn left, due north, onto the Lingas forest road until you cross the stream on a footbridge.
(10) Follow the right-hand branch of the forest road uphill. Continue on this forest road, which is actually a track, for about 2 Km until you reach an X intersection. The plateau you see on your right, a bald area typical of the Causses landscape, is called Lingas. On your left, facing due north, you can see Mont Aigoual in the background, recognizable by its relay ariels.
(11) At this junction, take the track on your left, back on the GR®, and follow it for about 1.5 Km to another junction where a sign points to the Col du Minier.
(12) Leave the GR® and take the track on the right until you reach the Col du Minier (S/E).
