Le Granier Pas Des Barres

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Description

Porte de l'Apette

From the Auberge at Bellecombe followed a road to the south-west between two small farms. Pass a cross on the left and then a reservoir where there is a junction, follow the Porte de l'Arpette route. The road is well made although muddy in wet weather. There may be tree cutting in the summer and autumn. The road steepend and you reach the junction of the sources de Rochereau at 1250 meters. A horizontal track leads off to the right to les Balmettes and the Granier Pas de Porte? route and to the left to the source du Cernon. The track traverses to the north then exits the forest onto a scree slope, here it zig-zags a bit then turns south-westward on an airy traverse which offers good views of the geological folds under the Porte de l'Arpette.

Cliffs below the Porte de l'Arpette

From the porte de l'Arpette traverse under some smooth cliffs for about 1km, the path then climbs up onto a suspended "loop" (vire) to double back to the Pas des Barres.

A vertical scramble up the pas des Barres

The Pas des Barres are a steep 25 meter climb assisted by cables and iron steps. The rocks are well worn and slippery. The climb is not without danger. Once at the top follow the track across a relatively flat plateau and down into the forest above the pas de la Porte. A kairn marks the junction with the path that leads to the pas de Balmettes. Take the left fork to reach the summit via the route described in le Granier pas de la Porte.

L'arpette - dialect for Alp or Pasture

Return possible via the pas de Porte or pas de Balmettes.

Comments

After climbing up by the Pas des Balmettes I decided to descend by the Pas des Barres. It is quite a steep route and the rocks are very slick. There were the remains of last week's snow but nothing too troubling.

Le Granier from the pas des Barres

Below the Porte de l'Arpette the path was blocked by fallen trees in a number of places making the descent tricky. Keep a close eye out at the level of the sources de Rochereau where the correct path leads off to the left (the other traversing to the Pre Orcel). The path was completely obscured for 20 meters by a fallen tree.

Contributed by davidof on the 28 Nov 2006

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