Alternative walk to explore the Luberon mountain ridge
right at the eastern end, from 951 meters to the 1038 meter points. Park near
the 409 meter point at la Sarriere in Peypin d’Aigue. (It’s the nearest parking
to Source de Mireil, I think.) It’s about 2,5km north-east of the village la
Motte d’Aigue. On the way up you pass the large ruins of la Bastide du Bois and
on the return you pass Source Mireil and walk along its small river. The
highest point on the Crete here at 1038 meters is called Coteau de la Combe.
It’s a very good alternative walk to for example the Mourre Negre walk from
Cucuron. The upward and downwards paths are more varied and interesting in this
walk, and you get to see a little bit more of the Crete (and the ascent is 150
meters less!).
Start off on the yellow marked forest track heading north,
but you take right, onto a smaller path/track after only some 20 minutes. Follow
the path around a large lowering (turn left at the junction), then heading eastwards
and finally down onto a T-junction after about 25 minutes. Here, take sharp
left and follow this parth north-west, and quickly turning almost straight
north. You will soon meet another T-junction where you turn left and now walk
the last kilometer up to the large ruins of la Bastide du Bois.
From the Bastide, you start straight north on the yellow
marked road. It meets up with the main east-west road a bit higher up, and here
you take left. After only some 250 meters you take right and follow the yellow
markings a bit further. Now simply follow this road ALMOST all the way to the 859 meter point heading east. Just some
125 meters before this junction, you take the path leaving the road to the left
upwards into the woods. There has been done a lot of tree cuttings in the area
newly, but the path is easy to see even though it’s not a marked trail and do
not appear on maps. You pass at least 10 fire breakers made recently, but it
does not take long before you arrive up on the main road along the mountain
ridge. Take left when reaching the road, but you only stay on this road for
about 250 meters. Here in the next bend, don’t follow the road, but take the
small path on your right which is heading straight along the Luberon Crete. You
will soon be on the 967 meter point, thereafter the 974 meter point. Here you
continue the path down to the Col (pass) at 939 meters.
At the pass, you join the GR9 heading west for the 1038
meter point. After only some 10 minutes up from the pass, you see a medium
large opening on your left. If you walk out onto this opening and a little bit
further south, you have a massive great opening with great views. Nice place
for a lunch. But I suggest you finish the upwards part of the walk first, and
continue to the Coteau de la Combe (1038 meter point) with great 360 degrees
views. This is also a great place for lunch! And this is where we turn around
for the walk back to the car.
Heading down again
(eastwards), you need to concentrate in order to find your return path down the
mountain side. As you can see on the map, just after the 1038 meter point
(Coteau de la Combe) there is a small path going down in a south-westerly
direction. It will give you great views as you go. After only some 10 minute
from the top, you will meet a cairn on your right (the cairn is now made into
the shape of an arrow). This is your point for taking off to the right and you might
in fact find a second cairn after just some 50 meters. Just continue the small
path that now should have become apparent and very shortly will have a
direction down the hill. If you miss the cairns, take right when you get down
on the flat open space, and follow this open space to the end, where you will
see the small path going down the hill on your right.
The return from the ridge
down to the forest road will be about 30 minutes, but make sure you take the
right turn after some 25 minutes (see map). You join the forest road heading
west and south for a bit, but in the end of the first large 360 degrees bend,
you take the path heading south. After a good 30 minutes along this small
forest track, you have passed the 632 meter point and Jas de Thomas and you
have walked around the 619 meter high hill. Now you want to take the small path
down on your left on the southern side of the river bed. Follow the path
paralelle to the river bed for about 20 minutes. Here, you turn right a little
bit before the road in order to continue following the river bed down to Source
de Mirail, which you have down on your left after only some 5 minutes.
Walk down passed Source de
Mirail (which feeds the Etang de la Bonde) and continue along the small path on
the eastern side of the small river. The return walk from here to the car is
about 30 minutes and follows the river for the most part. But when it gets
difficult, walk out on the path that exits the area onto what looks like a
small hill. Up here, you will find a track, first going south a bit, before
turning east along the fields accross to the road on the other side.
Basic
information:
Duration: 7h (incl. 1h lunch)
Distance: 15 km.
Ascent: 650 m
Difficulty: Moderate +
Start/finish: La Motte d’Aigue (409m parking in Peypin
d’Aigue)
Map: IGN 3243 OT (1cm=250 m)
GPX-file: Download
from VisoRando link (see below)
VisoRando Lien.
Pour le fichier GPX mettre
à jour via ce lien VisoRando où vous pourrez également voir l'itinéraire sur une bonne carte:
https://www.visorando.com/randonnee-/3099936
For the GPX-file go to
this VisoRando link where you also will see the route on a good map.
TET:
03.12.2021 - Bjorn. Bra tur med mye mistral, men godt skydd mot vinden, selv på den store lunch-plassen. Vi gikk ikke opp på toppen pga vind, men gjør det før lunchen!
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