GR NC1 - Etape 4A - Du refuge de Ouénarou au refuge des Muletiers
Informations pratiques
Très difficile
Type :
Promenade
Accès :
On the RP 3 road, after the
bridge over the Coulée RIver, head towards Yaté. Go past the Col de Mouirange
pass and cross the Gaüzère bridge to reach the fork on the left, leading to the
Blue River Provincial Park.
Department for
Sports & Leisure (DSL) South Province Administrative Centre (CAPS) 6, route des Artifices – Baie de la Moselle Tel. 20 48 50 – Fax 20 30 16 - Email: dsl.contact@province-sud.nc
D Refuge (GPS:678563 – 7549260; alt.178 m): join the main road and go
left to the park administration gatehouse.
1 Gatehouse (GPS: 678602 – 7549470; alt.
182 m): mandatory stop to pay fees for entering and using equipment related to the
GR® NC1 and the Park. Use
the wooden footbridge.
2 Maison du Parc information centre
(GPS: 678525 – 7549495; alt. 182 m): skirt round to the left and join an old unloading track that
runs southwards, along the side of a forest, on the left bank of a creek and
then enters a small wooded valley. The trail climbs, weaving its way along the
floor of a valley populated with gum oaks, with weather-bleached trunks and
then joins an old track. After it bends sharply round to the right, you come to
an intersection. Head up to the left, towards a crossroads. Go left (> ignore the wrong track on the right).
Follow the marked track to the west where there is old abandoned timber left at
the side. You reach an intersection. Take the path leading up on the right (> ignore the track on the left going
downwards). At the next intersection, go round the hairpin bend to the
right. Continue on the level for a few dozen metres. Cross the floor of two
wooded valleys. As you leave the second
one, zigzag your way up the steep, bare slope [> lovely view over Yaté lake]. Arrive at a lookout point. 3 Shoulder (GPS:677503 – 7549896; alt. 385 m) after a pause (cairn), the trail resumes its slow
ascent, making its way through the scrub, and leads to a junction with a track
covered with rust-coloured boulders [> broken up chunks of the ferruginous duricrust] and some that are ochre in
colour [from peridotite outcrops with a
high nickel content]. Turn left to
ascend. And on the scree bank, follow a trail cutting the switchbacks in the
track (several cairns). Regain a
foothold on the track. Reach the pass to the north of Gwé Daru.
4 Col Timba (GPS: 677074 – 7549976; alt. 493 m) [> very windswept lookout
point; Tristaniopsis glauca, a member
of the myrtle family, is common here]: then dip down towards Bon Secours valley, following the track
as far as a hilltop; skirt round to the south-west of it.
5 Fork (GPS: 676750 – 7550516; alt. 340 m): veer left and ignore the path going north-west. At
the next intersection (GPS: 676357 – 7550371), go straight on (> ignore the unmarked track off to the
right). Look for the start of a trail (GPS: 676315 – 7550371). Leave the track going straight
down the slope and take the trail on the left, into the
scrub. Enter a small area of woodland. Cross a creek that is often dried up.
Cross another, shadier creek. Reach the junction with a botany trail.
6 Palmetum Trail(GPS:676042 – 7550213; alt. 200
m): Go left. Arrive at a faré hut (developed
area and information board). Continue to the left. At the next
intersection, go left.
> Possible to take the 4B option to get to the Tristaniopsis refuge.
7 Bon Secours Halt (GPS: 675877 –
7549964; alt. 190 m) (parking, WC, water point):
leave the main track on the right and go left to cross a creek [> faré, wooden fence and information board on the Koureu Deni Trail], then, at the intersection, head up the track on the left. Reach
another intersection. Go straight on and cross the creek. Continue climbing.
> Section
shared with Koureu Deni Trail, waymarked in yellow.
8 Intersection (GPS: 675276 – 7549625; alt.251 m): head left to follow an old
forestry track [> the Koureu Deni Trail
goes off to the right]. Enter the forest. Cross
a stream and walk amongst the pandanus. A little further on, there is a
well-marked climb [> steps cut into the
ground]. Further up, the trail
veers to the right, leaving the old forestry track.It joins another track and drops down
slightly to the right before it emerges from the forest into an area of
bracken. Get to the ridge of the open crest.
9 Crest (GPS: 675089 – 7548485; alt.
429 m): follow the line of the crest amid the ferns and low scrub vegetation,
towards a hill. At the western end, the trail enters a low forest. Then it
climbs towards the mountain.
10 Pouédihi Summit (GPS:674303 – 7548758; alt. 533 m): descend to the south-west
towards a wooded pass and, after a short climb, reach an open area.
11 Mining scrubland (GPS: 673891 – 7548108; alt. 474 m): go straight on to come to a hairpin ben to the right (> ignore the little paths heading off on
the right and stay on the marked trail). Veer west. You reach an
intersection. Go right, in the direction of a cairn. Ignore the track on the
left, climbing up to summit (alt. 569 m). Stay on the flat to skirt
round to the north of it as far as an intersection. Go right, in the direction
of a cairn. Stay on the main track.
12 Intersection (GPS: 672885 – 7548234; alt.
497 m): leave the track and go left towards a cairn.
(> difficult to keep on course with the intertwining of old tracks
weaving their way along the crest, so follow the markers). Continue
straight on (> leave the old mineral
prospecting track on the left which is a dead end).Walk in a westerly direction to the next
cairn. Go left then, 50 m further on, at the next intersection, go right
towards a cairn. At the next intersection, turn left (> leaving behind the flat track that heads to the right). About
80 m further on, following the markers, leave the track (GPS: 672635 – 7548146) and descend to the right towards a cairn and a clear area.
13 Red earth platform (GPS: 672586 – 7548125;
alt.446 m): at the south-western end (> ignore the old path heading west),
go left to pick up the mule trail that starts a long curve to the left. Cross the
wooded valley floor. Cross a creek (water
point).Enter the forest. Cross a
second creek (water point). The trail
loses altitude, running along a steep slope. After a sharp left bend, it enters
a lovely rainforest where there used to be forestry works, and walk amid
moss-covered boulders and under the spreading fronds of tall tree ferns. Veer
west. Get to an old red earth track as you leave the forest (> ignore the start of a track on the
right). Join the main track.Go
left. Where the paths branch, head right towards the picnic area [> to the left is the old Rivière Blanche refuge: picnic areas].
14 Toilet facilities and information board on the Renaissance Mine Trail (GPS: 671611 – 7547866; alt. 188 m) [> WC, water point]: go through the barrier.
15 Électriques Creek ford (GPS:671618 – 7547819; alt. 188 m): cross (>warning, no crossing in heavy rain). Continue
along the proper track.
16 Muletiers Refuge (GPS: 671180 –
7547985; alt. 195 m):located on the left
bank of a perpetual creek [> emergency phone
point].
