GRNC1 Stage n°4C :from the Ouénarou refuge to the Tristaniopsis refuge (through the Blue River valley)

> Entrance fee to the Blue River Provincial Park

From the Ouénarou refuge to the Bon Secours area (5.4 km – 2 hrs. 15 m.)

D Hut (GPS: 678 563 – 7 549 260; alt. 178m): join the main road and turn left to reach the Park administration reception.

1 Reception (GPS: 678 602 – 7 549 470; alt. 182m): location where you must pay the entrance fees and use of equipment related to the GR® NC1 and the Park. Take the wooden footbridge.

2 Maison du Parc (GPS: 678 525 – 7 549 495; alt. 182m): go around it to the left and join an old skid trail which runs along a forest on the left bank of a creek to the south before entering a small wooded valley. The path climbs, winds through a thalweg populated by old gum oaks with their trunks bleached by time and joins an old track. After a very sharp right turn, you reach an intersection. Go up to the left towards a crossroads. Turn left (> ignore the wrong track on the right). Follow, towards the west, the one which is marked out and lined with old logs. Reach an intersection. Take the uphill track to the right (> ignore the downhill track, to the left). At the next intersection, take a sharp right. Progress a few tens of meters at level. Cross two wooded thalwegs. At the exit from the second of them, climb in zigzags up the side [> beautiful view of Lake Yaté]. Come out at a dominant point.

3 Shoulder (GPS: 677 503 – 7 549 896; alt. 385m): after a break (cairn), the path resumes its slow ascent, winding through the scrub and joins a track covered with blocks of rust colour [> elements of dismantled ferruginous cuirass] or of ochre colour [from outcrops of peridotites, rich in nickel]. Turn left to go up. And, in the stony embankment, follow a path that intersects the zigzags of the track (multiple cairns). Get back on the track. Go through the pass north of Gwé Daru.

4 Timba Pass (GPS: 677 074 – 7 549 976; alt. 493m) [> windy lookout, the glaucous Tristaniopsis (Tristaniopsis glauca) is common there]: then dive towards the valley of the Bon Secours, following the track up to a ridge; circumvent it by the south-west.

5 Fork (GPS: 676 750 – 7 550 516; alt. 340m): turn left and ignore the unmarked path that goes north-west. At the next intersection (GPS: 676 357 – 7 550 371), go straight ahead (> ignore the horizontal track, on the right, that is unmarked). Find the entrance to a trail (GPS: 676 315 – 7 550 371). Leave the track which descends straight down the slope and take the path to the left in the scrub. Enter a small clear forest. Cross an often dry creek. Cross another more shady creek. Reach the junction with a botanical path.

6 Palm Track (GPS: 676 042 – 7 550 213; alt. 200 m): turn left. Arrive at a faré( equipped area and an information panel). Continue to the left. At the next intersection, turn left towards the reception area.

From the Bon Secours rest area to Germain Bridge (12.5 km – 2 hrs. 45 mins.)

7 Bon Secours reception area (GPS: 675 877 – 7 549 964; alt. 190m) [car park, WC, water point]: join the main vehicle-accessible track. Turn west and cross the creek.

8 Trois-Fûts Bridge (GPS: 675 782 – 7 549 957; alt. : 189m): immediately afterwards, turn left, then right towards the marked path which progresses above the vehicle-accessible track. Cross a culvert to cross a small creek. Rejoin the track; cross it and enter the scrub again in a long curve. Return to the track, cross to return to the western embankment above. Return to the track, cross and enter the maquis again for a shortcut that joins the main track a little further; follow it north for just over 100 m to reach the reception and activity area.

9 Pérignon Bridge (GPS: 675 651 – 7 551 851; alt. : 170m): cross [>WC, water point, information panel]. At the exit, follow the vehicle-accessible track to the north.

10 Intersection (GPS: 675 599 – 7 552 320; alt. : 173m): turn right (> the left track goes towards the Forest du Mois de Mai and the path of the same name) and follow the vehicle-accessible track.

11 Intersection (GPS: 676 750 – 7 552 349; alt. : 175m): leave the main track and go up to the left.

12 Pass (GPS: 676 653 – 7 552 760; alt. : 212 m) [> a path on the right leads to an observation tower equipped with orientation tables, view of the Drowned Forest]: join the track below.

13 Fork (GPS: 676 441 – 7 552 921; alt. : 173m): turn left and follow the good track that goes north-west.

14 Telephone box (GPS: 675 048 – 7 554 173; alt. : 182m): it is located at the entrance to the forest [> high chances of seeing kagus provided you are quiet]. The track shaded by the dense and humid forest runs along the right bank of the Blue River, flowing silently between its banks of red earth.

15 Camp Bloc launch (GPS: 674 015 – 7 554 715; alt. : 182m) [> bathing place; remnant of a ford created thirty years ago to reach the left bank and the Pourina Valley]: walk while staying on the vehicle-accessible track.

16 Grand Kaori Track (GPS: 672 925 – 7 555 425; alt. : 191m): (botanical trail) continue to the reception area.

17 Ford of the Pourina and Three Forests Track (GPS: 672 200 – 7 555 580; alt. : 207 m): (picnic and swimming area) continue on the vehicle-accessible track.

18 Nothofagus Track and Honeyeater Track [Sentier Nothofagus and Sentier des Méliphages] (GPS: 671 453 – 7 555 128; alt. : 182m): reach the bridge area.

From Germain Bridge to Tristaniopsis Hut (3.8 km – 1 hr.)

19 Germain Bridge (GPS: 670 958 – 7 555 085; alt. 185 m) [> pleasant bivouac area near the river; faré, WC, water point; at this place, it is not uncommon to observe kagus accustomed to human presence] (> bathers must be vigilant. Flash floods can occur during heavy rains. GSM coverage becomes random or even disappears): cross the bridge to the north. Continue westwards [> emergency call terminal] on the vehicle-accessible track, then leave it.

20 Fork (GPS: 670 538 – 7 555 292; alt. : 195m) [> start of the Spring Track]: leave the vehicle-accessible track [> telephone booth] to turn right at the information panel. An old skid trail goes up to the base of the Blue Mountain (Gwé Buru), progressing towards the west. Reach a creek (> crossing on slippery blocks in wet weather). Continue in the undergrowth between nepenthes and sundews [> original but very common carnivorous plants] and join the forest track.
> Shared section with the Spring Track, marked in yellow.

21 Barrier (GPS: 669 118 – 7 555 785; alt. 233m) [> information panel]: turn right. The route follows an old forest track that winds on the left bank, between 40 and 60m above sea level, above the Blue River. Cross a concrete apron and reach the end of the stage.

22 Tristaniopsis Hut (GPS: 668 489 – 7 556 681; alt. : 265 m): it is quietly installed in the forest, outside a curve of the track. [> pretty creek less than 100 m to the north-east, fresh water point and emergency call terminal].

© Text by Jean Francis Clair

FFrandonnée® grading
* Effort: IBP 71 Not very difficult (orange)
* Technical difficulty: Fairly easy (light blue)
* Risk: Fairly low (blue)
* Overall grading: Not very difficult (orange)

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