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Vanil du Van, Les Merlas

This is another short and easy stroll in the Gruyère region. We want to hike to the top of a mountain called Vanil du Van (1907m, 6256ft) that will provide us with beautiful views on the main summits of the Fribourg Prealps: the Vanil ridge, the Dent de Brenleire and Dent de Follieran, the Dent de Broc and much more!

Brenleire and Folliéran

1 - Brenleire and Folliéran

It is actually because of a hike that fell through that I chose the modest grassy Vanil du Van as a possible excursion. On that day, I had in mind a more ambitious climb: Dent de Brenleire. But once at the farm Tissiniva (which is visible on picture 2, near the pass at the base of Brenleire), it turned out that the trail up the steep slope between the two mountains was too dangerous: hardly marked and in a grass slope made slippery by the morning dew. Strange that the Alpine Club guidebook rates it as being for "experienced hiker". Apparently there exists an easier access to Brenleire on the other side. Will try next summer...

This is to say that it was well on in the day as I arrived at the start of the trail to Les Merlas. It is a farm on the road Grandvillard - Bounavaux, a little bit further up the latter. A page on the website montagne.ch had given me the idea to do this trip to a mountain I had never heard of before. The views on Brenleire et Folliéran, 2 distinctives shapes of the Fribourg canton that can be seen from the highway near Bulle, seemed interesting.

The start is at a height of 1360m (4461ft) and the signs to follow are the ones for Les Merlas or La Chia. Indeed, we quickly arrive to La Chia, which is an alp farm, summer residence for numerous cows. Speaking of cows... you will encounter many grazing along the way. For that reason, you need to be careful of two things: the trail's holes and bumps made by the cow's hoofs and of course the cowshit spread all around the path and sometimes on it.

The grassy hillside of Les Merlas

2 - The grassy hillside of Les Merlas

Summit of Vanil du Van

3 - Summit of Vanil du Van

We follow the crest of Les Merlas, going up straight in the direction of a grass triangle topped by a cross: this is the Vanil du Van! On the right, nice view of the Bounavaux valley and the Vanil range. It gets much better once you reach the little pass between Les Merlas and Vanil du Van, after approx. 1h20. Now you are dominating the Motélon valley and facing the duo Brenleire/Folliéran. The summit of Le Van and its cross are just a few minutes up the slope on your right side.

For such a humble mountain, the view is amazing. This was totally unexpected, so this hike turned out to be a pleasant surprise. Other routes lead to the summit; for example you can start at Motélon valley or follow the whole ridge that runs from Dent de Broc. Please ask the Tourist Office for further details.

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