Drive from La Toupine along the D951 towards La Motte du Caire. Continue through La Motte until you arrive at the village of le Caire and park in its square. The altitude here is about 790 metres and a sign indicates that the walk to les Chanderettes, at 1550 metres, will take three hours (although I suspect that this may be at a more leisurely pace than my own).

 

A tarmac road leads away from the village to the north. Within 6 or 7 minutes, a signpost points left to a forest track that climbs steadily for about 30 minutes until, at an altitude of 1020 metres, it comes to a halt. A path leads off to the left, climbing more steeply through trees to reach the crest of a ridge at 1170 metres. For the first time, good views are seen of the valley to the south. The path continues to climb along the arrete until another wide forest track is reached, at an altitude of 1300 metres. Turn left here and follow the track, taking the track that rises more steeply at junctions. Waymarks are not ideally positioned on this stretch and some intelligent guesswork is required.

 

The forest track eventually reaches a col just below the summit of the mountain. After negotiating an electric fence, the final few metres of the climb leads along a short ridgeline to a small but perfectly formed summit, mercifully free of trees. The views to the south take in the length of the La Motte valley all the way to the Gache mountain near Sisteron.

 

A reasonable estimate to the summit from the car park is about 2 hours, and a little less for the return, if retracing your steps.