GTA: Stage 62 Rifugio Citta' di Ceva al Malinvern - Terme di Valdieri | Lake Maggiore, Lake Orta, Lake Mergozzo and Ossola Valleys

Highlights and tour details

Take path P13 on the right from Rifugio Malinvern, which heads south until it crosses Rio Freddo on a wooden bridge. On the opposite side the path begins to gain altitude on the right side of the valley and, leaving a fork coming from the bottom of the valley on the left, continues the ascent south with some long traverses alternating with hairpin bends in the sparse larch grove at the foot of a rocky wall, always maintaining constant gradients. When you reach the ridge that leads to the basin of Lake Malinvern at an altitude of 2173 m, you leave the track on the left (large stone cairn) that goes up to Laghi della Paur and a few metres after the junction you come across another large cairn; the path bends to the right here (south-west) and goes down, passing through the ruins of a gias, to the bank of Lake Malinvern (2123 m). You skirt the lake and start climbing again with long hairpin bends, among scrubs of rhododendrons and blueberries and detritus areas. Leave the fork to the right for the ascent to Monte Malinvern and you reach a detrital basin, which you cross with long, steep traverses. You reach Colletto di Valscura (2533 m) with a last series of narrow hairpin bends. From here, a path (trail sign N23), which then becomes a mule track descends with numerous hairpin bends between grassy ledges and detrital slopes to the banks of Lago Inferiore di Valscura (2265 m). Take the former military road of Valasco from the lake, leaving the junction on the right for the variant that leads to Lake Claus and Rifugio Questa. The road passes by some semi-ruined barracks and begins to descend with hairpin bends, entering a natural bottleneck, among ferrous brick red coloured gneiss rocks (from which the name Valscura originates). A little further on, you leave the main road for a stretch to follow a wide shortcut so you can avoid long traverses. You then return to the road and after a long traverse in a southerly direction, you leave the route on the right towards Rifugio Questa near a large larch tree at an altitude of about 2000 metres. You then continue along wide hairpin bends and when you reach the plateau below, leave the fork in the path on the right in the direction of Val Morta and Colletto del Valasco and cross the stream on a small wooden bridge. We are now near the Reale Casa di Caccia (Royal Hunting lodge), which has now become a refuge, beyond which we continue to descend along the valley, mostly on the carriage road which we abandon at an altitude of about 1600 metres, to follow a short cut through the thick wood on the left hydrographic side of the stream. The road then continues downhill for a last stretch leading to Terme di Valdieri thermal baths.