GTA: Stage 63 Terme di Valdieri - Rifugio Genova-Figari | Lake Maggiore, Lake Orta, Lake Mergozzo and Ossola Valleys

Highlights and tour details

From the entrance of Terme di Valdieri a short asphalt descent leads to an unpaved car park. Along the descent to the car park entrance, there is the path on the right to Rifugio Morelli Buzzi (signpost N08). After a short stretch in the wood, the path leads to the entrance of the Lourousa Valley and crosses the stream on a narrow wooden footbridge. Beyond the watercourse, you continue on a wide and easy mule track that goes up the orographic right side of the valley, inside a beautiful beech wood mixed with other broad-leaved trees. You gain altitude with a series of low-slope hairpin bends while the beech wood gives way to larches and white firs. A long traverse in a south-easterly direction takes you to the small basin of Gias Lagarot, which you leave to the left. After crossing the plateau, go up a few more hairpin bends and, leaving a clearly visible fork on the right, you reach the pleasant basin of Lagarot di Lourousa (1971 m), a spring that forms numerous clear pools and streams that are not directly visible from the path, among meadows and sparse larches. The path flattens out in the wide meadow basin and you first leave the junction on the right with an old track and then, a little further on, the fork always to the right with the path to the Varrone Bivouac (signpost N09). With two traverses you pass a morainic cliff, entering a markedly detrital environment. The path continues in the middle of debris, now on short, paved sections, and on cobblestones. After passing a last cliff with several narrow hairpin bends, you go along some large boulders until reaching Rifugio Morelli Buzzi (2351 m), located a few dozen metres to the left. The main path continues to climb beyond the refuge with several turns in a south-south-easterly direction, first on a good detritus terrain and then between large blocks and rubble (possible difficult passages among fallen boulders). Once near the pass, the path crosses a small basin keeping to the orographic right and finally reaches Colle del Chiapous (2533 m). Descending from the pass you go past a wide detritus valley beyond which the path starts to descend on the orographic right side of the valley, cutting a wide grassy ledge with hairpin bends. At an altitude of around 2380 m the path turns left (NE), crossing the brook. It then continues to descend with narrow turns on the hydrographic left of the Chiapous valley with alternating detritus and grassy stretches, until it crosses an old ENEL service road, now reduced to a path that descends along Lake Brocan. You proceed and shortly reach the crest of the Chiotas Dam and continuing on you will meet the asphalt road (ENEL's private road) that goes up to the dam from Lake Rovina. Follow it to the right passing a short tunnel under the spillway and reaching the bottom of the lake. Ignore the junction on the right of the M10 path that climbs up to Colle di Fenestrelle (Stage 63) and continue on the dirt road (signpost M08) that skirts the Chiotas Basin with several ascents and descents and reaches Rifugio Genova Figari (2009 m).