Lake Blu of Veràz

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Lake Blu of Veràz

Di, 27/09/2011 - 12:03 – giocons

sottotitolo:

Once upon a time the Ayas valley

Scheda

Via:

variant from Résy

Segnavia:

13, 13B, GSW, 8B, 7, 8

Data del rilievo:

27/08/2009

Photo:

Tipologia Percorso:

Circolare

Difficoltà:

Impegno Fisico:

Low

Periodo Consigliato:

May to October

Tempo Complessivo:

4h20'

Tempo di Salita:

3h00'

Tempo di Discesa:

1h20'

Quota di partenza:

1970 m

Quota di Arrivo:

2215 m

Dislivello:

245 m

Quota Massima:

2215 m

Pericolo Oggettivo:

None

Tratti Esposti:

None

Acqua:

Crest, Soussun, Resy, Pian di Verraz

Accesso:

Leave the motorway A5 Torino - Aosta at the station of Verres and drive along the Regional road nr. 45 of the Ayas valley till the Km. 28. Here is the start of the cable car leading to Crest. Willing to mount Crest by feet a piedi, the path nr.13 Start immediately behind the Champoluc's Parish Church (see also Lake Perrin)

Introduction

This walk takes place on the river left side of the Val d'Ayas. Could be called the "Way of Walser villages" because goes through picturesque typical residential groupings of the Walser culture and ends in one of the classics and very well known to people places in the Valley: the beautiful and picturesque Blue Lake, at the foot of the large moraine of what was once the Great Glacier of Veràz.
The excursion reels through a territory that was once the delight of hikers: vast forests, grasslands, small pastures, pristine valleys. Today the reality is very different. The writer remembers having traveled this route for the first time in 1967 and today would be difficult to recognize what he saw then. The horrible wounds that were inflicted in the name of the most sinister mountain touristic exploitation in favor of "winter sports" are there, obvious, and unfortunately now indelible. Even today, besides the forest roads, ski lifts, buildings of all types, poles and excavation of land to plot the slopes, a new "train" (officially a funicular) has been added, which, departing from Frachey, leads to Alpe Ciarcerioz that once was one stop of this excursion, and that in the beautiful book "Ayas", text combined with stunning photographs by Gianfranco Bini, was described for the hikers with this pattern: "Breakfast at Crest, aperitif in Resy, lunch at Saint Jacques "...
In this description I have deliberately chosen to limit the testimony of the havoc made through a couple of pictures only, leaving to others the painful task of making further comments about what was and today is not existing any longer...

Description

Crest of course can be reached by cable car departing from Champoluc, but you could use the path n. 13 that leads into the forest and, before reaching the top cable car station, passes through the nice chalets of Frantze and of Vieux Crest.
Without reaching the upper station, arriving at a crossroads with signals, take the dirt road that turns north (signposted 13B), wanders the meadows below the buildings at the arrival of the cable, slightly downhill, into the woods on the side that descends from Saler towards the upper Ayas valley. This road goes on with large and comfortable numb downward slope, descends to cross a stream and then back with two curves to the meadows where is located the charming village of Soussun .
Behind the village, after ignoring the path that leads down to Frachey, climb another one in order to meet up the road that continues to advance on the side of the valley. This leads to a crossroads: the right-hand fork leads uphill to the Ciarcerioz Lake , going straight, instead, we continue uphill with moderate slope towards a more open area among large earthworks passing, crossing the funicular railway that climbs from Frachey and then walking between the ski slopes, piers, restaurant and cabins-stations of ski lifts. This overrides the area of Alpe Circerioz, continuing on the edge of a ski slope, always shocked by the transformation of this zone due to "tourist requirements."
Finally you leave the road and the dust to turn left onto a path that slips into a small plateau and then in a grove where resumes climbing again with large turns already in sight of the village of Resy
This village was until the early '50s of last century, Europe's highest permanently inhabited (d. 2072) and a stop here is a must. Unfortunately, glancing toward the Forca valloon, the eye retires in disgust from the observation of the wounds to this area again in the name of profit without any regard for the environment (see also Palon de Resy). In any case, after having stayed and watched the few rascards the village, a new path takes you to the end of it (ignoring the one that drops steeply on Saint Jacques) looking towards the Mount Rosa and the valloon of the Cime Bianche and find the path (signs nr. 8B and TMR), which runs slightly downhill to the north first among boulders and sloping lawns and then a few more sensitive between conifers with a few turns, until you reach another carriageway coming up from Saint Jacques, this time in the lift, back to the river, which is crosses over a bridge, and joins with path nr. 7 at the start of the delightful Pian di Veraz . Let's run through the beautiful basin grasslands dominated on the left and right by the sharp Rocca di Veràz and, at right, by Monte Rosso and the Punta Bettolina, while in front, behind the huge moraine of the Grand glacier of Veràz, the tops of more than 4000 meters stand out from the Rosa group. The plateau has to be walked on the road to its left edge (looking). The route nr. 7, at the end of the plateau, forwards, up over the rocks and sparse trees of the moraine, and climbs up until it reaches a little stoned bridge built on the smalleffluent of the Blue Lake which lies between the gray stones with a spectacular sight and contrast of color.
To run down, take again the same path backward in the opposite direction and keeping the right of the Pian di Veràz. Where the road turns left, go straight on a marked trail that drops steeply into the woods, winding up continues to the small cillage of Fiery (d. 1878) and then quickly drops to Blanchard and ends in the houses of Saint-Jacques.

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