Herbetet pastures - Refuge Vittorio Sella
Introduction
Spectacular and classic route, perhaps the most beautiful of the group for the observation Gran Paradiso from the side of Cogne. Beauty and aerial crossing that links the pastures to the Refuge is a journey of great satisfaction and panoramic views. Not totally easy itinerary for which, in some places, you need a firm foothold and a head for heights. Some artificial features help overcome the most difficult. Despite its length, can also be considered a variant of access to Rifugio Vittorio Sella, whose "normal" access path is rather monotonous, exhausting and, especially, often clogged with too many hikers. The Vittorio Sella Refuge is often overcrowded and, worse, given the ease of access, is joined by noisy groups who make this place unbearable at times and certainly a far cry from the silence of the mountains and the environment of a National Park which is the Gran Paradiso.
Description
The starting line is in Valnontey where there are several hotels and a large parking lot. A road (signed with the marker 22 and TVC - Tour Vallee de Cogne -) goes forward in the direction of the flat head of the valley in front of the great glacier ice-fall of the "Tribolazaione" with the top of Ceresole, and the two "heads" of Valnontey and of the "Tribolazione".
Arrives in a beautiful forest and uphill to the left leaving the junction 22A of the Pian Tornetta immediately reaching the few houses Vermiana (d. 1729). Always in the woods, you continue uphill as the road narrows to trail, still ignores the left track for the bivouac Money (Nr. 22c) coming later to the passage of the sparkling stream that is Grand Eyvia and comes on a bridge with wooden beams supported by metal poles. On the other side, briefly climb through an area with trees and resumed the climb steep and now more open. The path takes a few steps closer to a cliff and discovering the great view of the head where you can recognize the Bivouac Bossi and the front of the glacier. Always uphill, the trail leads to an important crossroads: on the left it continues straight ahead towards the glacier for bivouac Pol; on the right the track 22G goes south close to the top of the rocky spur that forms the left side of Valnontey basin. Follow this path which increases the slope and takes place continuously gaining share rapidly. Further south, some features alternating plans and crossing a torrent on a wooden bridge. Soon after comes a stretch more exposed, always at the cliff to the left and you pass through a recess in a walkway. Finished lower stretch of the north slope is back and tackles the last steep climb, always carried, which rises above the slope where stand a house of the Guards of the Park and where the Herbetet pastures are. Here there is a fountain. About two hours to complete this section. The view on the Gran Paradiso Group is very great.
From here to the Refuge there are still about two and a half hours of walking. The trail is well marked and it is good to travel it with prudence and in the absence of vertigo. Some stretches are quite exposed and partly equipped with fixed ropes and artificial steps which present no difficulty whatsoever. Basically it runs a system of broad ledges and climbing over several spurs remaining in position without tearing sensitive about 2500 meters, with several ups and downs. Be careful when crossing the great river of the Grand Vallon, rather impetuous. Trail marker 18B and TVC.
Leave behind the houses, go down gradually and then suddenly faces a first oblique very exposed cutting the steep slope at the base of the rocks. With twists and turns you gain the summit of a hill that, further, looks like a lovely little grassy plateau with blades of rock called Pian Ressello. Cross it and then, draws a sharp left turn takes you down, always up against a rock wall to reach a wide detritus deposits with large boulders. The path leads into the stony ground, crosses the horizontal and then resumes to rise again on display to get around the Peak Grand Vallon and earn the eponymous valley crossed by a rushing stream that is at an altitude of 2530 meters wading.
Now the trail continues almost horizontally along the grassy slopes to get around the Bec du Vallon, continues to cross steep slopes and moves, rose again in the direction of the Pen Sengia running at its base and meeting some points equipped. Here the exposure and the obliquity are considerable, should therefore pay close attention. First he runs through a wooden bridge with a fixed rope, then continuing sull'accidentato side, after a few turns, suddenly stepped metal helps to overcome another passage a little 'rough. This leads to Pen Seng (m.2660), highest point of the route and, after a short flat stretch on the summit of this hill, you look out over a vast rocky bowl in part occupied by small lakes Lauson. The trail turns into a road embankment, which makes a wide circle in the basin holding ponds on the slightly high, continues through a series of bumps in sight of the Walloon dela Lauson and discovering the high peaks of the Grivola, the Black Point and Red Point . The road past the pond is reduced nunovamente to trail starts to go down through rocks and knobs. It is left to the left a large stone figure and always falls most directly in the rocks until you spot the shelf meadow where the Rifugio Vittorio Sella. The final descent leads to the stream which is crossed on the bridge. A final short climb leads to the buildings of the Refuge.
Author
- Check the page of Giovanni Consigli
Bibliography
- Luca Zavatta: Le Valli del Gran Paradiso e la Valgrisenche L'Escursionista Editore, 2006
Cartography
- 10 - Valle di Cogne Gran Paradiso 1:25.000, L'Escursionista Editore, 2008
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