Col Citrin

Introduction

This hike takes us through the lonely Citrin valley with its beautiful woods at the start, where it is also easy to spot specimens of alpine fauna, and then on to the increasingly open slopes of the Comba di Citrin, which allow us to walk between the steep buttresses of Testa Cordella and Mont Flassin on the left and Punta Valletta on the right; once we reach the pass, we then have a beautiful view of the Vertosan valley with Punta Fetita and the Court de Bard. The route does not have any technical difficulties but only slightly steep slopes in the initial woodland and after Citrin di metien and is also 'disturbed' by the presence of the high voltage pylons that run along its entire length.

Description

From the no trespassing sign, walk along the edge of the cross-country ski run, on the left of the stream, crossing it further on to go up to the left into the sparse woodland, passing beside a protective net for the ski run itself; after passing it you almost immediately reach the Citrin desot huts (1500m) situated next to a high voltage pylon and, leaving them on the left, head towards the centre of the plateau where the stream flows, which you easily cross to cross to the opposite bank. After walking along it for a few dozen metres, we move to the right towards the forest, which we reach after crossing the track of a farm road. We follow it for a short distance and then begin to climb the steep wooded slope with narrow hairpin bends and a constant gradient that allows us to quickly gain altitude. Once we reach a point where the trees become sparser, we climb up a short gully that, with a slightly steep stretch, takes us to the right on the edge of a narrow but well-marked rib of the mountain. As we ascend, we soon come to a marker (1834 m) at a crossroads, which leads to a nearby ferruginous spring, after which we take a traverse into the Comba di Citrin. After a few minutes' walk, move to the right to reach a small plateau where the Citrin di Metien huts (2007 m) are located. Leave the huts on the right and climb the short but steep slope in the direction of a high-tension pylon; once you reach it, the path flattens out a little and continues on, passing between some not very high humps located to the right of the power line. Advancing in the comba, the slope increases considerably and crossing some bumps on the hillside, we reach the base of the short final slope which, with a final climb, leads to the pass where there is a wooden post.