Fraction Cornetti,Balme – Fraction Pialpetta, Groscavallo

Balme 1432 m – Molette 1341 m – Colle di Trione 2486 m – Alpe Trione 1649 m – Pialpetta 1069 m

This section is a little long but very rewarding, with lively contrasts between wild environments and less austere sites characterized by lakes and by pastures that are still used by the herds. Wide panoramas.

From the Les Montagnards stopover, follow the carriage road towards the valley, cross the bridge over the Stura, then continue right on the road past the cemetery and shortly after take a left on the old road for just over 1.5 km, passing the hamlet of Chialambertetto and continue on the old road at the crossroads on the left for the hamlet of Molera 1458 m 0.30 hours A few tens of meters before the houses of Molera, take the GTA on the left, marked by a clear sign. After crossing a wooded area you then reach Alpe Pian Bosco (1673 m after the Alpe on the left you go up to the Bivacco Molino on the right take the track that goes up to the Alpeggi Parona 1696 and Pian Prà 1783 0.50 hours

where it is advisable to stock up on water as it will be difficult to find more later, especially in late summer. Along the entire route you can observe the characteristic stones which, transformed into millstones, once gave work and well-being to the inhabitants of the area (hence the name of the Molette hamlet). Continue through the still well-used pastures and after Alpe Vasuera di Sotto (1863 m) you enter the EPT 234 path (coming from Mondrone) which leads to Alpe Pian del Lago 2225 m; 1.35 hours, at Lake Vasuera, almost always dry. In the plateau below the lake, an open-air deposit of ferrous pyrite is clearly visible, exploited until the 17th century for the valley’s forges; the exhaustion of the wood from which the charcoal necessary for the production of the mineral was drawn causes the abandonment of these mines. The path, having completed a semicircle around the lake, turns to the left (north-west), then, at an altitude of approximately 2235 m, turns to the right (northeast) climbing with many turns up the slopes leading to Colle di Trione 2486 m , 0.45 hours. From the hill the Gran Paradiso group appears beyond the Val Grande-Valle Orco watershed.

The descent takes place on a good path that descends in hairpin bends into a small valley of debris. At a large rock you turn left, go along a short flat stretch halfway up the hill, and then go down further until you come across a steep rocky gorge: with a hairpin bend to the left you enter the same gorge that the mule track , built with great care, descends in narrow hairpin bends, in a suggestive environment. The descent continues on a conoid of scree now covered by low alders, rhododendrons and blueberries up to a shelf at around 2250 m altitude (source) which overlooks the beautiful lakes of Trione and the Gias dei Laghi, whose slate roofs blend in with the rocks

Here the mule track turns left (west) and continues uphill for a stretch, then descends to the lakes: note the characteristic smooth rocky plateaus (covered with blueberries) whose jumps are avoided by making a wide turn on the path.

For those making the crossing in the opposite direction, it is useful to remember that Colle di Trione is not the large depression above the lakes, but is to the east of it.

You pass between the two lakes, leaving the Gias dei Laghi 2164 m on the right, and among the meadows you overlook the Trione basin; a short slightly uphill stretch and then the often paved mule track (short steps) descends to Gias di Mezzo 1961 m, passes a small arched dry stone bridge and with a flat route continues towards the eastern side of the basin, on the edge upper part of the rocky cliff that delimits the vast plateau of Alpe Trione, visible below. A steep descent with hairpin bends (plentiful spring just below the mule track) quickly leads, among thick alders, to Alpe Trione 1649 m; 2.00 hours: from the Alp you can admire the steep wall (circumvented by the path) crossed by numerous waterfalls. The path runs along the long shelf on which large boulders are placed.

A boulder on the right of the path, towards the end of the plain, is known as Pera Cagna and is the subject of numerous legends. One of these tells how a city in Italy was given to the devil to exterminate it. To carry out the work, he carried an enormous boulder formed inside solid gold on his shoulders and, starting from Monte Giove, flew over the Levanne and Col Girard and came to Val Grande. It is said that a hermit then lived in the same place where the Sanctuary of Forno Alpi Graie is located today. Seeing the devil pass by, the hermit prayed to God for hours and hours, until the devil, exhausted by fatigue, let slip the boulder that fell to him. beginning of the Trione Plan, where we find it today. The devil tried to take the boulder back, but no matter how hard he tried, he was unable to do so. Popular imagination sees the characteristic bowl-shaped formations present on the boulder as the sign of the devil’s enraged warheads. A popular saying has it that Calchas and Pietra Cagna are worth more than France and Spain, referring to the large quantities of hours hidden in them. Indeed, in the area it is still possible to trace the remains of some silver and perhaps even gold mines, abandoned around 1600. Even under Pera Cagna a narrow tunnel was dug which ends after about ten meters. Visible from Pera Cagna, a little further down, on the other side of the valley, is the Bec Ceresin. This curious monolith (derived from the vertical fractures of the gneiss-granitic rock) has always aroused great interest due to the strangeness and roughness of its shape truncated quadrangular pyramid with the largest base at the top. For years it was considered inaccessible, only after many attempts, on 28 October 1926 a group of mountaineers from Turin managed to reach the straight line from the west face by throwing a rope. From a naturalistic point of view, the Bec Ceresin represents a truly particular phenomenon, its summit covered by a thick bush of Pinus uncinata, the only specimens of the species existing in the Lanzo Valleys where there was apparently a cherry tree, hence the name Ceresin given to the monolith. The golden eagle nested on its summit until decades ago, but the killing of an eaglet by a hunter led to the abandonment of the nesting site.

You now descend for a short distance on a grassy path between larches and birches, and then begin a long journey halfway up the hill towards the east. The admirably laid out mule track comfortably crosses some wild rocky gorges which descend very steeply onto the Stura di Valgrande. You can observe Pialpetta from above and then the last downhill stretch begins in a larch and beech forest (some centuries-old), which leads to a bridge over the Stura. A short stretch on the left mule track (the other leads to Migliere) leads to the provincial road between Migliere and Pialpetta (both hamlets of Groscavallo); follow the road to the left for a few hundred meters up to Pialpetta 1069 m; at the Stopover Hotel Setugrino 1.20 hours.