Fraction Serre Elva – Fraction Chiesa Bellino

Elva, borgata Serre 1637 m – Colle della Bicocca 2285 m – Bellino, borgata Chiesa 1480 m

A short section that is very pleasant and leads from Val Maira to Val Varaita, through the deep valley of Bellino (Blins). The Monviso, the Cottian giant, appears closer and closer. The descent follows a wooded panoramic ridge with small clearings. Interesting examples of rustic architecture in Elva and Bellino.

From Serre you descend for a stretch along the carriage road, until you reach the crossroads between the main road and the road to Villar: take the path on the right which goes up with a few bends, and then halfway up the hill between uncultivated meadows, to the village of Baudini ( la Rua) 1689 m. The path runs along the valley of the hamlet and then goes up to the hamlet of Grangette (Grangétes) 1719 m, which you reach after crossing a road. From Grangette the path heads north, crosses a road again and goes up through the pastures to the Fontana d’Entarme. At this point it turns south-east (right) until reaching a grassy ridge, from which the view opens onto the Elva basin and Col S. Giovanni (route in the previous stage). You now climb along the ridge, while the panorama gradually becomes wider, up to a small grassy plateau (less obvious trail for those going in the opposite direction), which you follow towards north (fountain and shelter for shepherds); at this point the path, with a slightly uphill itinerary halfway up the hill, surrounds some combes towards the north-west, passes next to the scattered Grange Tagliata (watering hole) and finally joins the military dirt road that connects the Colle di Sampeyre to the Colle della Bicocca Follow the military road which with an almost flat route towards the west leads in about 1.5 km to the wide Colle della Bicocca 2285 m, where a memorial stone with a directional board indicates the names of the mountains in a circular manner which for a large radius is given observe, 2.30 hours. Towards the south you can see the mountains of the nearby Val Maira, the entire range of the Maritime and Ligurian Alps. Looking towards the Val Varaita you have the imposing mass of the Monviso Group (south-west side) right in front of you, at the foot of which extends the vast wooded area of the Alevé, below the Casteldelfino basin on which the two branches of the Varaita di Pontechianale and Bellino converge: on the ridge that divides two valleys the Punta and the Battagliola pass, the crossing point of the stage, are clearly visible next one. For those who follow the itinerary in the opposite direction: after traveling from Colle della Bicocca on the road for about 0.30 hours, you need to be careful near a clear ridge that branches off downhill from the road: a few meters after the road has bypassed ridge, take the path on the right that descends diagonally. From Colle della Bicocca, the mule track descends into Val Varaita (trail sign U 22) immediately turning sharply to the left (north-west) and crossing an area of alders and rhododendrons until it reaches and crosses the ridge of the Costa Sarsenà, the watershed between the wild Vallone of Cumbal and Pissa which descends to Casteldelfino (on the right) and the Cumbal del Cuculet above Rua la Guieizo (on the left). We now descend northwards, parallel to and just below the ridge of the Costa Sarsenă, on grassy terrain and sparse vegetation (stone pines). Further down you enter the forest, never too dense, of larches and stone pines, with vast areas of rhododendron and some pasture clearings. The well-marked mule track always descends on the Cumbal del Cuculet side, without however ever deviating much from the Costa Sarsena which at times it appears again with a very panoramic route. Thus we come across the Grangia Sarsenà 2033 m, the Grangia La Bicoco 1936 m and the Grangia Fulio 1720 m (the first has been abandoned, but the other two are inhabited during the summer mountain pastures). Beyond the Grangia Fulio the mule track route gradually turns north-west so as to skirt the meadows at the valley floor until it crosses the Cuculet stream. A final stretch in the middle of beautiful meadows leads to the Chiesa hamlet (Ruà la Guieizo) which you cross reaching the large asphalted square where the Rent Rooms Restaurant del Pelvo stopover is located; 1.45 hours.