Quincinetto – Fraction Maletto, Carema

Quincinetto 295 m – Airale 293 m – Chianoy 1000 m – Maletto 1336 m

A pleasant section during which you climb up again out of the Dora Baltea valley floor, through the Carema vineyards, up to the picturesque village of Maletto.

From Quincinetto F.S. Station cross the old wooden bridge over the Dora Baltea, and reach state road 26: follow it, on the left, for 200 m and take the mule track, on the right, which goes up to Airale (fraction of Carema). Along a road you reach the upper part of the town, adjacent to the impetuous Chiussuma stream. After crossing the village you arrive at a crossroads (characteristic stone arch bridge): leave the bridge on the right and go up the mule track that leads to the vineyards grown on terraces supported by enormous dry stone walls; above, a rock rampart seems to block the path. Going up through the vineyards you can notice the care with which they are cultivated (the famous Carema DOC wine is obtained from this Nebbiolo). The paved mule track is quite steep, with numerous steps, and in a short time you reach the hill where the Castruzzone castle was built (12th century), of which only a few ruins remain; 0.45 hours.

(The castle belonged to the feudal lords called Ugoni who, in addition to collecting toll rights from travelers in the Bardessa area (a narrow passage between the Dora Baltea and a steep rock face), also favored gangs of robbers who completely stripped the unfortunates. The fiefdom was then disputed by the Marquis of Monferrato and the Church of Ivrea and, after various events, the Castruzzone castle collapsed during the wars with the French in the 16th century).

Leaving the castle on the left, you descend into a valley with beautiful meadows, the only green oasis in a rugged and barren landscape; you reach the farmhouses and go up into the thick chestnut coppice to cross a hill between steep rock jumps, after a short flat stretch, go down again until you reach the asphalt road that goes up from Carema towards Maletto; 0.30 hours. (We are now above the town of Carema and from the path the whole wide basin is visible where the vine that supplies the famous Nebbiolo is laboriously cultivated. Now the road has alleviated the effort of transporting the manure up to the highest vineyards, half ‘time of march) and the grapes at the bottom

Follow the road for a while and then take the good mule track that climbs steeply through the vineyards and then into the chestnut coppice. Along the mule track,

particular places in the shade mark the poses (stops) that are done when climbing with a heavy load: Pose Dumei, the Ariseer. After numerous hairpin bends you come across the first meadows and reach Chianoy 1000 m: 1.30 hours. (An enormous excavated monolith serves as a trough with very fresh water until the 1930s, some families lived there all year round and an elementary school operated).

Continuing to climb, you cross the road several times and reach the Barmas area, where you pass under a high overhanging wall alongside the impetuous Caffaro torrent. You then cross it on a beautiful bridge, and the mule track goes up again, with stone steps, passing next to the Sesia Alps (another trough dug into a monolith). A little further on, at a crossroads, you leave the main mule track to follow the one on the left, which goes up to Alpi Maletto, where you can already see the bell tower of Maletto not far away: a short stretch of path that goes up between the meadows and along a grassy ridge leads to the houses of Maletto 1336 m; 1.00 hour. Stopover place at the Locanda Maletto hotel

This pleasant location preserves the tranquility of the ancient Alpine villages. The chapel is dedicated to Sant’Anna (solemn feast, the last Sunday of July); the adjoining bell tower is built entirely with hand-hewn local stone.