At Passo della Losetta at 2872m, looking towards Passo di Vallanta. The fog lifted a little, a very nice pass. But it started to snow, it was cold, some hale and we had to go back down again. The weather didn't improve, it rained, some cold wind and after five hours, 1020m up and 870m down we were back at Grongios Matre. Fire burning, Luca preparing magic food again. How lucky we are.

Cows. Licking salt that the shepherds brought up for then. We had a nice chat with the shepherds and admired the pretty cows.

Vallone Soustra. We left the car at Grange del Rio and started on our climb to Passo Losetta at 2872m. It leads through Vallone Soustra which is very nice, in good weather certainly even nicer. The weather was a mix of clouds, a little sun and rain. At the pass even a little hale and snow. It was cold, in the last bit to the pass I put on gloves and hat.

Chianale is indeed beautiful. Some impressions...

Slept well, woke up to sun and clouds, had an incredibly good breakfast with müsli, fresh fruit including fichi d'india, toast, cheese, all kinds of jam etc and then decided to go to Chianale, which is supposed to be very beautiful, and then walk up to Passo Losetta at 2872m.

Hhhhmm. That is only the antipasti. Warm bread filled with cauliflower, mushroom tarte, fresh "Toma" cheese with green sauce, rice balls with masala and delicious fried peppers.... How nice it was to return here and see Leila and Luca again. A very warm welcome, warm shower, warm room, open fire and absolutely high-end food. Beautiful place, beautiful people.

But the best thing in Entraque was this shop. Selling delicious local produce. And the owner is an extremely friendly woman, who let us try all kind of speciality of Piedmont like cheeses and sweets. We bought some pane del montanaro, bodi duss and a strange looking but absolutely great cheese with herbs. If you should ever go to Entraque visit the shop "Il Cavagnin", it is a must.

Street in a very pretty part of Cuneo, Mondovi quarter.

"Tancredi Duccio Galimberti" square in Cuneo. We strolled through Cuneo, some times it rained, some times it didn't, had a snack and a wine in an cafe. And then we were off to cosy and welcoming Grongios Matre. Luca and Leila still remembered me, how nice.

A church in Entraque (in the rain). On our way to Castello we decided to stop at Entraque and Cuneo, seeing the GTA guide says they are both pretty. We did some sightseeing in the rain.

It rained all night at Piana del Valasco and in the morning too. I decided to go down in the car with Flavio, the boss of rifugio Valasco, instead of walking. Down at Terme di Valdieri Maurizio was waiting for me, he has joined me for the weekend. Considering the weather we quickly abandoned plans to go to rifugio Genova and from there to San Giacomo, which would have been nice, but not in rain, fog and the cold. We opted for a comfort weekend at Grongios Matre and possibly a nice short trek if the weather improved.

On the path down into the valley. I think this is a beautiful picture. I arrived early at the rifugio, had a hot shower and then sat infront of the fire where I am still sitting now after a very good dinner of lentil soup, freshly picked mushrooms, vegetable quiche, cheese souffle and polenta. Once the sun has gone it is quite cold and meanwhile we are engulfed in thick fog. I walked for almost six hours today, climbed 1000m and went down 650m, my highest point was rifugio Questa at 2335m.

Autumn tree

Starting on the descent back to rifugio Valasco

The path back with mount Argentera in the background

Rifugio Questa, the tiny building in the middle of the photo. It is a lovely hut in a fantastic position, but closed now.

Lago del Claus which is very very nice

Pretty small waterfall close to rifugio Questa at 2335m

Another view of the path

A part of the path in detail. Very beautiful. Must of been hard work.

The path leading towards Lago del Claus

Lago Valscura

Looking down into Vallone del Valasco and the rifugio

Aah, but only a completely harmless one

Aargh. A tunnel.

A view of the path continuing on the other side, where I wouldn be going later on.

The path up towards Lago Valscura. A rather big and stony military road, but a very nice one. The climb was easy and long with stunning views all around.

The inner yard of rifugio Valasco. My room is the one on the far left. A nice room and contrary to what I had been told with warm water. I left most of my things here and left for my walk with a light backback.

Rifugio Valasco, open this time. This castle-like mountain hut is a former hunting chalet built by king Vittorio Emanuele II in 1873. It is very special and very nice and surrounded by beautiful mountains.

Piana del Valasco. I left Albergo Turismo in great weather, but it was rather cold. I knew the way, of course, and had also been to the Piana where rifugio Valasco is, but it looked more beautiful in the morning sun.

This is one of the forts of Vinadio. What a day. After a good breakfast and a nice chat with the woman who runs Albergo Strepeis and the posto tappa I took a taxi to Vinadio (had to because there is no public transport). The turist information was closed and maps of the region I needed were not available. What to do?
I decided to take the bus towards Cuneo and the go to Entraque to the proceed to San Giacomo, Trinita and Palanfre as suggested by the Gta guide. While travelling in the bus the Sede del Parco Alpi Maritteme called me and offered advice, so I stopped at their office at Valdieri (which is pretty) and after at least an hour of research and diskussions we figured out a plan. The idea was to walk up to rifugio Valasco, sleep there two nights and do a nice trek to the lakes above the hut and then go back down to Therme di Valdieri where Maurizio would join me Saturday morning to go on a nice trek to rifugio Genova and then San Giacomo.
Nanni Vilani from the Sede del Parco was incredibly helpful and friendly and even drove me up to Therme di Valdieri. From there it is an hour's walk to rifugio Valasco. The weather was ok so I walked up and round myself infront of a closed hut. They had assured me that the rifugista was there and the hut open, but it was closed. Considering the time I hurried to go back down to avoid getting into the dark. But I was worried about what to do when I got back down to Therme di Valdieri, because the albergo there was closed and there are no buses etc to go back down towards Sant'Anna di Valdieri and Valdieri. I was really lucky (there was nobody about and it was late, after five) to meet a young man who was coming down from a peak and offered a ride. We descended together and when we were almost at Terme di Valdieri I had connection with my phone again. Nanni had tried to call and tell me that the rifugista had gone down into the valley to go shopping and would go back up late. But I had almost arrived at Terme di Valdieri. I knocked at the food of the Albergo Turismo there and they let me stay even though they are officially closed. They have treated me nicely and fed me well and even found a way to allow me to have a warm shower even though there was no heating anymore because of works in the house. Great people. I am very grateful.

There we are. A good-bye photo with the six casanovas, Valentina, Oscar's father (who ran the hut before his son) and me. Oscar took the picture. I left with him and Valentina, they took me down in their car, they are going back up for the weekend. I am at the posto tappa in Strepeis now, which is very nice and all mine. I've just had dinner, amongst over things an excellent minestrone. It is raining outside and I am trying to figure out how to proceed from here. Apart from the fact that I have to cure my cystitis.

A close-up of rifugio Migliorero. It is a very nice place, and I once again had very good food. I had REAL pesto alla Genovese, because Valentina is from Genoa. This is an interesting piece of information for those like me who didn't know: real pesto alla Genovese is with potatoes and tiny runner beans. Very tasty. The weather is not good today, it is cold and windy. And, unfortunately, I am not too well. Apparently I have a cystitis, hardly slept last night. I took an antibiotic I have with me and am better now, but not good. Ah, another complication, won't walk today, to be careful.

I just stopped playing scopa with Ezio, I won once and he won once. It is too late for the last decisive match. Our hosts, Oscar and Valentina have gone to bed, leaving this group of chaotic but lovable men continue to play cards. I am in great company here, chatted all afternoon with Valentina and Oscar and had an amusing time with Ezio, Francesco, Gran-Carlo, Enrico and Ernesto. A nice day, I walked only four hours, but climbed 1050m and went down 660m. My highest point was Passo Rostagno at 2535m.

The view from my room. I am the only guest apart from a group of six elderly locals who have come here to just be here, play cards and Boccie. They have been coming here for more than fourty years and are very much interested in me. I have had to promise to play scopa with one of them after dinner.

Vallone del Ischiator, one of the three possible routes leading to Strepeis tomorrow and the shortest. It rained after I arrived and the forecast isn't good. We will see.

A first view of rifugio Migliorero and its lakes. Stunning view and, yes, the GTA guides are right, it does look like a castle in Scotland, somehow.

Almost at the top, looking back into a beautiful valley

Walking towards Passo Rostagno. The weather became worse and I was a little nervous about the dark clouds hanging over the pass, but all went well, it didn't rain, it was just quite cold because of the wind and the views weren't as nice as usual.

Looking back up towards Passo Sottano della Scolettas. The path was very nice, first up, then down, then up again.

The view from the pass towards the next pass, Passo Rostagno and rifugio Zanotti, which is in a nice position, but apparently always closed.

The path towards Passo Sottano della Scolettas

The view back while climbing towards Passo Sottano della Scolettas at 2223m. I left at about half past nine and had loads of time. Again it was the combination of clouds, sun and strong wind, cold wind.

Some views of Sambuco. It is a nice village and Albergo della Pace a great place to be. Ah, the food again last night, but I'm not going to tell you, I've had complaints that my descriptions have been impacting life in Germany... Raffaele, the son in law of Bartolo, or better "Bocuse", drove me up to rifugio Talarico. How terribly nice. I had already ordered the taxi, but he couldn't come to Sambuco before eleven or later. I was quite relaxed because it wasn't a long walk to rifugio Migliorero and the weather wasn't too bad either, but Bartolo and Raffaele heard about the taxi and were a bit worried about the time and the weather, so they offered to give me a lift. I am very grateful.

I am still in Sambuco. Decided to rest here for a day and decide what to do, because things are getting really complicated now. Seeing the rifugios are all closed now and also many of the posti tappa it is difficult to carry on going up into the mountains and finding a place to sleep. Plus, from many villages there is no public transport. And the weather was not good this morning. Good thing I stayed here because I it has just started to thunder and it has already rained heavily too. AND, as I mentioned, Bartolomeo is a more than excellent cook. Last night I was spoilt by a polenta tart with cheese sauce, lovely home-made Tagliatelle, lentil soup, mushroom snitzel, carots and zucchini, cheese and fruit and a cake with blueberry and raspberry cream. Delicious. And Bartolomeo showed us the mushroom he used. An enormous champignon-like mushroom you can easily cut in big slices and fry. So I am giving my knees a rest and hope that tomorrow the weather is better, so I can somehow walk up to rifugio Migliorero, or to Strepeis.

Posto Tappa Sambuco. I'm sitting in Albergo della Pace (just opposite the posto tappa), which is a very nice pension run by a big family. The chief is called Bartolomeo (his name though, not surname) and is an excellent cook. It is very busy today, but not unpleasant.

The path above Pietraporzio going to Sambuco. It was a nice path, not at all alpine, but pretty with some nice views. It was a rest day in a way considering that I walked only for three hours, climbed 350m and went down 470m. I arrived early at Sambuco where I am staying at the posto tappa run by Albergo della Pace. It is the cleanest and best-kept posto tappa I have seen so far.