access to more walking country, while the main valley here, the Vallée du Boréon, is the third of those named above which converge on St-Martin. Non-motorised visitors should be able to reach Le Boréon by minibus from St-Martin, while those who walked over Pas des Ladres to the Cougourde hut may well be drawn to the frontier ridge which makes a headwall above it, for yet again there are ways over into Italy where Punta dell’Argentera looms above the upper Valletta valley. But those who choose Le Boréon as a base in preference to the hut have frontier crossings to consider too, at Col de Cerise (2543m) and Col de Frémamorte (2615m), both of which descend on the north side with plenty of scenic interest to the Valle della Valletta in the Parco Naturale dell’ Argentera. Alternatively a recommended there and back outing leads to the turquoise Lac Nègre by a trail from the jeep road at Col de Salèse.
The tranquil Lac de Trecolpas in the upper Vallée du Boréon, Mercantour National Park
Val de la Tinée
The next major valley system to the west of Vésubie is that of the Tinée river which rises near the north-western limits of the Mercantour National Park in a mountain cirque topped by the Rocher des Trois Évêques. Val de la Tinée is deep and narrow, in places dwarfed by huge overhanging cliffs. Above St-Sauveur Vallon de Mollières is a tributary whose upper reaches form a link with Le Boréon via Col de Salèse. At Isola, halfway between St-Sauveur and St-Étienne, a road breaks out of the main valley and twists its way in a sinuous journey to the hideous, purpose-built ski resort of Isola 2000, and continues from there over Col de la Lombarde into Italy. But the main Tinée valley draws the motorist on to St-Étienne-de-Tinée where there are hotels, gîtes d’étape and a campsite, sufficient to prove tempting as a base for a few days. The ultra long-distance GR5 route, which makes a traverse of the French Alps from Lake Geneva to the Mediterranean, comes through here, while more local trails climb the frontier side of the valley where numerous tarns lie cradled among wild and stony corries. Refuge de Rabuons is perched up by one of these tarns at an altitude of 2500 metres. Refuge de Vens is another, located further north at 2360 metres. Both have trails leading from them that stray over the border into Italy where other rifugios may tempt the enterprising walker into devising a hut-to-hut tour in the hills above the Valle Stura, from whose lower reaches access is given to the Parco Naturale dell’Argentera.
Parco Naturale dell’Argentera
The Italian Alpi Marittime boasts a few small glaciers draped among the north-facing slopes of the highest peaks. Like their French counterparts the upper valleys display a chaos of rocks, boulders and screes, but alpine meadows abound too, fringed here and there with stunted mountain pines. Outside the Argentera park, and located to the east of Col de Tende (Colle di Tenda), the dolomitic Marguareis (2651m) soars above the karst plateau of Conca delle Carsene which is honeycombed with vast sink-holes – a stark contrast to the granite of the Argentera where streams dash silver streaks from slope to slope and dozens of tarns rival those of the French side of the border.
The key to access to the Parco Naturale dell’Argentera is Cuneo, the first town of note on the Italian side of the mountains if coming from France via Col de Tende. A minor road breaks away from the Tende road at Roccavione, south of Cuneo, and heads south-west along the Valle della Valletta. Beyond Valdieri this divides and subdivides again with southern branches delving deep into the park through the Vallone della Rovina and the glens watered by the Gesso di Barra and the Bousset. Wild camping is prohibited in the Argentera park, but there’s an official campsite in Valdieri, and hotel accommodation in Valdieri, Sant’Anna di Valdieri and Terme di Valdieri.
Valle della Valletta
With Punta dell’Argentera spreading itself in a large imposing mass between Valle della Valletta and Vallone della Rovina it is natural that this should be the focus of attention here. The mountain consists of four main tops rising from an extensive ridge system thrusting forward from the main frontier crest in a south to north alignment, and there are four huts scattered on or near its various slopes: Rifugios Remondino, Genova, Bozano and Morelli. All, apart from the Genova hut which is reached from the Rovina glen, are approached by way of the Valle della Valletta or one of its tributaries, while Rifugio Franco Remondino (2430m) is also accessible by a tough cross-border route from Le Boréon by way of Col Guilié – on this route an ice axe may be deemed an essential piece of equipment due to extensive snowfields on the north side of the frontier ridge.
Without being drawn into activity on the highest peaks though, the walker will still find much to occupy his (or her) time here. From Terme di Valdieri where the Valletta forks, for example, a mule track laid during the mid-19th century when the whole area was declared a hunting reserve for King Vittorio Emanuel II, leads through forests and rocky outcrops, up to a region of lakes trapped in the stony wilderness of the frontier ridge: Lagos di Valscura, del Claus and delle Portette. An unguarded hut (Rifugio di Questa) stands on the north shore of this last lake at an altitude of 2388 metres. The three lakes are linked by a rough path that may be followed down to a fourth tarn, and beyond this into the lonely Freddo valley which eventually feeds into the Valle Stura near Ruviera.
Other tarns are accessible from the Valle della Valletta roadhead. Consider, for example, those which are lodged on a broad terrace under the frontier ridge near Cime de Frémamorte; a charming string of tarns and with a one-time military route enticing over the border into France to Col de Salèse. Instead of crossing that border at Col de Frémamorte, however, the Cime itself might appeal – there is a track which crosses screes below the south-east ridge and goes to the summit without difficulty.
GTA (Grande Traversata delle Alpi)
It is here in the Alpi Marittime that an epic 633 kilometre route begins its journey through the western Italian Alps. The GTA explores some of the most delightful mountain landscapes in Italy on its 47-day trek from Viozene near Ormea, to Molini di Calasca in the shadow of Monte Rosa. Gillian Price’s guide, Through the Italian Alps, gives all the information a walker needs to tackle what promises to become one of the great Alpine treks.
Having treated the heart of the Maritime Alps to a rather selective introduction, pointing out just a few of the opportunities that exist for walkers among some of the finest valleys, it seems opportune here to devise a tour of the region from hut-to-hut using the GR52 as a rough guide, but with a few diversions thrown in as a way of illustrating the district’s appeal. It will be a challenging route in places, and depending on one’s ambition for peak-bagging along the way, it might be useful to carry an ice axe. If a straight hut-to-hut route is envisaged during the summer months, such equipment can be left at home.
Hut-to-hut in the Alpes Maritime
Our route makes an east to west traverse, mostly on the French side of the border, and begins at St-Dalmas-de-Tende in the Vallée du Roya. St-Dalmas can be reached by train from Nice, and the first day will be spent walking up the Vallon de la Minière to Refuge des Merveilles. A minimum of two nights should be spent here in order to visit some of the pictograph sites, and to climb Mont Bégo or Cime du Diable (2685m). An alternative to spending two nights at the Merveilles hut would be to spend the second night at Refuge de Valmasque. This would still allow time to see some of the rock engravings, and to climb Mont Bégo.
Moving on cross the saddle of Baisse du Basto to Refuge de Nice, passing on the way some of the finest accessible rock engravings of the Merveilles region. Good visibility is needed for this crossing, for in mist the way is not obvious. Once there time should be spent exploring the area round the Nice hut; Mont Clapier may be climbed by enterprising walkers with a little scrambling experience, and it may also be tempting to cross the border by Pas de Pagari
