Vertosan Red Mountain

Introduction

A very rewarding loop hike from a scenic point of view, which takes place for the most part off the marked trails, passing through undulations and small, solitary, grassy valleys that are little frequented except by alpine fauna; the uphill itinerary, with a non-trivial route, is easy to follow, with our destination already visible on the left from the track that leads into the Vallone di Verrogne. The difficulties are found essentially on the steep gully of earth that leads to the crest and on the final part of this, which must be climbed carefully; the exposed sections are found on the traverse to be climbed on the return and on the short ascent to Punta Leysser. The 360° panorama is grandiose over the Alpine chain to the north and the pre-Alpine chain to the south, with an exceptional close-up view of Mont Fallere, the highest point of the area.

Description

From the car park, walk towards the end of the road and climb up a short mule track on the left, above which are the signs for the itineraries in the area; from here, continue uphill and you will soon reach the pastures above, passing to the right of a small church. Continue along the track of the path, which soon reaches a farmstead that you take and leave shortly afterwards at a track that branches off to the right (1,856 m); then go up the gentle grassy undulations, cutting across the farmstead and, with a non-obligatory route, head for the clearly visible huts located higher up, passing near a signpost (2001 m). Once past it, walk along a long grassy ridge to reach the Grandes Arpilles chalets, which are passed by taking the track that rises to the right at a marker post (2142 m). Continuing along the track, go around the grassy flanks of the Punta Leysser and along a scenic semi-circle path, enter the Vallone di Verrogne and, having arrived near some water locks, leave the road to climb up to the left towards a wide grassy gully. Above this, continue towards a grassy rib on the left, which you ascend and, above this, head to the right with little slope towards a col in the direction of the Punta Leysser; having arrived at a small depression, pass to the right of a small lake (2509 m) and a little further on, cross a path coming from the right (2564 m). This is ignored and a traverse is made to the right that leads to a wide shoulder at which the left is kept, going towards a grassy slope below a rocky point; this short slope is climbed laboriously, crossing a faint track that cuts it off halfway up the slope, where it turns right and, with a traverse, leads to a wide hollow that is at the base of a steep scree gully (2696 m). We begin to ascend it laboriously on crumbly soil at first in its middle part and then, having reached the middle part, we move to the left on grassy terrain leading towards a notch on the crest of rocks (2794 m). We now begin to ascend the crest on the right, at first slightly inclined, which heads towards a prevalently stony ridge where the slope increases considerably. This leads to an anticima (2933 m) a few dozen metres from the summit, which is reached by carefully walking along the ridge that separates it. For the return journey, reach the col again at an altitude of 2696 m and take the traverse on the grassy slope to the right where, instead of descending along the ascent itinerary, continue until reaching below a col that you briefly climb up; beyond the col, from which you can see the summit of the nearby Punta Leysser, you immediately come to a path (2674 m) that you follow to the right, arriving in a few minutes at Colle Paletta (2716 m). From this point, deviate to the left, taking the ridge where you first climb a short gully and then, having returned to the ridge and passed between two rocky outcrops, climb a short slope of fine detritus that is somewhat exposed and leads to the summit cross. Now continue along the comfortable ridge to an antecedent where there is a small stone cairn, and from here begin the descent down the long grassy slope, aiming, without any obligatory route, for the hamlet of Vetan, clearly visible at the bottom of it.