Pont de l'Erfaulet, from Valnontey

Access

Leaving the motorway at the Aosta Ovest exit, turn right and take the for the Cogne valley. After passing through the village of Aymavilles, the road enters the valley, passing the villages of Vieyes, Epinel and Crétaz until, after 20km from the motorway exit, you reach a roundabout: take the first exit onto Avenue G.F Cavagnet, to be followed for about 350m. Inside the village of Cogne, turn right onto the small road that after about 2.7km reaches the village of Valnontey, anticipated by the large car park on the right of the road.

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Introduction

A wonderful walk in the Gran Paradiso National Park. The route is often beaten, and perhaps a little busy, but this in no way detracts from the fascination of getting close to the beauty of nature: it is virtually impossible not to come across a close encounter with chamois!

Description

Leaving the car park, walk along a short stretch of asphalted road past the bridge leading to the other side of the valley. Continue straight on for a hundred or so metres until you reach the start of the snow-covered path.
You pass a signpost indicating the various places you will pass through along the way and begin to walk along the valley, skirting the Valnontey stream. You immediately begin to appreciate the panorama with Gran Paradiso in the background. The route winds along the orographic right-hand side of the Valnontey with a succession of false plains passing through patches of silver fir, spruce and larch. After about a quarter of an hour's walk, we come to a small wooden bridge, not to be crossed, and shortly afterwards the crossroads for Pian della Tornetta: path on the right. We continue straight on until we reach a group of cottages perched on an erratic boulder: we have reached David (1710m, 0h30'). The itinerary proceeds flat until reaching a second small bridge, also not to be crossed, and, after crossing a series of large boulders adorned with snow, reaches the village of Valmiana (1738m, 0h50').
On passing Valmiana, the route heads close to the stream and then ascends slightly in the direction of the cross-country ski track; cross a group of larch trees and reach the track: follow it and soon reach the Erfeulet Bridge (1780m, 1h00').
On passing the little bridge, the route takes us to the orographic left of the Valnontey stream which we initially follow along the cross-country ski track. The path is now slightly downhill, crossing the torrent a couple of times until reaching the cottages of Fietselin (1730m, 1h20'): from here we leave the track and follow the tracks left by the "cascatisti" returning from the imposing icefalls along the valley. Having abandoned the track, it becomes easy to encounter chamois in search of the bit of food that comes out of the snowpack. Walking through the forest we reach the small group of houses of Pra-su-Pia (1725m, 1h25'): we descend again towards the slopes and, keeping to the left of them, reach Leutta (1711m, 1h50') and finally the Paradisia Botanical Garden (1704m, 2h10'). By now we are in sight of Valnontey, we reach the asphalted road, remove the snowshoes and descend to the car park from which we started (1675m, 2h15').

To be able to observe the animals, we must certainly move away from the cross-country ski tracks: if you go even a little further into the pine forests near the cottages of Fietselin, Pra-su-Pia and Leutta, sightings are guaranteed! The usual recommendations: enjoy these encounters silently and unobtrusively... you are the guests!