Alta Via dei Re

The Vallone della Meris (or, in the masculine, the Vallone del Merìs, pronounced with an accent on the 'i', differently from the normal pronunciation) owes its name to its favorable exposure,"a meriggio", at the meridian, which provides warmth and light.

This place, known as Chiot de la Sela, probably dervied its name from the past presence of a small "sella", a stone structure with a barrel vault, usually partially underground, which was used to store food). Chiot de la Sela was the location of the Royal Hunting Lodges, used by the Savoys when they hosted hunting parties in the Vallone della Meris.

This type of forest is rather localized in the Maritime Alps, which notoriously represent the realm of the beech forest. It covers the slopes at the heads of the valleys with sparse and luminous populations, sometimes grazed by the herds that have climbed the mountain pastures. Most of the time their purity is not natural, but induced by man: in fact, over the centuries, man has favored this tree species to the detriment of others, such as the stone pine, for example, because they are less favorable for exercising the grazing due to the increased shading of the soil.

Since the end of the eighteen hundreds(an inscription on the remains of a shelter reads "3° Compagnia Alpini, 1888") Lower Lake Valscura was chosen as the site where troops were garrisoned to defend the strategic pass of Bassa del Druos. Beginning in 1888, when barracks were erected to house 140 soldiers and two officers, for almost fifty years buildings were constructed on this site, until the entire complex was finally transformed into an armory, officially known as A131,containing munitions, explosives and artillery pieces.

The portion of the route that runs from Lower Lake Valscura to Lake Claus follows the former military mule track that linked Valscura and Fremamorta. The mule track is one of the best-preserved examples of the old military roads that ran through the Valle Gesso, as well as a true masterpiece of engineering. Realized sometime around the very first years of the nineteen hundreds, a decade prior to the start of the second world war, in 1929, it was preventively upgraded by the Dronero Battalion and maintained in perfect condition. Over 10 km long, it never dips below an altitude of 2,000 meters and has a maximum incline of 18%. Portions of the road were skillfully paved with flagstones, still in place today.

The Refuge is named for Franco Remondino, Jr. Lieutenant of the Alpine Corps and budding local climber, who died during an ascent on the Rocca Gialeo. A half-barrel bivuoac shelter that sleeps 12 was erected in his memory and inaugurated in 1934. It was later decided to build a real refuge on the spot, in masonry, erected thanks mostly to the financial sponsorship of the Saluzzo Battalion of the Alpine Corps, the Taurinense Division of the Army Corps of Engineers and the 1st Airborne Brigade and inaugurated in 1965. Additional restructuring and extensions were completed in the year 2000.

The Argentera saxifrage (Saxifraga florulenta) is a herbaceous species already present on the mountains of the Argentera-Mercantour group before the ice ages. It lives in the fissures of siliceous rocks above 1600 meters of altitude. One of its most interesting characteristics is its very slow development: every year it produces very few leaves, it blooms after an interminable vegetative phase producing a panicle full of a hundred pinkish-white flowers and then dies, not before having dispersed thousands of tiny seeds.

To valorize the hiking trails along the Argentera Massif, in the last years of the nineteenth century the Liguria chapter of CAI decided to build a refuge near the upper Gias del Monighet, in the Vallone della Rovina. The Genova Refuge, as it was named, was inaugurated on 15 August 1898. But the fate of the first refuge in the Maritime Alps was definitively sealed in 1968: the reservoir of the new Chiotas dam would submerge it permanently. ENEL assumed the task of building another refuge, which was inaugurated in 1981.The refuge is named for Bartolomeo Figari, who as Secretary General of CAI saw both the successful conquest of K2 and the birth of the National Alpine Rescue Corps, to which he bequeathed all his worldly goods.

At the highest altitudes there are cleared meadows, the typical alpine pastures; they are composed of herbaceous species capable of covering soils normally closed to woody species, which, due to the very short vegetative period, cannot find suitable conditions for their development. Grazing by wild ungulates and, sometimes, by domestic sheep affects their composition, even if the most severe factor for species selection is represented by the climate.

Colle di Fenestrelle, as well as the surrounding area, is very popular with the ibex.The Alpine ibex (Capra ibex), frequents alpine meadows and rock faces even above 3000 m, reaching the valley floor (provided it is not wooded) only in early spring, to be able to refresh itself after the long winter. Both sexes have annual growth horns, but much larger in males. The coat, light beige in summer, darkens to dark brown in winter.Sedentary, grazing, it essentially feeds on grass, integrated with mosses, lichens and leaves of mountain shrubs, especially in winter.

The ruins near the pass mark the site of the Fenestrelle shelter, named for Lieutenant Angelo Bertolotti. Built in 1888 and in use until the Second World War, it could house a garrison of 10 on straw pallets. In their guidebook, entitled "La Valle Gesso", the Boggias indicate the shelter as being instead dedicated "to the memory of Angelo Bortolo, of the 1∞ Reg. of the Alpine Corps, who was killed on the Ortigara during the First World War".

Colle di Fenestrelle, as well as the surrounding area, is very popular with the ibex.The Alpine ibex (Capra ibex), frequents alpine meadows and rock faces even above 3000 m, reaching the valley floor (provided it is not wooded) only in early spring, to be able to refresh itself after the long winter. Both sexes have annual growth horns, but much larger in males. The coat, light beige in summer, darkens to dark brown in winter.Sedentary, grazing, it essentially feeds on grass, integrated with mosses, lichens and leaves of mountain shrubs, especially in winter.

La Cime du Gélas est le plus haut sommet des Alpes maritimes françaises. L'ascension de la Cime du Gélas est difficile, car le couloir sommital très raide est sujet aux chutes de pierres et présente un degré de difficulté II. Là-haut, il y a une vue totalement dégagée sur les vallées du Parc national du Mercantour et celui des Alpi Marittime en Italie.

The ample meadow of the Pra del Rasur was formed towards the end of the last Ice Age, when rockslides from both sides of the valley blocked the course of the torrent. The detritus carried by the torrent itself, still quite impetuous today, gradually filled up the basin that was formed, thus creating the flat area.

Among nocturnal birds of prey, the owl plays an important role, both from an ecological point of view and in the human imagination. It is in fact one of the most widespread species and therefore responsible for controlling the populations of rodents in wooded areas. For our part, often confused with the owl due to its shrill calls, it has a typical song that anyone recognizes: the typical mournful owl song. It can be recognized from owls and owls by the color of its eyes: the iris is completely dark.

The two large buildings, now owned by religious groups, are said to have been built between 1865 and 1870 at the behest of Vittorio Emanuele II, to be used during his sojourns in the Royal Hunting Reserve. The one on the left, with its attractive portico decorated in horizontal stripes with the colors of the House of Savoy, was the residence of the royal entourage, while the other housed the stables. The stables were then given to the army, which expanded the building between 1897 and 1898, transforming it into the Princess Elena barracks.

Certains des hêtres qui entourent les pavillons royaux de chasse sont magnifiques: il s'agit probablement de plantes séparées plantées très proches l'une de l'autre par le jardinier royal, dont les troncs ont fondu pendant la croissance, en créant des exemplaires aux dimensions vraiment extraordinaires. Ces hêtres majestueux sont recensés dans la liste des arbres monumentaux de la Région Piémont.