Lower Lake della Valletta

A pleasant walk, neither long nor taxing, that leads to little Lower Lake della Valletta, surrounded by lovely meadows in which one can rest.

From the Pinet parking lot(1428 m) a Parks Service road winds uphill, arriving at a fork near some ruins: take the left fork, which ends soon after and becomes a footpath, leading slightly upwards across the slope of the Vallone della Valletta, through a forest of deciduous trees mixed with larches. Leaving the sparse ruins of the Forest Launa behind on your right, the slope steepens; the path goes over a small stream and, as the deciduous tree are replaced by larches and red spruces, the panorama becomes quite alpine. After a short downhill tract, the path begins to rise again, crosses another stream and reaches the Ciabot Bacias, a shepherd's camp around which the tall grass sometimes overruns the route. When it emerges again, the path crosses yet another stream and continues, slightly uphill, along midslope of the orographic left of the valley, passing through ample pastures. Then it briefly rises sharply, with a few hairpin turns, leading up to the banks of the broad bed of Lake Sottano della Valletta and a Parks Service hut(1900 m, 1:40 hrs. from Pinet). Those who want to walk a bit more will find it well worth the effort: a few hundred meters further lies the bottom of the broad, flat depression filled by the lake, and a beautiful waterfall.