Day 7 took us through further tortured metamorphic landscapes, along the first of many military 'roads' for the defensive infrastructures that highlight former military tensions, past memorials to dead climbers and down to the vast old-fashioned spa of Terme di Valdieri. The next day we passed an old hunting lodge for the kings of Savoy before many more abandoned military installations, the beautiful green Lago Malinvern and the very modern refuge surrounded by pines. Day 9 provided striking contrasts - a long steep climb partly over scree to Passo d'Orgials, the relative business of the very high road pass, Colle delle Lombarda, a high border ridge walk looking south in to France and GR5 memories and north in to Italy and a descent lined with Catholic shrines to the highest religious sanctuary in the Alps in Europe and a honeypot for tourists. Days 10 and 11 were shorter and lower level ( forecast storms forced us to use valley tracks between Strepeis and Pontebernardo) but still a floral delight. We went through the first real villages since the start in the sometimes Occitan / French-speaking Valle Stura. Day 12 had everything - an amazing rock wall gorge above Pontebernardo, the hamlet of Servagno destroyed by Mussolini's fascists in 1943, a climb in to the multi-coloured rock formations of the Cottian Alps, extensive military remains, the vast scenic plateau near Gardetta and a huge colony of marmots.
To see the photos for week 2 click here

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