Piemonte without a car | Vernante-Limone Piemonte Stage 1: Vernante-Palanfrè

From Vernante Station, take the first stretch of asphalt road southwards to Palanfrè, until you come across the signpost for trail L26 - La Via di Téit on a dirt road that climbs up the slope quite steeply with hairpin bends, through old chestnut groves invaded by other broad-leaved trees, to quickly reach the entrance tunnel of a disused silica quarry: the Cava di Bec Moler. Leaving the entrance tunnel on the right, continue climbing to the left on the track with other steep hairpin bends, until you come to a pass where you come across a crossroads: in front of you is the path that descends to Funtana Bleu, on the right is the one that climbs the rocky spur of Bec Moler, while on the left trail L26 continues in the direction of Tetti Colletta along La Via di Téit. Once you have taken this last direction, after a stretch uphill just below the ridge, you change slope and on the Pianot de l’Arp you come across the so-called "Roccette di Napoleone". From here the trail continues on a stretch of slight slope inside the beech forest, which you cross slightly uphill to go up the ridge that separates the side of the Vallone Secco from that of the Val Grande di Palanfré: at the crossroads, keep left on the marked path that moves to the side of the latter. A short cut in the slope takes you back into the beech forest and, from here, to Tetti Colletta. (1,226 m.). After crossing the village, continue left, signposted L26A, in a South-South East direction, along a grassy ridge. Once you enter the forest, continue on a slight slope until you reach the Intaglio della Bercia; the climb along the well-exposed ridge leads first to Tetti David (1,284 m.) and then, after passing the remains of a watering hole, to Tetti Bertaina (1,324 m.) perched under a white rock face and still with some large huts with their roofs preserved. Beyond the grassy ridge on which the hamlet is perched, the path heads north-west, leaves a track on the right, passes a second watering hole and reaches the watershed of the Rio Cornalé valley, overlooked to the north by Monte Sapé. After crossing the stream, you pass on to the right orographic side of the valley and the path climbs into another beech forest. You enter the next small valley, climbing up to the watershed with the Vallone di Pioccia, at the entrance of which are the Tetti Doni (1,484 m.). After passing the spring that flows just beyond the village, you cut slightly downhill to the Vallone di Pioccia, following the L26 sign. After fording the stream, you continue bending east on the northern slope, in the beech forest that you cross halfway up the hill on a flat path: after a wooden walkway that crosses a steep and slippery section, you pass three steep avalanche-prone valleys in succession. The snow that accumulates here and remains, often frozen, even in late spring. The Pioccia snowfield at the bottom of the valley is the lowest in all the Maritime and Ligurian Alps, and in times past it was used as a "quarry" for blocks of ice. When you exit the narrow and steep valley, you descend for a short stretch through meadows and woods, then you start climbing again. You pass the Fontana del Saut and the crossroads on the left for the Due Ponti locality (signpost L26B), then you enter the Vallone di Franco, through a pass where there is a small ruin and you continue halfway up the hill between meadows and junipers, you pass another small valley, the Fonte Galina, then between beech woods you reach the elevated and panoramic clearing of Tetti Cucet (1,501 m.). From here the path is not very marked, so immediately after passing the hamlet you turn right, where a final short flat stretch begins, followed by the descent into the woods, with some narrow hairpin bends, to begin a fairly steep diagonal traverse that descends towards the wide clearing of the former cultivated fields downstream of Palanfrè. An up and down at the edge of the fields leads to the provincial road of the Valle Grande, at the first hairpin bend downstream of the hamlet of Palanfrè (1379 m.). You go up past the car park, the Chapel of San Giacomo dating back to the end of the 17th century, partially destroyed in 1755 due to an avalanche and then rebuilt, and then you enter the village.

T2