Place Moulin - Rifugio Nacamuli

From the Place Moulin dam at the head of Valpelline, the path skirts the large reservoir and then climbs south up the valley, into a high-mountain amphitheatre closed off by the border glaciers. It gains height steadily, from 1,978 to 2,817 metres, leaving the last larches for high pastures, moraines and scree. The goal is the Nacamuli refuge, a historic base on the way to Col Collon and the surrounding peaks, looking out over a stark landscape of ice-smoothed rock and snowfields. The route runs 8.3 km with 866 metres of ascent on experienced-hiker terrain: the scree and uneven ground call for a sure foot. Best walked from summer to autumn, once the lingering snowfields have melted back.