Alevè, the enchanted forest
The Alevè is a forest that stretches over a good 825 hectares on the slopes of the Monviso, in the territory of the municipalities of Pontechianale, Casteldelfino and Sampeyre at an altitude between 1500 and 2500 m above sea level.
Its extraordinary importance lies in the fact that it is the largest stone pine forest of the Alps.
The stone pine is a special conifer, with a characteristic formation of the needles in bundles of 5; it blossoms between June and August; in the autumn the fruit, the cones or strobiles, ripen. Then they are either picked by men or become food for the squirrels, wild boars, jays and nutcrackers.
The nutcracker is the main reason for the diffusion of the stone pine thanks to its sowing of the pine kernels in cavities or on the ground in small hidden heaps.
This forest has been listed in the Register of the Seed Forests since 1949. Indeed, the pine kernels are collected and then sowed and cultivated in tree nurseries to obtain shoots to be planted in other forests not only in Italy.
The stone pine can reach a height of 20 m and its trunk, especially of old trees, is gnarled and contorted. It may become hundreds of years old: the oldest stone pine of the Alevè, on the slopes of the Cervet, is more than six hundred years old. Other specimens at Pian delle Gorge and the Vallone dei Duc, shortly above Lake Bagnour, count more than five hundred years. It seems that the Alevè is also the highest place in the world where the stone pine grows: there is a single specimen at an altitude of 2950 m on the north ridge of the Lobbie.
Furthermore the stone pine, called elvo in Occitany, is one of the most precious timbers for the production of handcrafted furniture and small sculptured objects, thanks to its remarkably easy workability.
Hiking trails in the Alevè towards the lakes Bagnour and Secco
- Trail starting from Castello
- Trail starting from Alboin in Casteldelfino
Taking the minor road that turns off the provincial road above Casteldelfino you reach the villages of Bertines, Serre and Alboin. Going down between the old houses and taking a left turn directly afterwards, the mule-track exits towards the west at the side of the old washing trough. It passes a trail on the right side and goes down to cross the Cumbal della Cassa, a dried up creek full of boulders. On the other side of the Cumbal the mule-track turns slightly to the north, going up slopes and ridges, first in a hazelnut grove, then between larches until we encounter the first specimens of stone pine.
The forest, not yet dense, offers a view to the southeast of the Pelvo d'Elva with the elegant peak of the Bric Camosciera. The trail passes several secondary turnoffs. Having crossed a ridge overgrown with larches where we find an isolated hut, the trail turns left to climb up to the knob, where the grange Pralambert Sottano is situated (1735 m - 0.45 h from Alboin): the eye can see as far as the artificial basin of Pontechianale and the Saint Véran Pass appearing in the northwest.
Above the grange the red marked trail gains altitude on the clearing. After a quarter of an hour it reaches the following grange Pralambert Soprano (1833 m) and passes it on the left side. After a few minutes the trail arrives at a spring that wells out at the bottom of a stone hut. The trail crosses a small waterhole on a grassy plain and reaches Lake Secco, situated in a hollow surrounded by stone pines (1890 m - 1.15 h from Alboin).
Passing the lake on the left side the trail immerses in the dense stone pine forest, ascending moderately. Then it reaches another plain in the northern direction among the trees. Further up, the trail emerges, passes the saddle and arrives at the plain, where the irregularly shaped Lake Bagnour is situated (2017 m - 1.40 h from Alboin). The small hollow is completely immersed in the stone pine forest and only towards the north the peak of the Viso di Vallanta emerges above the lesser ridges.
(Excerpt from P. e G. BOGGIA, Centosentieri, L'Arciere, Cuneo, 1984).
For further information about the trails to be discovered in the Alevè Forest, please see website http://www.baitapaiei.it