Description

While hiking this route, you will feel so small amidst the magnificent Alps.

It traverses through yellow grasses and green pastures and takes a balcony path where the view of the peaks and glaciers of the high Maurienne is exceptional. The destination, the refuge of Carro, is the highest refuge of the Savoyards Alpine Club at 2,759m.

It's situated on a large plateau, near two lakes, in a high mountain site with nearby glaciers, The refuge faces the long border of the Levannason. From the car park the trail climbs to reach the balcony path, which will offer a permanent panorama of the summits and the massifs: the Vallonnet glacier, the Albaron, the Cirque des Evettes, the glacier of Grand Méan, the peaks of Mulinet and its glacier, the glacier of the sources of the Arc, and the peaks of Levanna. The trail eventually arrives at the small lake of Pys, dominated by the tip of Montet, then passing under the small and large Aiguille Rousse.

Finally, you'll arrive at the Carro refuge. You can expect mostly rocky singletrack that gets rougher and more barren the higher the trail climbs.

At times the effort required to step up/over rocky parts is moderate to hard (no scrambling required), but these sections are dispersed along the route so you can catch your breath and recover. If you plan to hike this entire route in one day, be sure to reserve enough time.

Alternatively, plan to stay overnight at the refuge. In early summer, some passages can be covered in snow. This route forms part of the multi-day tour of the Haute Maurienne Vanoise.