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WARNING: trekking is not like walking! If you can't overcome a passage, go back!
Some of the tracks presented here are set along mountain trails where some passages may require holding to ropes or climbing short ladders, and may have exposed passages without safety protections. These tracts can be a serious danger if faced without the right equipment, awareness and physical condition.
ITINERARIUM® has no responsibility regarding the tracks presented here, their dangerousness, accessibility, praticability and safety. Who decides to take these tracks does it at their own risk.
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Hike to Colle d'Egua from Santa Maria di Fobello

Along the GTA, lake Baranca and the remains of Villa Aprilia

Valsesia

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length icon Length:
14 Km
time icon Our time:
6h00' walking
climb icon Total climb:
1200 mt
height icon Min and max height:
1165 mt - 2250 mt
track there and back icon Type of track:
there and back
surface icon Surface:
paved trail - trail
panorama icon Panorama:
lake - mountains - historical building
coverage icon Cell network coverage:
very poor
winter icon Traced in winter:
no
bike icon Traced by bike:
no

This hike goes along a tract of GTA (Great Traverse of Alps), that goes from Domodossola mountains to the Ligurian Alps. The trail follows the old paved mule track created in 1887 that winds along Mastellone creek until the plain where Lake Baranca has found its space. This verdant basin is surrounded by the high peaks and pastures of Selle alp, where a group of lodges can be found, together with the remains of the eclectic Villa Aprilia. The hike proceeds along a trail until Colle d’Egua, a panoramic point from where the Monte Rosa massif can be seen. Here, on the border between Valle Anzasca and Valsesia, lie the Volpone-Sesone bivouac and a cross called “cross of shepherds”, built as a reminder to all the shepherds that spent their lives on these mountains.
Colle Baranca, as well as many other places on Ossola mountains, is rich in history. These places, together with the hard work of shepherds, have seen the splendor of the first years of ‘900, when this pure nature became a place of vacation for the middle-class of Turin. Among all other buildings, the ruins of Villa Aprilia stand out, latched on a promontory right above the grassy plain that houses Lake Baranca. The architect Costantino Gilodi, from Borgosesia, known as one of the most symbolic representatives of Belle Époque in Valsesia, built the Villa in 1908. Later it was bought by the Lancia family, who named it “Aprilia” as the famous model of their car company.
During the Second World War Colle Baranca, one of the main escaping routes to Switzerland, became the scenery of a fight between partisan squads and fascist militia. During this fight, the latter burnt down the Villa, which lays abandoned since then.


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