The way up from Baceno to the Devero Alp represents the first tract of this historical communication path which unwinds along an itinerary which, despite being less renown than the following high-altitude tract, is nonetheless not less suggestive. From Baceno we follow the track marks (H00 path) leaving the village we came from among well-kept meadows, soon coming up to the signs of abandonment and the inexorable power of nature. Having passed Graglia and having come up by the Rio Ghendola river, the woods once again cover up the ruins of ancient windmills. The path comes up to Croveo coasting the ravine of the Devero Torrent which reveals suggestive examples of potholes constituting forms of river-glacier erosion. A narrow stone bridge allows us to reach the village, while a mule track proceeds towards Osso. From the old water sawmill, next to the bridge, it is necessary to take the carriageable road for about 2.5 kilometers, allowing us to visit the ancient signaling tower by Passo, built in the XVI century by Ludovico il Moro.
Having passed the carriageable road’s arched bridge, on the left we once again take up the old mule track which coasts the village of Goglio, which is famous because of the cableway whose red cabin would slowly go up passing by the narrow ravine of the Devero Torrent, and whose starting place is where a small museum dedicated to Resistance can be found.
At Goglio, among stone and wooden homes, an Oratory which deserves to be visited can be found, with its inner frescos by Angelo Bersani, an artist who lived in Devero managing a mountain hut for many years so as to be known as the Angel of Devero.
Whoever knows the Devero Alp would have certainly treaded this ancient flint stone-paved path having gone up the steep hairpin bends which from Goglio open up a passage through a very steep apparently unpassable rock crag. From here onwards, sometimes giving up to the ease of crossing this road tract by car, is where the true upwards path towards the Devero Alp should begin. Such path comprises an ancient way to go up to Devero on foot to discover its timeless charm all the way from the Alp to the foot of the Arbola Way.
Route legs:
Arbola Way or Albrun Way
The stages of this route:
ARBOLA WAY: Stage 1 – From Baceno to the Devero Alp
ARBOLA WAY: Stage 2 – from Devero to Binn via the Arbola Small Mouth (Bocchetta d’Arbola)
ARBOLA WAY: Stage 3 – from Binn to Mühlebach (Furgangen)
Notable Items along the Track
Baceno Church (national monument), Croveo Parish Church, Croveo Press, Croveo Potholes, Devero Plain