The Millennium Larch Trail

Once you reach the shelters of Alpe Ventina, there is the possibility to undertake an additional excursion to the Millennium Larch trail. Starting from the Gerli-Porro Refuge, it is worth enduring an additional 200 meters of elevation gain to admire the oldest larch in Italy, over 1000 years old. The hike takes place along an extremely panoramic route over the entire glacier basin. Just beyond the Gerli refuge, opposite the chapel dedicated to mountain fallen, a well-marked path branches off to the left of the trail and climbs with steep and frequent switchbacks through the thicket of mountain pines bordering the southern side of the rugged and steep gully at the base of the rock formations of the Porro Tower. When, outside the vegetation, the slope becomes gentler, we face a crossing of a chaotic band of reddish serpentinite blocks on which to move with cautious steps like a tightrope walker. The environment is harsh and suggestive at the same time and the panoramic view is one to take home as a memory. Ignoring the track that, on the left, leads to the climbing routes for which the tower is famous and to the new via ferrata, we continue south entering a secluded valley that leads to a sparse forest of larches, Swiss pines and mountain pines spread over easier terrain. The encounter with some logs on the ground, dead for years, stripped and grayed by time, showing in their knots and roughness all their old age tells us that we are entering a special area. And it is indeed here, at an altitude of 2160 m above sea level, that we find just below the path, on the right going up, the old giant. It is not as imposing as one would expect, probably due to poor soil, and it is also a bit scraggly, because, as they say, it must have been through a lot, but it is still in good health. Seeing it standing among its younger peers, some of which are also full of years and history, certainly stirs some emotion. The place, wild and solitary, combined with the company of these vegetative monuments can only invite reflection on the nature of things, on life and the passing of time: a beautiful experience.