The
alpine village of Cogne, Italy is nestled in the Italian Alps at the edge of
Gran Paridiso National Park. Cogne
is a delightful little village of 1500 people. There are 32 small family-owned
hotels with 28-38 rooms .The village first found prosperity seven centuries ago with
magnetite (iron ore) mining, an industry that once supported more than 20,000
Valdostans in the valley below.
After the closing of the mine, the
village nearly became a ghost town until it started attracting visitors and
capitalizing on skiing, hiking and other outdoor sports. The village has strict
building codes. There is a moratorium on building anything more in the park.
Eighty percent of the village and its buildings are owned by local residents.
The local dialect is called patois,
which is a derivative of French.
The name Cogne comes from the word
"coin" (corner) because of
its shape. One of the largest municipalities in the Valle, it is located in the
southern part of the region. The town, surrounded by pine, larch and fir
forests, is framed by mountains in the background. Rocks and glaciers are
colored by rhododendron, juniper, blueberries and alders. The diverse fauna is
protected by the Park.
There are over 80 kilometers of
cross country ski trails and 9 kilometers of Alpine ski tracks. Rock climbing
is a popular sport and fully equipped area shelters are available. In winter,
Cogne is the best spot in the Valle for
cross-country skiing, and was in the running to host the event for the Turin
2006 Winter Olympics. In summer, it is a gateway to the Gran Paradiso for
thousands of hikers and climbers.
They still make exquisite hand made lace in the
village.
Rather unusual wood carvings are available also. The entire village is cobbled with 3-4” square grey granite cobble stones
that are easy to walk on. The village is up a few feet from the level of the
river, so it was always a walk down to the big parking lot that served as a bus
stop. Early each day we took a local bus to our hike starting location---and
often walked back to town for lunch.
Lillaz (5304’) was
a hamlet where we started walking through a nice park stopping periodically for
a geology lesson. We followed the Urtier River through wooded areas that
eventually led to waterfalls. There were several running and large rocks
provided steps on a path up to the highest 492-feet fall. After much picture taking we hiked down on the
other side of the falls to walk through
pine forest before picking up a 6-K trail along the river back to Cogne.
The sound of the water was a nice diversion while walking on a lovely sunny
clear day.
The hamlet of Gimillan (5900’), one of the Valley’s most
renowned resorts, is built on a terrace.
It is a frazione, a type of
territorial subdivision, in the Province of Aosta, Usually sunny, it provides a
wonderful view of the Gran Paradiso chain and of Cogne center. Any season is
good in the Italian Alps, and this smallest region of Italy is known for its
friendly hospitality and delicious cuisine.
The hamlet of Valnontey lies totally within the boundaries of the park. We hiked
along the river of the same name, then spent a couple hours playing mountain
goat over a narrow undulating trail full of tree roots and rocks through
coniferous and larch tree forests. It was a good cardiac workout as I huffed and
puffed my way along. Believe me our
walking sticks became our best friend! We stopped in a couple of lovely meadows
where we saw chamois and during the morning we saw a good dozen of them
grazing. Of the elk family they are about the size of a goat. We also saw and
watched a family of marmots. They burrow like prairie dogs and are fun to
watch.
All through the mountains on our
Alps hiking trip we noticed an unusual structure over various parts of some
roads. Some were long enough to simulate a tunnel, but they were open on the
down side and supported by a post every few feet. The mountain side of the
structure seemed to meld into the roadside, and the roof slanted ever so
slightly toward the opposite side . After inquiry, I learned they let an
avalanche continue past the road with all the snow dropping over the edge. It
kept the roads clear in avalanche prone areas. Clever and simple solution!
It was
a wonderful, fun time in this spectacular corner of Italy!
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