Strada Reale di Caccia (Royal Hunting Road): Dondenaz to Lago Miserin

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If you've come all the way from Champorcher on the Champorcher to Dondenaz Forest Road, you finally feel like you've accomplished something when you reach the outcropping of stone buildings called Dondenaz where the forest road crosses the Torrente Ayasse (Creek).

The landscape opens into a lush (assuming most of the snow has melted) valley through which the raging (unless all the snow has melted) Torrente Ayasse flows. The Rifugio Dondenaz (Mountain Hut) lies just across the Torrente Ayasse just a short distance up this trail and this makes for a well-earned refueling stop.

But if you've come all this way, you're probably traveling to Lago Miserin which lies 400 m (1300 ft) higher along this trail or perhaps through the Finestra di Champorcher (Pass) at 2827 m (9275 ft), an additional 250 m (800 ft) of climbing. You'll likely have to wait until mid-July for the snow to melt through the pass. Fortunately, there is another mountain hut, the Rifugio Miserin at the lake where you can take an easy singletrack (Giro di Lago Miserin) around the small alpine lake. Or take a dip in the lake.

There is a small parking area next to an informational sign just to the north of the Torrente Ayasse at the start of this trail if you want to skip the climbing on the Champorcher to Dondenaz Forest Road, but then you would miss the fun downhill segment on the Strada Reale di Caccia (Royal Hunting Road): Dondenaz to Chardonney.