In Val Ventina, a side valley of the better-known Valmalenco, here is a small area on the edge of vegetation that features a group of really really old trees.

Pines, but mostly larches, with several specimens more than five hundred years old. In this area of the Valmalenco, in the province of Sondrio, thanks to appropriate scientific investigations it has been possible to determine that this group of high altitude plants seems to be among the most venerable plants still in vegetation in the Italian Alps, certainly in the Lombardy Alps.

One larch, in particular, as a result of precise counting of growth rings, demonstrated the incredible age of more than a thousand years, since its first ring dates back to 1007. It would thus lead the Alpine ranking of the oldest still-living plants, accompanied by a large group of younger but still centuries-old siblings.

Some very old specimens are no longer viable, but are nevertheless still present in situ as fallen stems on the ground, but this particular larch has traversed the centuries, carrying with it the signs and the tale of a long and fascinating history, still being studied and investigated by researchers at the Universities of Padua, Pavia and Turin.

It is not difficult, in fine weather, to get to and visit the area where these giants, born as tender shoots in the days of castles and crusades, grow. You will thus be able to admire the "grand old man" and his "brothers," thanks also to a dedicated path: the Millennial Larch Trail.

From Sondrio, which is now quickly accessible thanks to the new road connections, you have to go up the famous Valmalenco to Chiareggio, elevation 1,612 m, the last hamlet of the municipality of Chiesa in Valmalenco where you must leave your car. After about an hour's walk on a comfortable mule track, only at the end a little bumpy, you reach the Gerli-Poggio Refuge in Val Ventina, altitude 1,965 m, facing the magical spectacle of the peaks of Mount Disgrazia.

From here, your best bet is to ask the owner of the hut for directions, so that you take precisely the Thousand-Year Larch Trail, which will soon lead you near this legendary plant, at an elevation of more than 2,100 meters. The foregone warning is to respect this patriarch, which has weathered the ravages of climate for a thousand years. A nice photo will be the only memory we should keep of this hike!

Nearby, in addition to the aforementioned Gerli-Poggio Refuge, there is another where we can refresh ourselves: the Ventina Refuge, named after the valley itself.

The grandiose landscapes and, in addition to the centuries-old and millennia-old trees, also a great variety of flowers, rocks, minerals, crystal clear lakes and the crown of high peaks will have made this, at the end of the day, an absolutely memorable hike !

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Photo: UNITO.IT