We first ascended in a mixed forest along a good trail. The incline was never very steep as the path zigzagged in the terrain. After about 1700 m elevation, the incline temporarily petered out and we hiked past Alpine meadows before reaching Fuont Freye, a spring.

The terrain became rockier and we walked past large rockslide areas. At one point, an alternative routing had been built as the original trail had been cut. After some steep sections, we came to Peira Grossa with remains of a concrete bunker. Across the Tuebi Stream in the west, the steep face of the Maleterre Ridge and Rocamaire were particularly impressive.

The last stretch to the col was  steep but again the winding trail helped. Historically, the mountain pass had been a trading route between the Var and Tinée Valleys. The northern face of the col comprised vast Alpine meadows, so different from the rocky southern side. The trail continued down to the Valley of Roya. Among the summits in the north, we spotted las Donnas above Auron. 

The col was windy and we descended a bit for our break before returning to our starting point. It turned out to be another super hike in a tranquil Alpine valley. We met nobody on the path in spite of the sunny early autumn day.