Shelter Captain Crova, from Menthieu

Introduction

Captain Crova's hut is a masonry construction located above a large promontory and served, during the Second World War, as a defence outpost on the Italian borders; the interior is very spartan and run-down, so much so that it is not recommended for use. The hike, however, is very scenic and well exposed to the south, so that it already receives the sun just above the diversions on the road, and climbs the wide and panoramic Arp Vieille valley on very open slopes; the view, both during the ascent and at the hut, is one of the most beautiful of the peaks and valleys above the Beauregard lake, stretching as far as the distant Matterhorn.

Description

From the end of the asphalted road, continue along it, entering the valley for a few dozen metres until almost immediately coming to a crossroads marked by wooden posts, at which you turn right to climb up the track of a farm road. After a couple of hairpin bends, you come to another fork (1910 m), also signposted by wooden posts, at which point you continue on the road that climbs slightly to the left; continuing the ascent, you soon reach the Bochat hut (1961 m), which you leave to the left and, still climbing slightly, continue either on the road or cutting across the slopes above, surrounded by sparse woodland. Following the tracks that are almost always present, continue the pleasant ascent, moving slightly towards the centre of the valley, which you climb up for a short distance and then, when you see a hut in the distance, leave the track that continues towards the upper part of the valley and turn right more or less when you reach a wide, gently sloping slope. Without aiming for the clearly visible hut, keep to the right as you ascend between the snowy bumps and, passing on the gentler slopes, you come in sight of the Arp Vieille alpine pasture (2225 m), which appears to us at the last moment. We pass in front of the hut and, before reaching a ruined hut, we turn right to climb a slope that ends up against a rocky bastion without any obligatory path; without reaching it, we first turn left in a semicircle to reach an isolated promontory on which the old building is situated in a panoramic position.
For the return journey, as well as retracing the ascent route, you can descend a little to the north and then deviate to the left, gently losing height and heading towards the centre of the wide valley; when you reach it, turn left and follow the almost always present ski mountaineers' tracks downhill, which, remaining a little away from the Arp Vieille pasture, join the ascent tracks a little further down at the point where we deviated.