1. Alta Via dei Re, stage 1 : from Sant'Anna di Valdieri to the Livio Bianco Refuge

From the uphill end of the village of Sant'Anna di Valdieri (980 m), a paved path rises rapidly among the houses, passing beside the Locanda Alpina Balma Meris. A steep mule track climbs into the woods of mixed deciduous trees: proceeding past the fork leading to Tetti Bariau ("Lo Viol di Tàit"), the trail veers westward for a brief tract, and rises less steeply. It passes by the ruins of Tetti Bìaìsa and continues to climb, with overhead views of the Rio della Meris, which forms crystal-clear pools in this area.
A few switchbacks and long traverses lead to a cool beech forest and the few remaining traces of Tetti Paladin.
Less steeply now, the path continues on out of the woods; at an altitude of ca. 1380 m the path passes a shortcut on the left, which joins back up with the mule track not far ahead, and a not very well marked trail on the right leading to Monte Merqua. The path continues monotonously upward, with a long crossing at midslope on the orographic left side of the valley, until it reaches a large flat pasture, with the ruins of Gias del Prato (1513 m, 1 hour and 35 minutes from Sant'Anna di Valdieri) and, a few hundred meters further on, the new Gias del Prato (fountain).
The mule track winds along the bottom of the valley, among pastures and detritus, flanked a few meters below by a small path which it joins farther on. After another long tract the valley narrows where the Rio della Meris has cut most deeply into the valley floor. Passing by a mule track on the left that descends to a ford in the river, the path enters the pasture meadow of the Gias del Chiot della Sella, where a Park Service station is situated.
Beyond the Gias, the mule track climbs more steeply, and after passing a brook there is a view of the lovely waterfall formed by the runoff from Upper Lake Sella. The trail forks when it reaches the Gias del Lago: the route abandons the mule track, which continues on to Lake Sella, and crosses over Rio della Meris on a wooden bridge. A good path runs around the shore of Lower Lake Sella (1862 m, 1 hour and 15 minutes from the Gias del Prato), which in just a few minutes leads to the Livio Bianco Refuge(1890 m, 5 minutes from Lake Sella), located in a perfect spot beside the water.