Follow the red and white signs of the Alta Via dei Monti Liguri trail. At the San Bernardo di Mendática crossroads, the road to the left leads to Mendática and the road to the right leads to Mónesi. Take the road in the middle to the Garezzo pass. After about 3 km take the trail on the right, which climbs through pastures to the Frontè pass (2081m). The trail circles Mount Frontè to the west, then climbs along the ridge, commanding splendid views, to the Sanremo hut (2054m). Follow the ridge past the statue of the Redeemer, passing the peak of Mount Saccarello on the left (a few minutes’ climb away) to the Saccarello pass (2145m). From here, the trail leads downwards, towards the south, into French territory. The trail continues along the ridge that marks the border to the Collardente pass (B. Fraches, 1599m). A track on the French side of the border leads through beautiful larch woods to the Bassa di Sanson pass (East) (1680m). Taking the track on the right along the ridge between Argentina and Roia, the trail meets the road from Realdo (Bassa di Sanson (West), (1694m). Follow the road to another crossroads. There is no need to take the road to La Brigue and to the Colla Melosa pass. Follow the trail in the middle, through the larches (yellow signs). The trail climbs through the woods, slightly to the right of the ridge, then crosses a field and continues along the top of a ridge. Here the trail meets the road. Follow the road for a few dozen yards to a crossroads. Ignore the roads to either side and head up the trail in the centre, along the ridge (yellow signs). Past a former barracks, now in ruins, turn left along the trail that climbs along the Argentina Valley side to a grass-covered pass at the top of the ridge (Col de l'Afel pass, 1899m). Take the track on the left that cuts across the eastern slopes of Mount Cima di Marta, to Bassa di Marta (1956m) where there are more ruined barracks. Follow the road south for about 1.5km, then turn off onto a trail (red and white signs) that goes through the Porta Bertand pass (1953m) and then descends through larches to the green Sella d'Agnaira pass (B. Vallette, 1880m). The route now leaves the Alta Via trail and heads left along a track on the southern slopes of Mount Grai. After a few hundred metres, take the bridleway on the right down to the Colla Melosa pass.
From the Melosa pass, follow the road as it climbs northwards for about 300 metres, and then take the bridleway that turns right up the southern slopes of Mount Grai until it meets the road again, just below the Grai hut. Turn left onto the road and follow it a short way to the Sella d'Agnaira pass. Take the Alta Via dei Monti Liguri trail on the right, that climbs to the Porta Bertrand pass. The route continues northbound along tracks and trails, along the ridge that divides the Argentina valley and the Roia valley. At the Collardente pass, a trail leads up Mount Saccarello. It veers right, still on the ridge, to the Sanremo hut and the Frontè Pass. From here, the descent is on the Arroscia Valley side of the mountain, first along a trail, through pastures, then on a road to the San Bernardo di Mendática pass.
(Regione Liguria)

From the high ridge between the Frontè and Saccarello mountain peaks the walker has stunning views over the Alps to the sea, (on the clearest days stretching all the way to Corsica). The ridge is virtually horizontal at over 2000 metres of altitude, but the two sides of it could not be more different. The southern face plunges into the Argentina valley in sheer drops and rocky ledges whilst the northern slope is a gentle descent into the Tanarello valley in a series of rolling pastures. On the ridge between the Sanremo hut and Mount Saccarello is the huge statue of the Redeemer, built between 1901 and 1902 and unveiled in the presence of thousands. A ski lift takes skiers from the Mónesi resort up the northern face to just below the statue. The entire area is protected as part of the "M. Saccarello - M. Frontè" nature reserve. The area between the Collardente and Melosa passes contains magnificent conifer woods: Sanson woods on the French side and the Gerbonte national forest on the Italian side ("Monte Gerbonte" nature reserve). The stage takes the walker past numerous reminders of military achievement: roads, tracks, fortifications and barracks, all built before World War II to defend the Italian border against a possible French attack.
(Regione Liguria)
This part of Via Alpina favours the line of the ridge to the forest track on Italian territory, and seems to hesitate before taking the plunge down towards the French Mediterranean in the next stage.
It dawdles along this borderland ridge, alternating between ascents and descents, and circumventing the main rises in particularly wooded landscape, only marked by the presence of numerous farmland, or apparently strategic, tracks.
The sheer slopes with great differences in altitude offer a panoramic view over the two underlying valleys in both France and Italy, where the trail leads to the destination of this stage, the Allavena Hut.
(Sara Zeidler, Gilles Chappaz, Grande Traversée des Alpes)