While walking along the Ru, you cross wide fields used for cattle grazing, rich in plants suited to a certain degree of aridity and irrigated by a dense network of irrigation channels, true masterpieces of water engineering. The fields contain numerous varieties of flora which, for the connoisseurs, include tasty herbs and plants used in soups and salads – a return to our ancestors’ culinary traditions. We must not forget that the particularity and quality of the fodder are the base of Fontina cheese production, a DOP cheese and flag-bearer of Valle d’Aosta gastronomy.

This walk is almost on a level and so it is possible to stop and observe the wildlife which can be surprisingly interesting (squirrels, roe deer, the occasional stag, hare, foxes, jays, woodpeckers and occasional birds of prey), not to mention the sweet-smelling mushrooms under the pine trees.

Along the stretch of open-air channel in the forest of Col de Joux, there is a wood composed of a mixed conifers, mainly Scotch pine but also Norway spruce and larch, the floor is covered with a bed of pine needles. The plant species include wood anemones, scarlet pimpernels, gentians and, more rarely, alpine columbines.

Very often you come across ancient rascards (wooden houses used for storing grain), drinking troughs and chapels.

In short, Ru Courtod offers hikers the chance to see a variety of environments, scenery and enchanting panoramas.