Seeking Sun on Mont Soleil

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Moonshine Hike Tafeljura

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across Graitery and Oberdörferberg

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Glacier and Fall Colors in Wallis

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La Gruyere "Haute Route"

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Nüschlete - Laseberg - Solhorn

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To the Bivacco Slataper

More lovely weather for our last day of hiking on this vacation. Today we're hiking in the Sorapiss massif again (we hiked here on the first day too... symmetry!), but this time on the other side. Starting at the lift station above San Vito di Cadore we hike up, up, up, mostly along forest road, until we hit the construction area around the Rif. Scotter. From here we cross a bit more construction and then are finally on real trail for the last bit up up to the Rif. San Marco. This is a lovely small hut with a great location. We've already done 700m, but we aren't even close to done with the climbing.

Up, up some more, now on a nice trail until we hit the Forcella Grande. Here we find a good spot to enjoy the views (the bowl in front of us really is nice) and do a food break. Then onward and upwards around the left side of the bowl and then up, up to the Bivacco Slataper. This is a bright red tube perched on a point with fantastic views. We've been almost entirely alone to this point (we saw two hikers up to the first hut and one while having the break), but now there are people around. One pair is very intent on establishing the fact that they're going to be in the bivac, a group with klettersteig equipment is also descending, and there's a group of four, also with klettersteig equipment, up above in the saddle. We head up to the saddle and a bit up one side to a quiet spot for another food break and some more view appreciation. We're sitting on the edge of a big drop, more or less at the altitude where the afternoon clouds are getting started, so our views to the West are intermittent, but everything to the East is clear. 

After the break we head back. We start by heading straight down the valley across a set of nice slabs through a stone landscape which is really reminiscent of being on a glacier, including crevasses(!). It's wild. Under the bivac we walk past a group of three ibex grazing and enjoying the afternoon sun; they aren't too concerned about us. The rest of the way out is the same as how we came in, just with different views since we're walking in the other direction and the light and clouds are different.

The Rif. San Marco is just too tempting, so we stop there for a cool beverage and lovely piece of pie before finishing the last bit down, down, down to the car.

Great day! And next time we're back in the area we definitely need to consider doing some of the klettersteigs around Sorapiss. The route from either Faloria or Passo Tre Cime to Biv. Slapeter looks really good!

Stats: 7:00, 19.4 km, ~1500m up and down 

Around the Tofana di Rozes

Today we start at the Rifugio Angelo Dibona (last week we parked on the main road and walked up to this, but this time we drove up). We follow the descent route from the cave and join the main trail under the massive wall of the Tofana di Rozes towards Lagazuoi. Note for future years: there are at least a couple of quite popular climbing routes starting not far from the scree ramp to the cave.

Following the path around the corner we get views across towards Lagazuoi (not visible behind the Col dei Bos) and down to the Forcella Col dei Bos. At the pass we end up in the middle of a large (!) group of loud (!) French hikers, so we stop for an early food break to let them get ahead. Nice views down into the Val Travenanzes from here (we were at the very bottom of this on the waterfall hike). After the break we follow the trail down, down into the valley. There's loads of WWI stuff left in here too. Down, down we go, into the trees, past the Malga Travenanzes hut (where we end up back in the large French group again) and then down further to where the bottom of the valley is a broad river plane. Here we turn off to the right (thankfully the group continues down the valley) and make a bit of a 180 to start to head back up towards the Tofana di Rozes. Up, up we go, taking another food break and enjoying the sun and the views, and then up some more. Around a corner and more steeply up to come into the awesome rock and gravel filled bowl below and between the Tofana di Mezzo and the Tofana di Rozes. We see plenty of folks on the way down from the Tofana di Rozes crossing the gravel slope above us. Very enjoyable hiking up through this and then we're at the Rifugio Giussani. Lots of people here, so we just continue on through the pass and start the descent down, down on a broad trail towards the Rif. Dibona. We do a last food break once we get out of the wind and into the sun and then follow the trail the rest of the way down, down to the hut (much better weather than last time, so there's no compulsion to stop and get out of the rain) and the car.

Very nice hiking in varied and spectacular landscapes.

Stats: 6:05, 14.9 km, ~1150m up and down

History on the Col de Lana

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Stats: 6:25, 16.6 km, ~1050m up and down

Tofana traverse

We start under blue skies with the first small gondola up out of Cortina and ride up to the middle station in the big gondola. From here it's through some ugly ski area mess (amazing how the ski crap can even look awful in an all rock and gravel landscape) for a bit until we pick up the trail up, up towards the Cima Formenton. During the long traverse of the scree slope we run across a small group of chamois and get to watch their version of scree running. When things start to get steeper we stop and put on the helmets (just in time too: as we stop in a protected place to put on the helmets a group above us, the first we've seen this morning, kicks a bunch of rocks loose above us) and then continue up, up. This is a pretty easy and well made trail weaving through a weak spot in the wall; there's cable where you'd want it. Up on the ridge we follow the use trail past some WWI ruins to the end (the Cima Formenton), where we take a food break (about 1:40 to this point) and enjoy the views.

After the break we head back to the main trail and start our way up, up, up to the Tofana di Dentro. This is some fun scrambling at first but the last bit is a bit of a slog up a long scree slope. The fact that we're above 3000m is noticeable. We pass some groups coming down (including some who'd been on the gondola up with us... what have they been up to the whole time?), but have the peak to ourselves for a while when we arrive (total time up: ~3 hours). We take another food break and enjoy the views. There are clouds, particularly on the Tofana di Mezzo (so many people up there!), but we still have amazing views. After the break we put the klettersteig stuff on (since we'll be passing people) and follow the cable along a nice, though somewhat worn, route down to the Forcella Tofana. From here it's up, up a band, also somewhat of a slog, until topping out on the ridge. A short walk takes us to the summit of the Tofana di Mezzo. Of course we aren't alone up here. :-) Some more enjoying of the views, pack away the gear, and then we walk down the first of three gondolas to get back to Cortina.

It would have been nice if there'd been less clouds for this one, but it was still a really good tour.

Stats: 5:15, 8.0 km, ~1100m up, less down

Cadini Massif 2: Sentiero Durissini

We were so impressed with the Cadini massif during Thursday's hike that we opted to go back. Andrea found an Italian description of a loop through six high passes that sounds too good not to do and the weather forecast was good, so off we went.

This time we drove past the Lago di Misurina and parked just past it. From here it's up, up, up to the Rif. Fonda Savio. The trail takes us through the woods and then up and through the nice valley below the hut, past a large group of older hikers, and up, up the last bit to the hut. As we're putting on our helmets at the top of the ladder we can see a group of three following the path we're planning on taking and another group of 4 on their way up to the Ciadin de Nevaio. 

Down the ladders we go and the across the snow and along the good path which takes us around the corner and then up to the Forcella de la Torre, the first pass of the day. The group of three (two French women and a guide) are still here and a solo hiker comes from the other direction during our break. We have a food break and enjoy the views before descending the other side. Down a bit, then a traverse, overtaking the group of three, then up again to the Forcella Sabbiosa and more nice views. Down again, another traverse, another climb, and we're at the Forcella Ciadin Deserto. From here it's just around the corner to the Forcella Cristina. Just below this one we find a nice (and unexpected!) bench in the sun and do another short food break, just because we can. Now down a bit , into a greener area, and then around the corner and back into the land-of-rock. Up, up again with more scree and then some scrambling and ladders until we get to the Forcella Verzi. Fortunately we're at the top when we encounter the couple getting ready to go down... there are plenty of options to kick rocks down on people below you on that bit and it was nice not to have to worry about that. We enjoy another food break and appreciate the views (what a place!) before continuing on. From here there's just a short bit of ascent to the Forcella del Nevaio, from which we have simply awesome views. The descent into the Ciadin de Nevaio is easy, if a bit loose, we descend a bit of snow (there's what seems to be a good-sized permanent snow field up here) and start our way down, down to the hut. Nice views along the way to the klettersteig which heads up to the Cima Cadin Nord Est (busy! busy!). Back at the hut (busy! busy!) we opt for the quick descent (the way we came up) to the car. We do this down, down, down efficiently and are back at the car pretty quickly.

This was pretty much a perfect hike: great views, interesting terrain, fantastic landscapes, just sooooo good! :-)

Stats: 6:00, 13.4 km, ~1150m up and down

Karst on the Lastoi de Formin

The forecast for the afternoon is a bit questionable, so today's more of a "normal hike". We drive up towards the Passo Giau and stop at the parking lot at the Punte de Rucuno. We aren't the only ones with plans to hike this loop: there are plenty of cars here already and 4-5 groups getting ready to go. 

We set off along the trail (again on the Alt Via Dolomiti 1) and head up, up through the trees. At the fork we opt to do the loop counter-clockwise, so we head off into the Val de Formin. We're still in the shade, so the gentle climbing is cool and easy. The valley's really nice with walls on both sides (those on the left are dramatic and sheer) and, once we get a bit higher, cool boulders to play on. Up, up we go. When things start to open up to our right, before reaching the Forcella de Formin, we turn off to the right and head out without a trail across the karst which slopes up towards the ridge/peaks above. This broad feature, the Lastoi de Formin, is visible from all over the place and has been on our list since last year. More fun boulders to play on, fun karst walking, a food break in the sun with nice views, then further up, up towards the top. We improvise a route through the steeper "headwall" that leads to the top and then are up on the ridge.

The very last bit is unfortunately not accessible without wings, so we follow the ridge back to the left until we get to the top of the Ponta Lastoi de Formin. We've got the peak to ourselves for a while, unfortunately not in the sun and can enjoy the great views and the dramatic cloud play on the surrounding mountains. We were alone during the no-trail traverse of the karst, but now we're on a popular, though marked only with cairns, route, so as we continue towards the Forcella de Formin we start passing people coming the other way. Down to the pass, then down down a bit more towards the Forcella Rosa. Instead of following the main trail down to the pass we take a side trail towards a small saddle to have a food break and enjoy the views (unfortunately not the sun though). After the break we head steeply down the scree on a slight path (fun!) until we rejoin the main trail. Nice views of the lake and rifugio below and increasing numbers of people as we head towards them. Lots of people at the lake itself, which is very nicely situated under the wall of the Croda da Lago. There are apparently climbing routes in this little group and it would be fun to come back some time and explore them.

We opt not to stop at the crowded hut for a break and instead continue down, down through the woods, down, down, past plenty of other people, down, down to the car.

We ended up timing this pretty well: back in Cortina a gentle rain starts as we're eating our pizza-by-the-slice snack and that intensifies to a couple of hard, though brief, showers later in the afternoon.

Nice day of easy hiking in a nice area. Playing on the karst was particularly fun (as always).

Stats: 6:10, 15.9 km, ~1000m up and down

Fanes waterfalls hike

Today we did the waterfall hike that we'd been talking about since our last trip to the Dolomites.

We park at the parking area the shuttle drove through to get to Rif. Ra Stua on Wednesday. From here we follow a nice path through the woods along and up until we get to the viewpoint above the Cascata de Fanes. It's a dramatically situated high waterfall and the klettersteig which goes behind it is nicely visible. This is going to be fun! Down, down we go into the gorge, along a steep trail, until we're at the bottom. Towards the waterfall a bit, past another group deciding what to do next, across the bridge, and then up the klettersteig on the other side. This takes us easily (but exposed) to the other rim. Here briefly along the hiking path and then following the signs to the klettersteig which takes us back along the inside of the gorge and behind the falls. Tons of fun here playing behind the waterfall. The continuation past the waterfall leads down into a drier part of the gorge and then to the bottom, but that's not our plan for today, so we just head back out the way we came and rejoin the hiking paths. On the way out we pass a group of 8 on their way in and another group still getting ready; it was definitely good to be here a bit early!

Now we start following the Sentiero dei Canyons e Delle Cascate, which we'll be on for large parts of the rest of the day. This is a really nice path taking us directly alongside the river, across bridges, past numerous other waterfalls, always ascending the gorge.  Food break next to a chain of cascades, and then further up the gorge and past more cool waterfalls. At Cascata Sbarco de Fanes there's another waterfall with a klettersteig behind it. This fall is not as high as the first, but it's broader and in direct sunlight, so we get great shadow play behind the falls. On the other side we head briefly up again and then cross another bridge. Here the trail we've been following starts to head back down, but we haven't had enough, so we opt to continue up the nice-looking valley towards the Fanes Huette (where we stayed on the 2004 trip). 

This stretch is following a gravel road, very popular with bikes, up, up the valley. Just after moving from one national park to the next we hit a big, open, idyllic field which is just too inviting to pass by. So we stop for another food break and enjoy the view for a while. Rather than continuing along the road and up through the trees we decide to turn around here and head back to do more of the  Sentiero dei Canyons. So, down, down we go along the road until we get back to the fork, and then further along the trail and down until we cross the deep, narrow, gorge at the bottom of the Val Travenanzes. We walked through a bit of the top of this on one of the snow hikes last year. If we were to continue up this valley we'd end up at the saddle between Lagazuoi and the Tofana Rozes. (Would be a fun hike to do, but with challenging travel logistics.) Anyway, across the gorge and then back around the corner to another trail junction. We stay on the Sentiero dei Canyons, now much less frequently travelled, and head around into the next small gorge. Up, up again to the waterfall at the end. This one we can't walk behind, but there is a bit of klettersteig that takes us to a point where we can actually see most of the fall (otherwise concealed behind rock). Then we head up and out of the gorge. Past a spot in the stream with a couple of nice evorsions (the vocabulary word of the day for us), one of which would have been a great bathing pool on a warmer day, and then across a bridge and back to the larger path which takes us down, down into the valley and back to the parking lot.

Another great day. This one would have worked on a cloudy day too, but the sun did add something.

Stats: 6:40, 19.9 km, ~950m up and down

Cadini Massif 1: Sentiero Bonacossa

The forecast was, again, really good, so we set out for a longer day.

After driving to Lago di Misurina we take the char lift up from the end of the lake (plenty of people taking the early lift up) and then set off along the marked path towards the Forcella Misurina. This is traversing and climbing in the shadow of the Cadini massif, and it's almost cold, but we're moving at a decent speed (there are a couple of other groups behind us and we don't want to end up in crowds on the more technical sections which come later), so we stay nice and warm. The last bit to the pass is steep but easy. It's steeply down from here, so we put on the klettersteig gear before starting the descent. This is easy, cable and gear not necessary (though the helmet certainly belongs on). Down and around the corner we go, emerging into the lovely and impressive valley/cirque (?) Ciadin de la Neve. Across the scree and up, up the other side, including a few ladders and some more steep, to get to the Forcella del Diavolo. We find a patch of sun here and have a food break to enjoy the views and let the group of three coming behind us go by (they provide a great illustration of why wearing a helmet is a good idea: kicking a number of rocks loose on their way up). After the break it's down the other side, through the narrow valley, past a *bunch* of climbers on a tower, and then up, up the other side to the very nice situated Rif. Fonda Savio. Here it's madness!

We now need to head down a steep bit and a couple ladders to continue. We end up waiting a bit for people slowly coming up (yes, it's madness), but then move quickly through that section and start heading down the significantly broader Ciadin de Toce. We take another food break here on a big rock in the sun and enjoy the views. Theoretically we have a great view of the Drei Zinnen here, but they are making their own clouds and are rarely visible. After the break we continue along down the valley, across the Forcella de Rinbianco (madness here!) and then along the Sentiero Bonacossa towards the Rif. Auronzo. This is another nice exposed path with some cables and good views and one bit of somewhat unpleasant ascent up a wet slab (yay for the cable here!). It looks like this might have used a different ascent earlier but that was maybe taken out by rock slide. At the end of that we come out on top of the ridge and can truly appreciate how crazy busy it is around the Rif. Auronzo. We pack away the klettersteig stuff and then continue on our way.

The original plan is to just grab a bus at the rifugio and take that back to the car, but after looking more at the map we realize that there's a trail that looks nice, so we take that instead. This takes us down, down, at first nice trail through the woods until we get to the first lake, then immediately next to the road for most of the short stretch to the Lago di Misurina. We stop at a restaurant at the top of the lake to enjoy cool beverages and the view across the very kitschy lake before finishing the hike by walking along the lake and back to the car.

Another really, really good day of hiking. Much of it interesting hiking. The Cadini massif is really impressive and we should definitely head back. 

Stats: 6:40, 16.2 km, ~1000m up,  ~1350m down

Hiking the Seekoffel

This was a pure-hiking day. The weather is perfect, with cloudless blue skies. We drive out of town to the North, park across from the sports store and hop on the shuttle that takes us up into the park and to the parking lot at the Rif. Ra Stua. Here we start hiking up the valley in the cold morning wind. Along the road for a bit and then we turn off onto the trail which starts switchbacking up, up the Crepe de Socroda. A few hundred meters higher and we're in a rolling green and gray landscape with lovely mountains all around. Further along the trail until we get to the Lago Gran de Foses. Here across the idyllic field, past the idyllic hut, along the idyllic lake, past the idyllic little hill with 4 or 5 marmots on it, and then up, up, and around until the Seekoffelhuette comes into view, with the Seekoffel itself towering above. Been a while since we saw that. :-)

We take a food break and enjoy the views and then continue on to the hut. Surprise along the way as a flock of chickens crosses the trail in front of us, guess they must have fresh eggs at the hut! Past the hut we go, up to the pass, and then up, up along the switchbacking trail to head up to the Seekoffel itself. Up, up we go, through the maze of trails and cairns, always up and along until we get to the peak. Just fantastic views from here and not a cloud in sight until somewhere in Switzerland (theoretically you can see the Piz Kesch from here, but it's certainly under clouds). We have a nice relaxed food break and soak in the views and general loveliness of it all before starting back down. Rather than follow the exact same route, we opt to stick with views for as long as possible and head back along the ridge, hoping for a nice view down to the hut. The hut view comes rather late (still nice though), and then we rejoin the main route down, down and back to the pass.

Now further along the trail that takes use up over a hill and to the Sennes Huette. Now we're repeating part of day 2 from the trip long ago with Andreas and following the Via Alta 1. This takes us down to the Rif. Fodara Vedla, where we stop for a cool beverage and a piece of apple strudel before leaving the Via Alta and heading back to Rif. Ra Stua. This is a nice walk through a mix of woods and open, heading down, down at the end to drop us back at more or less the same place in the valley where we had started heading up, up the other side in the morning. Back the last bit to the hut, where we arrive just in time to catch the next shuttle out of the park and back to our car.

This was a really, really nice day of hiking with some fantastic weather. It was loads of fun to revisit some of the places from that 2004 trip.

Stats: 7:50, 21.4 km, ~1350m up and down

Pomagagnon: Terza Cengia

Another forecast where the morning is better than the afternoon, so we plan something that's not overly long. We drive a bit up and out of town to park at the lift station of Col Tondo. Now up, up a bit on the trail towards Rif. Mietres, then turning left and following the road/trail towards P. Fames. Up a bit of the big scree fan leading to the Forc. del Pomagagnon and then following the signs to the Terza Cengia, which take us across to the foot of the wall. Around the corner and up, up some more until we get off the scree and onto the band we'll be following. Here we put on the klettersteig gear and continue up, up. 

The trail itself is really nice, a mixture of hiking and a bit of light scrambling, with straightforward route finding and not too much gross loose stuff. There's a cable wherever you really want one and in a bunch of spots where it's not super necessary. Big fun.

At the end we head up a bit to the top of the Punta Erbing, where we have a food break and enjoy the views. Then it's down, down, following the marked trail down to the woods running behind the ridge and then along further to the Forc. Zumetes, where we head steeply down on a nicely constructed path. Down, down we go on a nice trail, eventually ending up back in the woods and hitting the path we came up on in the morning. This takes us back to the car and the end of another nice day. 

Stats: 5:20, 12.2 km, ~1050m up and down

Sentiero Astaldi and the Grotta de Tofana

The forecast calls for a decent morning and rain in the afternoon, so we plan a day with some flex in it.

Part 1 is doing the Sentiero Astaldi, a simple klettersteig on the Tofana Mezzo. We start with the familiar (from last year) drive up towards Lagazuoi, but stop in a parking lot across from the entrance to the road which leads up to the 5 Torri. From here it's up, up through the woods to the Rif. Dibona. There's plenty going on here. We follow the trail along, past a group of Americans with a guide, and then up, up towards the Rif. Pomedes. After a bit we hit the trail which leads to the Sentiero Astaldi. Here we put on our harnesses, helmets, and the klettersteig sets and then continue. Some normal hiking along a trail that definitely sees some usage leads us to the beginning of the cable.

The route itself follows an obvious band back towards Rif. Dibona. It's not at all technically challenging, particularly with the cable there to use as a hand hold, and is certainly in the realm of stuff that we'd do without the safety gear. But it's still nice to have the gear. :-) The constant clipping and unclipping is a bit irritating, so we do the more straightforward bits either without clipping in at all or with just one carabiner clipped. After not nearly long enough we exit the band and come out with a view over the path zig-zagging up to the Forc. Fontanegra (and all the people on that). We do a food break enjoying the views and then continue on to Part 2.

For part 2 we traverse up and across the scree slope to join the big trail, which we follow for a bit before turning off onto the trail towards the Col dei Bos. This traverses under the big, impressive wall of the Tofana de Rozes. At big scree fan we follow the smaller trail (and sign) towards the Grotta de Tofana. This takes us up, a bit more, and into a narrow chute. Here we put on the helmets and then scramble up to a band which leads us across the face for a bit (there's a cable here too) before heading up again to a large cave mouth. This place is pretty popular, we've passed a couple of men with a kid and a larger group is leaving the cave as we arrive. There's a loop inside the cave itself, starting with a ladder and a bit of cable up and then heading into the dark. There's a set of stairs, the ceilings are high, the walls are glistening, it's super cool. Towards the exit we re-encounter the two guys with the kid, who now has an actual torch. That's a really cool effect. :-)

After exiting the cave we head back down and re-cross the bands. It starts raining along the way (expected), so it's on with the hard shells before continuing. We pass one of the groups who left the cave as we were arriving at the end of the band and then head down, down the scree slope to rejoin the main trail. Off with the helmets and then onwards and downwards through the light rain to the Rif. Dibona. We're both hungry, so we decide to stop and have a proper lunch out of the rain. Fortunately there's a table free, so we get to enjoy some nice pasta in the warm dry instead of snacking in the rain. :-)

After lunch we head down, down, along the now amazingly slippery path, and back to the car.

Nice day!

Stats: 4:50, 11.2 km, ~800m up and down

Hiking around Monte Faloria

The idea for today is to do a bit of warm up and say hi to the region again. :-)

We walking in town, past the gondola station, along a rails-to-trails conversion for a while, and then up, up on some road, past the golf course, further on the road, past a restaurant, and then onto the trail. This piece of the Alt Via Dolimiti 3 takes us around the corner and then efficiently up, up, up through the Val Orita. We stop towards the top to have a food break and enjoy the views before finishing the last bit of ascent and emerging next to the radio towers above the Rif. Faloria. Here we continue along the ridge and up a bit more, past the Rif. Tondi, then further along the ridge and down to the Forcella Faloria. From the ridge we have a great view of the crazy looking path which leads across the scree towards the Ponta Negra. There are a number of folks traversing this, but it's not on the program for today (need more time in the area before doing something like that).

Instead we stay on the Alta Via 3 and continue to traverse the slope towards the Forcella Marculoira, taking a food break along the way and enjoying the views (it's so nice to be in the Dolomites!). When we hit the spot we turned down last year, we descend to the next trail down and then follow that back to the gondola station at Rif. Faloria. From here we follow the scenic path with 5 benches around to the "Cliffhanger Hut". This is at the top of the trail which leads us down, down, down, into the valley. The first bit of this is unpleasantly steep, but we get used to it and/or it gets a bit less steep and we can enjoy the efficient descent. Once lower and back in the woods we turn off onto another trail which takes us to a road which takes us back to the rails-to-trails conversion which we follow back to the gondola station.

A nice start and warm up for what's to come in the days ahead!

Stats: 7:00, 19.4 km, ~1500m up and down

2021 Hiking vacation in the Dolomites

 We got super lucky with the weather this year and only had rain one afternoon.

The individual posts:

1. Hiking around Monte Faloria
2. Sentiero Astaldi and the Grotta de Tofana
3. Terza Cengia
4. Hiking the Seekoffel
5. Cadini Massif 1
6. Fanes waterfall hike
7. Karst on the Lastoi de Formin
8. Cadini Massif 2
9. Tofana traverse
10. History on the Col de Lana
11. Around the Tofana di Rozes
12. To the Bivacco Slataper

Overview map:

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Klosters to Chur

Great forecast for this weekend, with a chance of showers on Sunday afternoon but otherwise clear, so we opt for a trip with the bivvy bags. 

We take the early train to Klosters Platz, get the gondola up to the Gotschnagrat, and then start out along the red-white path under a lovely blue sky. Up and over the Casanna we go, down to the Parsennfurgga, past the lovely (and popular!) Grüensee, and along the very nice path (lots of wood walkways) through the moor landscape towards the Strassberger Fürggli. Along the way there we stop for a food break and enjoy the nice weather and views.

From the pass we continue along the ridge along a path which is newly marked, not on the map, and not frequently followed. This leads us under and around p.2430, then we kind of lose it and end up traversing a big patch of stinging nettle (yay) before redoing the ridge and heading to the Mattjisch Horn. Here another food break to enjoy the fantastic views and then we continue along to the Arflinafurgga and then to the Faninpass. We’re expecting to have improvise again here, but it turns out that there are old trail markers along the way we’re planning to go; easy progress! Onward along the ridge we go.

It’s time to start thinking about water, so we head off the ridge below the Dängelstöck with the idea of traversing to the Guotiger Brunnen spring indicated on the map. Fortunately, there’s a trough with a pipe we can access at the start of the spring just below Furgglis and we can get water there. After drinking our fill and pumping a couple of liters, we head back up to the ridge and continue past the Dängelstöck. Onwards along the ridge we encounter a herd of horses (very unusual) and take another break to appreciate the views before heading up and across the Ratoser Stein (which we’ve been calling "Ratloser Stein" all day). Down the other side and now we can see the Hochwang, which is our current planned stopping point. Up, up the last bit to the peak, some scouting around to find a good place to sleep, and we ditch the gear. 

The next step is collecting water; we take Andrea’s empty backpack and the bottles back down, down to the beginning of the valley under the ridge and find a good pool to pump from where the path crosses a stream. 6 liters of pumping later and we carry the water back up to our campsite. After getting a bit of setup done we head up to the peak to make dinner.  Surprisingly, a couple shows up as we're making dinner; they've come up just for the sunset. It’s a bit windy but the views are fantastic and we enjoy dinner with views and then a bit of a post-dinner stroll around the peak before heading to bed and appreciating the (mostly) full moon rising and moving in and out of the clouds.

Clouds move in overnight and it's pretty clear when we wake up that the planned continuation of the ridge wouldn't be a great idea. By the time we're done with breakfast we are basically in a cloud and it's starting to lightly rain. On with the rain gear and down we go. Down past where we pumped water, down, down into the valley towards Triemel. Along the way the rain stops... yay. At Triemel we opt to stay up reasonably high and traverse on the path to Bargun, then it's down, down to Castiel. Here we do a food break at a nicely situated picnic table above down, then continue along the road (unfortunately) to Calfreisen. Next it's up a bit more, around, and then down, down to Maladers. From there it's easy and efficient down to Chur, where we arrive with time to grab a beverage before getting the direct train back to Basel.

Day two wasn't what we planned, but it was a nice day of hiking. We'll have to go back and do the planned route for day 2... it looked pretty good! :-)

Track:

Stats:

• Day 1: 8:20, 22.2km, 1330m up, 1100m down
• Day 2: 5:00, 19.3km, 130m up, 2000m down

Hiking around the Capanna Cristallina

The forecast calls for rain and thunderstorms on Saturday night, but we want to camp, so we take  our new tent with us and head off to Tessin.

The usual early start from Basel and the train through to Airolo. Bus to the gondola and then the gondola up (with tons of bikes) to save ourselves the first 600-800m of climb. Good to do given the humidity and coming heat.

From the top of the gondola we follow the path for a bit and then head off along one of the service roads for the ski area. Up up and back and forth for a bit until we hit the old marked path leading towards the cliff. Now more steeply up, taking a food break along the way, until getting to the wall itself, a short bit of not-so-nice crossing of a gravelly slab, and then we are on a pretty easy to follow and occasionally marked trail that follows a weak spot in the wall to the top. Nice!

Up on the ridge we enjoy the views and then decide to follow the "trail” down, down the other side towards a herd of cows. Past the cows, another food break, and then onwards to a blue-white path which takes us towards the dam. This heads up a bit and then contours easily along the valley side.  A short break at Lago del Forna to appreciate the loveliness and then onward to Lago di Val Sabbia where we pump a bit of water and scope out potential camp sites. Continuing seems more promising, so on we go.  Down towards Lago del Naret (there is a road up to this and it is pretty busy), along the edge, and then up to Lago del Corbo. Here there are two tents right next to the path, but we continue to the end of the lake and start looking for spots above it. Plenty of good tent sites here! After some scouting we take a promising one and get the  tent set up. The rest of the afternoon is spent enjoying the sun and views, pumping water, etc. By this point the weather forecast has changed and there’s no more rain in the forecast. yay!

After a good dinner we walk up to the next lake and do a bit of sunset-color appreciation and tidying up before going to bed. The plan had been to leave the tent fly rolled up, but given the amount of dew that immediately starts condensing after the sun goes behind the mountains we decide against that… next time!

On Sunday we get take advantage of the early sun (planned for!) and are underway shortly before 8:30 even after a leisurely morning. We rejoin the red-white path and follow it up a bit onto the ridge and then towards the Lago Negro.  Nice trail followed by a particularly nice stretch of talus hopping (what a great surprise!) and then we are at the pass and enjoying the views down to the lake and across to the Basodino. Along and down the nice path above the lake and then a food and planning break with views.

After the break, we’ve decided for the blue-white path along and behind the Lago del Cavagnöö, onwards and upwards towards the Cap. Cristallina. When we get to the pass above the Lago Sfundau and see the hut sitting above it, we decide for a change of plans. Up, up to the hut we go, have a nice lunch at the hut, and then continue down the other side of the pass. On the other  trip to this region we went straight down to Ossasco, but this time after the walk down through the lovely valley we turn off to the right and traverse the valley side until we arrive back at the gondola station.

Gear note: this was the first trip with our new tent, a Sea to Summit Telos TR 2.

Track:

Stats:

• Day 1: 6:41, 14.1km, ~1300m up, ~600m down
• Day 2: 7:24, 21.2km, ~800m up, ~1400m down

Hiking in the Baltschiedertal

We wanted to see the sun, so we took the train down to Visp to do a hike into the Baltschiedertal.

After walking out of Visp we cross the river and then head up, up towards Ausserberg. At this point the valley is full of clouds, but we remain optimistic and carry on. There's some fun with trails not which are on the map not being particularly used/findable and a stretch through a large and very healthy patch of stinging nettle (ahh 2021... such a great year for stinging nettle!), but we continue up to the spot at p1265 where the path along the suonen and the one through the tunnel split. We opt for the suonen version. This is a nice fun trail, quite exposed at times for the bit through the rock face (which is creepy while in a cloud), but then broadening out once in the forest. Once we get to Ze Steinu things start to open up a bit and we can even occasionally see the Stockhorn at the end of the valley. We continue on a bit until we find a nice sunny spot for a food break. Nice break in the sun, beset by butterflies, and then we turn around to head back.

Just past Ze Steinu we move down to the lower path and continue along. Admire the crazy avalanche remains at the bottom of the Furggbach and then continue on to the bridge. Up a bit and then we pick up the suonen path on the other side. Here along the water, through tunnels, skipping the optional crazy exposed bit (g wasn't even willing to think about it), and along the really nice path to the end of the maintained bit. Here a food break on a bench with a nice view near the little water wheel with a hammer hitting a cowbell (old method to let the maintainer know that the water is still flowing) and then down, down down through Eggerberg and back to Visp. We have time to grab dinner and then it's onto the train and the trip back home.

Being able to get down to Visp in 2 hours is just sooooo nice. :-)

Track:

Stats: 6:20, 20.4km, ~800m up and down

Four days in Tessin: Cap. Cadlimo to Gotthard pass

Breakfast at 7:00 (and a good one) and underway by around 7:45.

It’s lovely and blue sky again; still a bit cool.

We start along the blue-white path behind the hut towards the Passo Bornengo. Nice going along the rocks, around some hard frozen snow fields, past a mostly frozen lake, and then up, up, past another lake, up, over snow, up up to the ridge. Fantastic views! This is a really nice block ridge with a bit of exposure, a bit of balance, and a bit of scrambling. Oh, and great views! The spicy bits all have chains and/or steps, which is nice given that we are mostly downclimbing. The pass comes sooner than it needs to and we rejoin the red-white hiking path and start down, down into the nice valley towards the Maighelshütte. Over some snow fields, along the flat bottom, past a forest of cairns, and then lightly off to the left and up to the Maighelspass. Here a food break while enjoying the views and then we start the long descent down towards the Vermigelhütte.

Down, down, down until we hit the road, up a bit to the hut, quick decision that we want to stick with our original plan, quick water bottle filling, and then up, up, up through the gentle, round, green valley towards the Sellapass. Steadily up, enjoying the breeze and the views and the walking; nice food break, and then up some more. Where it starts to get steeper we run into a young woman who asks if we are going through the pass and, once we confirm that we are, asks if she can come with us, she had turned back at a snow field before but would rather go through the pass than back down through the valley. of course we agree, so we continue up as a group of three. There are some steep snow fields along the way, but the snow is good for making steps and with a bit of creativity and care we make our way through the tricky bits and then further up to the pass. More great views, a bit along the ridge to the buildings, a photo, water, and view break, and then we start our way down.

Down, down, down, along an easy path with a few snow fields, down, down, saying goodbye to the long views, down down to the lake above the dam. From here it’s easy, mostly along the road, to get to the Gotthard pass. We have a bit of time, so we enjoy a bratwurst in the sun (and wind!) before getting on the bus down to Airolo.

Another really nice day!

Track:

Stats: 7:50, 21.0km, 1170m up, 1620m down

Four days in Tessin: Gorda to Cap. Cadlimo

Breakfast at 7:00, not particularly satisfying (matching expectations, but one can always hope), and we are underway at 7:45. The weather is perfect, the clouds from the days before have all blown away (we can actually see the Rheinwaldhorn) and there’s a nice breeze to keep things cool. We start out going up, up, up along a nice path towards the Capanna Nido d’Aquila. Once we hit the broad ridge we turn off to the left and climb gently through a really, really nice landscape. There are beautiful places one could bivvy, a couple nice looking lakes, some ponds, nice views, etc. Along the ridge for a bit before turning off to the right and starting to head down towards Acquacalda. 

Down down along a nice path, crossing some streams (this is something of a theme for the day), one wet foot crossing (g has his Merrills with him, A gets wet shoes), along we go. Food break along the way, meeting another path at Brönich; now we start to see some other people. Onward and onward until hitting the larger trail at Lareccio. This one is way more popular, particularly with bikers coming the other direction (probably they have taken the gondola up from Airolo and are then riding down?). Anyway, now we start to head up, up again into another really pretty valley. Up up, enjoying the views and the breeze, another food break on a big flat rock, up, up to the Passo del Sole. New views!

Now it’s down from the path, turning off towards the Passo dell’Uomo, and then along a new valley, with new views for a bit. We turn off this busy trail (heading towards the Passo del Lucomagno) and contour around towards the Val Cadlimo. A food break and some water pumping along the way and then we head into the valley. This valley is surpassingly lovely, which is good since we walk the whole length of it. ;-) Lots of nice things too see as we go up, up . One of the more unusual of these is a herd of yaks(!) being driven by a shepherd, 6 dogs, and his family. That was weird. At the end we turn right and head up, up, taking in more amazing views, to the Capanna Cadlimo. We have time to get checked in and have a cool beverage before dinner, yeah!

The hut is pretty full (at least given the Corona restrictions), and many of the visitors aren’t the usual hut visitors, but things are well organized and everything works. We have a good meal, play a game, then head off to bed to process all of the many memories and mental pictures from what was a quite long, and really nice, day.

Track:

Stats: 9:40, 27.7km, 1730m up, 970m down

Four days in Tessin: Anzonico to Gorda

Breakfast at 7:30, and a surprisingly good one, and we are underway by 8:30.  We head up, up out of town and through the woods to Monte Angone. There’s a village fest here today, but we’re too early for it, so we continue up, up, through the woods some more, through Frageira, up up. A food break for strength and then we finish the last bit of climbing to hit the ridge at Passo Crastumo. Hoo boy is it windy up here! Nice to keep things cool. The views probably would be pretty good in both directions, but off to the East there is still a solid layer of clouds at around 2500m. 

Along the ridge we go, ascending up to Motto Crostel and then further, past Mottarone, until we head down to the Bassa di Nara. We find a wind sheltered place for a food break and plan our next step. Rather than doing the scrambly ridge to the Poncione di Nara and continuing to the Pizzo Molare (definitely attractive looking ridge fun) we take the "let’s save our legs a bit for tomorrow" approach. Up to the Pizzo di Nara and then along the ridge until we re-join the red-white hiking path. Down a bit more, contouring around, gently up and down, sometimes in the forest, sometimes the open, until we hit the Capanna Gorda, our destination for the day. 

Cool drinks and a cheese and salami plate in the sun, check in, a short nap, a bit more enjoying views, some games, a really good meal, and then we head off to bed. 

We kept the day intentionally a bit light(er) since Monday’s a big one, but it was still really nice.

Track:

Stats: 6:55, 16.7km, 1515m up, 831m down

Four days in Tessin: Poleggio to Anzonico

We take the 6 am train from Basel and after a couple of trains and a bus are ready to start hiking from Poleggio at  9:30. The first part of the day was part of G’s very long run last year, so some of the nice up, up, up, through the woods is familiar to him. It’s pretty warm and humid, but fortunately we are under trees as we head up up and along the Via Alta. The plan is to take a trail up towards the ridge from Bodengo, but it turns out not to be trivial to find this one and we don’t want to spend our time fighting uphill through the woods, so we continue along the via Alta until we hit the trail up just past Bidre. 

A food break and then more up, up, up to the ridge. This bit is really nicely graded and G has to watch himself to avoid going faster than he should. Through the lovely few houses at Tenciareu (they even have a gondola up!). Once on the ridge (still in trees so no views) we do another food break and then continue onto the other side, past the Capanna Plan d’Alpe, then up and back to the ridge. Once there we follow the ridge along and up, up to the Matro. This has a horrible structure on it but otherwise nice views (too bad about the clouds to the East). 

It’s running late-ish, so we opt to head down from here. There’s and unmarked use trail with some cairns (and the occasional faded old red/white marking) that leads us efficiently down to Puscett. Here we pick up a marked trail/road which we follow, mostly flat, along the slope until hitting Suaggia, where we pick up another unmarked trail which leads us down, down, down to Anzonico.

We find the hotel, check in, have showers and a rest, enjoy a good pizza, have a walk through town, and then go to bed.

This was a long day, but it felt longer than it was. There’s loads more to come, so those legs better wake up! ;-)

Track:

Stats: 8:04, 22.4km, 2050m up, 1390m down

Grassenbiwak and Grassen

 The plan for the weekend was to go to the Grassenbiwak on Saturday and then climb the Klein Titlis south face to get to the Titlis (there's a description of this in one of Dani Silbernagel's books). We started this last year, but Greg wasn't feeling great, so we turned around during the hike up to the Grassenbiwak.

Saturday

We take the bus to Herrenrüti, follow the trail up the valley a bit and then turn off and start heading up, up. It's a lovely blue-sky day and not overly warm... good hiking. Up, up we go, at first through the woods, but then more open, switching to the blue-white path at the place we turned around last time, and then up, up some more with great views under the towering east wall of the Titlis. We're definitely noticing that this is the first trip of the season with heavy packs. We do a food break at around 1900m and then follow the path across onto the glacier moraine. Up, up some more along the moraine and then we hit the first snow. The rest of the way to the ridge is a mix of kicking steps in steep snow, scrambling, and normal blue-white hiking. It's not always trivial to find the trail (some markings probably under snow, no visible trail because of the snow) and the snow->rock transitions are occasionally tricky, but we make steady progress. The last bit to the ridge even has some cables in it (that makes the route finding easy!). Once on the ridge the route finding gets easy (<smile>) and we continue on to the biwak. There are clear, and relatively fresh looking, tracks coming down from the Grassen so we are happy to discover that we are, at least at the moment, alone.

The biwak is super cozy and well equipped, so we get the stove going, boil some water, and have coffee/tea and enjoy the views along with our last sandwiches. It's a nice, quiet late afternoon. As it gets later some weather starts to come in and by the time we do dinner there's thunder and lightning on the other side of the Titlis and it's almost raining. We don't get a sunset, but there are at least some nice cloudscapes. During the night it rains pretty heavily and we get some more thunder and lightning; it's fun to lay warm and cozy in the hut and hear all that going on outside. :-)

Track from Saturday:

Stats: 5:29, 8.9km, ~1600m up

Sunday

We're in a cloud when we wake up. It's still mostly there after breakfast, so we do a post-breakfast nap to give the sun some time to do its job. By the time we start packing up at 8:30 it's cleared up some, though the Titlis itself is still mostly covered. We've decided that doing the original route isn't a great idea since the route-finding is supposed to be tricky and being in a cloud would just be too much (plus the approach yesterday was a bit more adventurous than anticipated and it's still early season in our heads), so when we set out it's towards the Grassen (the destination for our first self-organized Hochtour eight years ago). We head down the ridge from the hut to the glacier, rope up, and the follow the tracks up, up towards the Grassen. 

The ascent track turns off and seems to head more directly towards the Stössensattel, and the descent track is a direttissima, so Andrea gets to do some trail stamping as we zigzag up, up towards the peak. The snow is a bit too soft, but otherwise conditions are good and we make our way without problems to the ridge and follow the well-work track the rest of the way to the peak. Unsurprisingly, there are people up here. :-) After a food break and some view enjoyment on the peak (the Titlis is still largely in clouds), we start back along the ridge to follow the normal route back to the Sustlihütte. Easy along the ridge, through the pass, down the steep bit through the rocks (there's still snow here, but apparently not as much as last time), then down, down until we get to the hut.

At the hut we stop for some tea and cake and enjoy the views and the spectacle of the crowds doing the Kanzelgrat before starting our way down the Leiterliweg to the road and the bus stop. We've still got some time, so we hang out by the river, enjoy our last sandwiches, and then get on the bus to start the long trip back to Basel.

This wasn't what we had planned, but it was a definitely a very nice plan B.

Track from Sunday:

Stats: ~4:00, 6.7km, 420m up, ~1150m down

The Niesengrat

The forecast calls for a decent morning and then gathering clouds and rain in the early afternoon, so we decide to revisit the Niesengrat. We take an early train from Basel, get the first funicular up from Mülenen, and are underway under blue skies at 8:30.

The hike is just as enjoyable as last time and the weather is nice for a while before starting to cloud over. We stop for a food break on the Drunegalm and confirm on the weather radar that there is rain coming. Onwards to the Steinschlaghore, where we have a decision to make. We can see the rain coming and on the radar it looks like it'll arrive in <30 minutes, so we opt to not continue to the Mäggesserhore (a stretch goal for the day) and just head down to Frutigen. 

The rain starts a few minutes after we leave the ridge, so we do the long down, down, down in a light sprinkle. It's not too bad and it keeps the increasing temperature from being oppressive, so we aren't complaining.

Maybe next time we can actually make it to the Mäggesserhore, but this is still a really nice tour...

Track:

Stats: 5:51, 14km, ~700m up, ~2300m down

Climbing above Kandersteg: Ueschenen day 2

We start with the same procedure as Saturday: gondola up and then walking around the corner and up to the cliff face. We're not overly surprised to see a bunch of cars parked near where the path heads up from the road today (it's Sunday). Up up to the cliff and then it's decision time.

We want to do a route in the other wall, which is steeper and bit higher than what we did yesterday, so we opt for Aurikel Primula. We get ready and wait a couple of minutes for the pair in front of us to move up and then G starts climbing. He doesn't get very far. After the second bolt there's a bit he doesn't like (probably some of this is also nervousness about the 5c+ pitch above and the crowds) and after looking at it for a bit he wimps out. We decide to do the Familienroute (4c, 4b, 5b, 5a, 5b, Greg starts) instead. There's a team of three above us, but they seem fairly far along, so we go for it.

Once again nice climbing. The group in front of us is quite slow and it's hard to pass a group of three, so we just relax and enjoy the views. We do a food break on one of the broader ledges to let them finish the route and then do the last bit ourselves. Again, fun climbing.

We've got all our gear with us this time, so when we top out we opt to hike back to the gondola instead of abseiling. Up, up we go through the grass until we hit the hiking path, then along that to the Alpschelehubel to enjoy the viewpoint before heading back along the ridge. The path we want to take - to the right and then back down the gondola station - is officially closed. Alternatives are to continue on, through the Bundnerchrinde, and then back through the pass or down into the Ueschenetal and back that way. We opt to checkout the closed path just to see how bad things are. It ends up being no problem to make it through - there are a couple of spots where the path is thin or has been covered by rock/mudslide, and a few snow patches, but those are easy to pass and we're crossing the snow in the valley bottom in no time at all. We do another food break and then head down, down to the gondola. 

After picking up our extra bag at the hotel we get on the train (with first class tickets to avoid the crowds) to start the trip home.

We'll definitely have to go back to Ueschinen and do some climbing on the left wall on a Saturday or during the week when it's less crowded.

Track:

Climbing above Kandersteg: Ueschenen day 1

We finally have a weekend with two days of good weather forecast, so we opt to go climbing above Kandersteg in the Ueschenen area. We've talked about this many times, but this is our first trip down.

Early train to Kandersteg, drop off an extra bag at the hotel, then walk to the gondola and up to Undere Allme (this is great steep gondola ride, with fun views of the very creatively setup klettersteig). From there we walk up and around the corner to Bärgli and then further up, up to the foot of the wall. There aren't that many folks climbing yet, so we have our choice of routes; we opt for Parallel (5a, 4c, 4b, 5b, 5b; Andrea starts). It's fun climbing, if a bit heavy on the grass, and conditions are decent aside from some of the grass/dirt bits still being a bit wet. Definitely fun to climb on water runnels again. :-)

Once up top we walk over to the abseil route and head down from there in two abseils (the 3x22m is easy to do as only two with our double rope). The second abseil is super fun and overhanging. We've stupidly not brought the real shoes with us, so we get to walk back to the base of the route in our climbing shoes (G) or barefoot (A). Once back we eat and then decide to do a bit more climbing. 

Next we climb the first three pitches of King Julian (5b, 5b, 4c; Greg starts) and then repeat the fun overhanging abseil.

Pack up the stuff, back to the gondola, down to Kandersteg, and then to the hotel (same one as our first trip to Kandersteg). Shower, rest, an ok dinner in the old dining room (getting 1/2 pension was a mistake!), a walk through town, and then off to bed.