Easy walk from Village to Village in Val Colla near Lugano

Friday November 15, 2024 -- The weather suddenly turned quite cold but still with sunshine. Nevertheless, I am not ready to go out for walks in 5ºC weather, so our option for this day (Urs having Friday off instead of Wednesday) was another foray into Canton Ticino, where it is becoming more and more difficult for us to find trails we have not yet hiked!

Most of the hiking trails in the Ticino mountains require quite steep ascents or descents, and Urs still can't do much of that, even though he is now trying out special insoles. There is a sunny side of a valley near Lugano called Val Colla, at the foot of the magnificent Gazzirola peak and near the border of Italy, where we have not yet walked, as all paths are steep up and down, except for a paved road taken by the bus to get to the back of the valley. This seemed like a good time to explore the villages there, as webcams showed the trees to still have some colourful leaves as well.

Even with the Gotthard base tunnel making our trip to the Ticino an hour shorter than 10 years ago, it took us three hours to the start of our hike in the village of Cozzo at the very back of the valley (where we had once started on a very fabulous mountain hike to the San Lucio Pass in September of 2021 --> photos HERE).  From there we walked mainly along paved roads, enjoying the forest colours, the mountains, the villages (each with a church, most of which were closed at this time of year). It was a long trip for a 2½-hour walk, but we enjoyed the very mild weather, and it was enough walking for me on paved roads.

We got back to Lugano at 4 p.m., and instead of heading home right away, we had an early dinner at the Lugano Train Station Pizzeria, where we had heard they had pretty good pizzas, which was indeed the case!

After a 90-minute train ride from Zug to Lugano, we had to ride the bus for an hour into Val Colla, changing once here at Tesserete. We have passed this church many times, having visited the inside with its lovely frescoes twice. (On one of those trips in 2017, we noticed that the painting of Baby Jesus on one of the walls displays six fingers on one hand!)

The winding road up into the Colla Valley was not wide enough for the bus and this truck to pass! The bus has the right of way, and the truck is supposed to back up, but both the truck and our bus had cars behind them! So after a lot of hand gesturing, our bus driver got out, and told the car behind us to back up, so he could also back up to a spot where the truck could pass. That seemed to be the best solution, apparently. 

A look toward Mt. Gazzirola as the bus heads into the Colla Valley. 

The bus runs all the way to the back of the valley along these roads, which we then walked back along later. There was not a lot of traffic, and the forest colours were pretty.

We got off the bus at 11:10, at the very back of the valley in the village of Cozzo, where we had started on a different hike up to Passo San Lucio in September 2021. The church was locked (we had a quick look).

Lots of cats here (and dogs). These ones are also enjoying the sunshine, as are we!

This was only a 2½-hour walk and less than 10km (our usual stretch), mostly on paved roads where the bus runs to the back of the valley. There was little traffic, but walking on paved roads is tiring. Most of the trails here are steep up and down, and that is tricky with all the fallen leaves on the paths. We started in Cozzo at about 11:15, and caught the 15:10 bus from Bidogno for the 40-minute ride back to Lugano. 

This was one of only two small stretches where we walked on soft trails instead of paved road. We were heading up the hill to the Church of St. Peter and St.Paul, which perches on the hillside above the village of Colla, a building we had often seen on our trips into this valley. 

As we head up the hill through the forest, this is a look back down at the village of Cozzo, where we started our hike. On that hike back in September of 2021, we walk up to above the tree line, and then on a high trail toward the pass on the right. 

A closer look at the village of Cozzo where we started on our hike. 

Lovely forest just above the Church of St.Peter and St.Paul. It took us 25 minutes to walk here from Cozzo.

Details of the church of St.Peter and St.Paul, which was locked, but we could look through a window to see a golden altar inside and the frescoes of St.Peter and St.Paul. The church was first mentioned in documents of 1264, but has its current form since 1662. 

We are always a little disappointed when the churches are locked. It had a really nice cemetery, though, and a lovely view down the valley. The church has its current form since 1662, but the bell tower is from the Romanesque period. 

Great view from the church cemetery! 

From here we descend to the road where the village of Colla is located below, and then we walked to the next village with the cute name of "Signora".

Interesting details on a house we passed on the way down to the road. 

Below in Colla is another church called Oratorio di San Lazzaro. We walked to the front door, but this church was also locked. Information from the Internet says it was built in the 19th century with the aim of being able to celebrate functions during the winter season without having to climb up to the main church.

Following the road now for just over a kilometer to get to the next village called Signora. 

A close-up look at the previous church of St.Peter and St.Paul, as we head to Signora

We arrived at the Oratorio di San Giuseppe in Signora from higher up in the village. This church was open so we could look inside. It apparently dates from 1819 and had bright yellow painted walls and ceilings. According to the internet, the wooden altar carved in Baroque style is a masterpiece. 

Across the valley we can see the winding road from valley bottom to the village of Bogno, one village over from where we started. The bus actually goes up and down this road, on those narrow switchbacks!

Across from the front of the church in Signora was a perfectly-placed bench with a view, where we had our picnic lunch at 12:30.

From Signora to the next village called Scareglia, we had to walk another kilometer (15 minutes) on the paved road. This cute little vehicle passed us and parked here. We had a good laugh as the sign on the window states the maximum speed this vehicle is allowed to travel on the road, which is 10 km/hour, but someone drew in another zero, and now it can go 100 kms/hour!

Along the way we get views of the back of the Colla Valley and the pass called San Lucio where we walked to in September 2021. The entire crest forms the border between Switzerland and Italy. 

Heading off the main road now into the village of Scareglia

Scareglia has a little church as well. This one is called Oratorio di Santa Maria della Neve and was built in 1617.

At this point along the road to the next village of Corticiasca, we are apparently leaving Val Colla, and heading into the region called the Capriasca. 

The first glimpses of the massif called "Denti della Vecchia", which means "Old Lady's Teeth". We walked along that massif in 2015.

One big disappointment of the day is that the air was very hazy over the city of Lugano. Usually you can see the mountains much better than this. Here you can just barely make out the lake. The main mountain of the city of Lugano is Monte San Salvatore, and you can just see the communication tower on the summit. 

Unfortunately, the church in Corticiasca would have required a detour to go have a look. We decided to skip this one, as it probably would have been closed as well!

A look a the "Denti della Vecchia" past the rooftops of Corticiasca. 

Here next to the road was an easy forest trail which we were able to walk to Bidogno, where we were going to catch the bus back out of the valley. There was another Oratorio along the way, which we also wanted to look at, just 15 minutes from here. 

Finally, a bit of a trail off the paved road!

Another look at the mountains of the Capriasca Region, past the rooftops of Bidogno.  

We had high hopes for the "Oratorio della Divina Maesta" at the north end of Bidogno, but it too, was locked, and we could not even see inside the windows! The church was apparently built between 1644 and 1646.

This is one of those "Via Crucis" paths, or "Stations of the Cross". We descended from here into the village of Bidogno. 

Walking through the alleyways of Bidogno. 

Some cute little details in the village of Bidogno. There was a date above the archway (upper right), it read 1659 or 1689. 

The landscape is looking lovely in the late afternoon sunlight (3 p.m.!)

And the final church, across from the bus stop in Bidogno, is the parish church called San Barnaba. According to Wikipedia, It was built in the 15th century on the foundations of an older building. In the 17th century three side chapels were added. The bell tower is from the 18th century.

This church was open and I still had a few minutes before the 15:10 bus, so I had a look inside. It was decorated with a lot of stucco sculptures

These are all the hikes we have done in the region of Val Colla and the upper Capriasca. This is very close to the Italian border. The light pink trail is the one we did this day. (Had we had ten minutes more, we could have continued our walk to join the orange trail, but had we missed this bus, the next one wasn't till two hours later.)

A final look to Mt.Gazzirola and the villages at the back of the Colla Valley as the bus heads back out of the valley to Tesserete. 

This interesting-looking villa is a house we pass each time we head into this valley. In fact, we even walked past it on one of the other hikes (photos HERE). 

It has been determined that these palm trees are an invasive plant (from China, naturally) in this region. But they do look pretty and add such a Mediterranean flair in this region!

A final look at the beautiful Denti della Vecchia mountains on our way to Lugano. 

We got to the train station in Lugano at 4 p.m., a little early for supper, but we had long wanted to try out the pizza here. There was only a small selection (four choices), but good and relatively inexpensive. We also had a salad, but I made the mistake of pouring chili-infused olive oil on the vegetables, and my lips burned when eating them! Urs had tiramisu for dessert as well.

This is what the pizzeria at the Lugano train station looks like. This is NOT my own photo, but an image which I took from the Internet. 

Location of Val Colla within Switzerland, in the very southern part and near the border with Italy. 

Trub to Trubschachen via Risisegg Crest, in the Napf Region of Central Switzerland

Sunday November 10, 2024 -- With Saturday a "day of rest" for me (Urs went to help his brother with garden work in Appenzell, and in retrospect I should have gone along, as the fog they had also been having in that region had lifted for the day, and it was actually a very nice day there!), on this Sunday we planned another small outing, having to keep our walking time to about two hours without much downhill.

With all this fog in the central part of Switzerland at this time of year, Sundays are a difficult day to plan for outings above the fog, as all the popular mountain regions will have loads of people accessing them for a sunny Sunday outing. So we chose an outing in the Emmental once again, where studies of the webcams showed that it would probably be free of fog. 

There is a popular themed trail called the "Grenzpfad Napfbergerland", which follows a 115-km long trail along the Napf region of central Switzerland, and a trail of which we have done several sections already. In September of 2021 we walked a section of Stage 3 of this trail (photos HERE) but descended earlier than originally planned (due to my frustration because the weather didn't play along). The place we descended to at the time is called Trub, and today seemed to be the ideal day to start there again, hike back up to the ridge trail, and continue down to Trubschachen which is the end of Stage 3.

It was ideal because the initial uphill climb was only 250 meters in elevation gain, and from there on it was a pleasant always slightly downhill walk on partly paved roads, with views of the mountains, cows in the pastures, and no fog. Ending the hike at the Kambly Cookie Factory means another session of free cookie samples and, with luck, an empty table for coffee in the overcrowded café sections of the shop, typical, unfortunately, for a Sunday afternoon there. 

All the way from home to Luzern and past Wolhusen we had fog, which started to let up before we reached Trubschachen. 

We got to Trubschachen at about 10:45 but had to wait there 30 minutes for the bus into the Fankhaus Valley. It was very cold there! Then it was an 8-minute bus ride to the village of Trub, where we started our hike at the north end of the village. These are some houses along the way.

We started our hike at the north end of the village. This house was one we passed when we ended the other hike in September 2021. 

Our hike started with an uphill climb partly in the shade of the forest, so it wasn't too hot and quite easy to climb. 

A look down the valley toward Trubschachen, where there is some fog moving in from the direction of Langnau (we had heard that this might be the case). What this means for us is possibly having to walk down into the fog at the end of our hike.

And from above, a zoomed view of the village of Trub. The bus leaving Trubschachen was actually more full than we had expected and we wondered why. We thought those people were headed to the end of the valley from where they would walk up to the summit of Mt. Napf. But they all descended here. From the look of the full parking lot, there must be an event going on this Sunday!

One of the options we had considered for this day was a walk along the river between Langnau and Trubschachen, and based on all that fog there, we are glad we chose to come into this side valley instead!

We started our hike at the north end of the village of Trub at 11:20 and climbed up to the crest trail (Trail no.65: "Grenzpfad Napfbergerland") which took us about 45 minutes. We stopped at a farmhouse at Risiseggknubel for our picnic lunch. The whole hike was about 2½ hours. We got to the Kambly Cookie factory at about 2 p.m.  

As we got to the crest, we had a view of this mountain to the east, which I think is called Fürstein, a summit we climbed from the other side, and walked down on this side. (Photos HERE)

There was a bench in front of the farmhouse at Risiseggchnubel, and it looked like no one was home, so we "borrowed" the bench for our 15-minute lunch break. 

Taking a lunch break here for about 15 minutes arond noon time. It was almost too hot here in the sun, next to the warm house wall!

This was our view from the bench where we had our picnic lunch. The air was hazy, but we could make out Mounts Eiger and Mönch on the right, plus the distinctive horn called Schibegütsch at the south end of the Schrattenflue Massif. 

Heading off on our hike again after a small break here. 

To the south are the Bernese Alps, namely Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau, with the saddle called Jungfraujoch on the right. 

It was a nice walk, as there were only a handful of other people walking along this road. The cows have free use of the road here too. There WERE several cars which passed us, though, which was surprising, as there doesn't seem to be anything but farms up here. (Maybe an event at a farm?) 

The cows are always so curious.

We have come quite a ways south now, so we have to look behind us now to the village of Trub, where we started our hike. These are the lovely hills of the Napf Region. 

Another close-up look at the village of Trub in the Fankhaus Valley. 

And another look at the Bernese Alps to the south. 

Farmers are glad that the cows can still graze and don't have to be fed the hard-earned hay yet. 

I think the cows are very happy to still be out enjoying the fresh air as well!

Middle of November and we can do a "mountain" walk with the sound of the cowbells. 

These are the kinds of walks I like to do in winter, because the landscape is still so green. 

The smallest people are already out hiking! (They did put her in the baby carrying back-pack for the final downhill stretch!)

The pointed peak left of center is called the Finsteraarhorn and is the highest mountain in the Bernese Alps. 

Following Route no.65: "Grenzpfad Napfbergerland", we have another 35 minutes to go to descend to Trubschachen. 

Heading down the hill now toward Trubschachen. NO MORE FOG!!!

Along the way we pass some very pretty Emmental-Style houses. 

Along the way we pass some very pretty Emmental-Style houses. 

These small buildings are called Spycher, and were originally used to store grain in the bottom part, and as a secondary small apartment for older family members at the top. 

Another lovely large Emmental-Style house, with the secondary house called a Spycher. 

Further along the road we passed another small Spycher on a farm called Schwand. 

Heading across the Schwand pastures, this rooster was crowing like crazy. A late riser, you might say, as it was now almost 2 p.m. (Like the rooster in the story of how the Canton Border between Uri and Glarus was determined in 1315...)

A view across the rooftops of Trubschachen, where we caught the bus into the Fankhaus Valley at 11:15, and will catch the train back home after coffee and cookies at the Kambly Factory!

Our hike ends at the Kambly factory at about 2 p.m., now already in shadow. We do a lot of hiking in this region, and when possible, stop by here after the hikes for coffee and free cookies!

The factory produces a large variety of cookies (mostly with chocolate) as well as crackers and other healthy cookies, all of which you can sample for free. The cookies are also sold in bulk for cheaper than the specially-packaged ones for the stores. On this day the shop was PACKED (typical for a Sunday), and the ladies were rushing to fill all the sampling boxes as they emptied quickly! We were very lucky to have been able to grab an empty table for two. All the other tables were taken. 

This is what our hike looks like on Google Satellite Maps. We started at a bus stop just north of the village of Trub, and walked across the Bisisegg crest and back down to Trubschachen. It was a short walk of less than three hours, but with lots of sunshine and no fog. 

All the hikes we have done in the Napf region around Trubschachen and Escholzmatt. 

Location of the Napf region in Switzerland. 

This is an example of what happens on a Sunday in Switzerland when the low-lands are covered in fog. All the people head into the mountains, like here in Kriens (Luzern) at the gondola cable-way to Mount Pilatus. We have had to stand here in line on a nice day before, but never more than about five people on the left! This is outrageous! And this is why we always try to think of places to go on a nice Sunday where we expect the least amount of other people.