Four-Day Trip to Bernina Region: Morteratsch Glacier to Swiss Alpine Hostel Boval

(This post published on October 25, 2025). 

Monday September 2, 2013 -- After a great second night at the Swiss Alpine Hostel Saoseo (we were the only guests this night, compared to the full house from Saturday to Sunday), we decided to forego using the Alpine Taxi back to the main road at Sfazù, an early morning 5-km walk through a very pretty landscape in the Val da Camp. We would have enjoyed it much more if we hadn't been rushing to catch the bus, which just pulled in as we got to the road, all sweaty!

About an hour by bus and train from Val da Camp, we got out at the Morteratsch Station. There are two options to hike to the Glacier: 50 mins. level walk to the base of the glacier tongue, or two hours steady uphill to the Swiss Alpine Club Hostel Boval at the foot of Piz Boval, and then the same path back. We of course did the hard one... it was tough but worth all the fantastic views down onto the two glaciers, with close-ups of the moraines and the Bernina Group (including the mountains we had seen from the other side). It's an awesome thought that this valley was once full of glacier ice, which is receding at 30 meters per year. Starting out the clouds were low over the mountain tops and so it was hard to see where the snow stopped and the sky began, but by the time we got back the sky was blue and we saw the mountains clearly. 

After this it was finally time to head home, another 4.5 hours by train.

PART I: Five-Kilometer walk from Saoseo Hostel to Sfazù Bus Stop

This is the Swiss Alpine Hostel Saoseo, where we spent two nights: From Saturday to Sunday it was pretty full, but from Sunday to Monday we were the only guests. 

Breakfast at the Hostel: Special treatment as we were the only guests. Nice to start the day with a Smiley Face in your Cappuccino!

All ready to head out on another day of hiking!

Yesterday we went to the right, now we're going to the left.

Last view of the Hostel as we head down the mountain. 

This is the first hike of the day! Five kilometers from the hostel to the bus stop at Sfazù (we didn't want to pay for the alpine taxi) which we had to walk quickly to make sure we didn't miss the bus. It took 1¼ hours to walk, and we made it just as the bus pulled up.  

As we descended, we always had the Palü Glacier in our sights. 

As we descended, we always had the Palü Glacier and Piz Palü in our view. 

We would have enjoyed this walk much more if we wouldn't have had to hurry so much. 

A very nice trail that we walked, five kilometers to the bus stop. 

We are always being watched!

Last view of Piz Palü top right. We will be looking at the other side later in the day.

(I believe that hamlet across the valley here is called Salva Dafora, according to my map, and the peak at the back is probably Piz Lagalp.)

I don't know what this river is called, but the waters flow out of Lake Saoseo, where we had been the day before. 

Photos from the Bus. This is called the Val Laguné

That valley heads to Italy via the Livigno Pass. 

Back at Lago Bianco on the Bernina Pass.

Piz Lagalp and Diavolezza base station.

First glimpse of the Bernina Group and the Morteratsch Glacier where we will be doing the next 4-hour hike. The sky is overcast and it's not looking great for this hike. 

1-1/4 hours from the hostel to the main road, then with the bus North along winding roads back to the Bernina Pass, and then to Morteratsch.

PART II: Two-hour hike to Swiss Alpine Hostel Boval, and same back again. 

Starting out on the hike. Alpine flowers are lovely!

This is the tongue of the glacier, and you can walk right up to it. Who knows how long the glacier has been carrying that rock!

Is this rock being carried along, or is it rock that cannot be ground down?

The trail goes continually uphill for two hours. It was rough going. But walking next to the glacier was a spectacular experience. 

The Pers Glacier joins the Morteratsch Glacier here. On the upper left we can just make out the summit station of the Diavolezza cable-way, which comes up from the other side and which you pass on the Bernina Line. On the far upper right is Piz Palü.

The Morteratsch Glacier is massive. Barely visible slightly left of center is the peak of Piz Palü, where we walked to the lake on the first day beneath that peak on the other side of here. The Bernina Peak is on the upper right. 

It was kind of tough hiking up here: You had to watch your step at some places!

From below, we can see the Alpine Hostel, the goal of this hike. (I have to admit, I could go no further, after all the hiking of the past three days and this long uphill hike. So I waited here and rested while Urs went all the way up to have a closer look at the hostel.)

This is the Swiss Alpine Hostel Boval (beneath the peak called Piz Boval). This is Urs' photo, because I didn't hike all the way up to the hut. (It would have been an additional 60 meters ascent from where I stopped and waited for Urs to return). 

Looking slightly to the southwest from where I waited for Urs, this peak is the one with the same name as the glacier, overlooking the glacier from directly to the west. 

The peak on the right here is the Bernina, which gives its name to the entire massif. It is 4048 meters. Down below is a moraine left behind by retreating glaciers. 

The sky is clearing now as we head back down along the same trail. This is such an impressive view. 

Here you can see how deep (i.e. how high) the glacier ice was at some point in the past. We learned later that the glacier has been retreating at 30 meters per year.  

Our trail heading back down to the Morteratsch train station, with a view of the Glacier Foreland. A bit further ahead was a trail down to the valley bottom, which we then followed, instead of going all the way along the same trail. 

A view of the glacier tongue as we descend. You can walk all the way up to it. 

And here we are headed down to the valley bottom. An option would have been to walk to the base of the glacier tongue, but this would have made the hike much too long. 

A look behind us at the fabulous Morteratsch Glacier as we continue out of the valley. 

The sign here indicates that it takes two hours to walk up to the Boval Hut, and 50 minutes to walk to the glacier tongue. Also, the sign points to a "show dairy" which we later walked to before going to the train station. 

There is a hotel near the train station and a park where we walked along the trail to a bridge, from where we could see up the Morteratsch River and the train line. 

Ah, and what luck that the Bernina Express is just passing by here!

This is the little show dairy, but as it was late in the day, there were no more demonstrations. 

(Side Note: These photos are from a separate trip which we took here in 2018, when we WERE able to watch the demonstration of cheese production). 

And a final close-up view of the beautiful Bernina Massif before boarding the train for the five-hour trip back home. 

Map of the Morteratsch Glacier Valley and Piz Palü from the other side.

Side note: This is what the Morteratsch Glacier looks like on a normal day when the train passes it on its way up toward the Bernina Pass.