From Rasa in the Centovalli to Brissago on Lago Maggiore

Sunday October 28, 2017 -- We make many trips to the Locarno area in Southern Switzerland, so much so that we are running out of ground that we want to cover, or so it seems.... 

Every time we have traveled over the Magadino Plain we have admired the ragged cliff walls of the mountains that separate Lake Maggiore from the Centovalli and wondered what it would be like to walk up there. From the Centovalli side there is a cable car from Verdasio to Rasa that saves some 500 altitude meters, cutting the uphill portion to only 500m. On the East side though, there is nothing to be done but to walk the 1200 m back down to the lake.

Yet the view that hits you when you get to the ridge is a memorable one, mostly because it's from an unusual angle. We've seen the lake from the top of Cimetta to the North and Monte Gambarogno to the East, but never from here to the West. 

In striving to lengthen our hiking season we look to areas where there is yet no snow at higher elevations, but this hike would have been way more enjoyable if we hadn't had to slog our way uphill for two hours through boot-deep piles of beech leaves on a mostly steep incline. Or the fact that on the Brissago side the bus that makes the steep run up to the top of the village does not run on Sundays, meaning an extra 30 minutes added to our downhill portion.... although I can't complain. Other than sore feet, it was all stairs, about 1.5 km of stairs, and I love stairs.

Traveling across the Magadino Plain, we have often seen the mountain range that separates Lake Maggiore from the Centovalli, and wondered what it would be like to walk on that ridge.

Coming up from the other side, the red line is approx. where we walked down to the lake on this side.

Our 12-km hike started in Rasa after a cable-car ride from Verdasio. This saved us 500m of uphill climbing. Still it was 2½ hours and 500m uphill to Alpe di Naccio, then 1200m downhill to Brissago, another 2½ hours.

We have been in the pretty mountain village of Rasa several times already.

Hiking uphill from Rasa in the Centovalli

The charming mountain village of Rasa in the Centovalli

Heading toward the mountain range from the West.

The trail would have been nice if it hadn't been hidden by so many leaves... you had to place each foot carefully, not knowing what was beneath...

The two-hour uphill trek was worth it for this view South along Lago Maggiore. This view is actually into Italy, as we are very close to the border.

Another 20 minutes uphill and we were at Alpe di Naccio, looking North. Not sure about the Yoga People....

Below us at the back, the Ticino River enters the lake from the Magadino Plain. Closer to us, the Maggia River enters the lake from the Maggia Delta at Locarno/Ascona

  

Spectacular panorama view of Lake Maggiore, the Maggia Delta, the Magadino Plain, Monte Gambarogno across the lake, and the Brissago islands below. 

Below are the Brissago Islands (Isole di Brissago). Across the Lake is Monte Gambarogno, where we have also done several hikes.

Close-up look at the Isole di Brissago

Heading down to Brissago, we can see the first houses we will pass by (bottom left)

Around the corner we were arrested by this fantastic ragged wall of rock: "Stunning" is all I could think of.

More fantastic rock formations. Finally, we get to see up close what we have often seen from across the plain.

Lago Maggiore at the border of Switzerland and Italy

Lots of steep downhill through chestnut and birch forests toward the lake.

This is the only wild animal we came across in the forest this day!!!

As we reach the outskirts of Brissago, we now descend 200m or 1½ km of stairs! Along the way passing lots of villas and palm trees, as here near the lake is a Mediterranean climate.

1½ km of stairs past villas, churches and lots of palm trees.

This is an olive tree. We don't see many of them here. But still, it is very much a Mediterranean-type climate.

All kinds of interesting vegetation that we usually run across in Italy...

In all the hike was about 4½ hours with over 1200 meters of descent. The steep descent portion translates to many more "performance" kilometers than the total 13 kilometers of this hike! 

Running out of places to hike...

Panorama Views on the Blueme Look-out Tower above Lake Thun

October 25, 2017 --  Wednesday's hike was a bit of a basic one for us this time, no walking on glaciers or glacier moraines, just through pleasant fall forest trails and meadows to a look-out tower on the hills above the North side of Lake Thun.

This area near Interlaken gets a lot of sun and so we didn't risk any snow this time. And descending through open meadows we got satisfying views of the pyramid-shaped Mount Niesen and the Bernese Trio. In fact, the snowy peaks made a lovely contrast with the fall colours and the late afternoon sun cast interesting shadows on those snowy peaks, creating a depth of field you don't usually get in summer.

Still, it was 12 km and a 4-hour hike but warm and sunny so also another great "Day-Off" hike for us.

From Goldiwil near Thun it took us 2 hours to walk up to the tower, then from there another two hours to walk to Sigriswil

Below us is the village of Goldiwil where we started our hike. All the way in the valley bottom on the left is the city of Thun on Lake Thun.

This cute and very old barn loft has its own address!

To our North, several such Emmental farmsteads dot the countryside

These aren't the usual babies we see in the meadows, but also cute!

This is perfect fall weather for hiking.

Uphill hikes are not strenuous when the trails are through soft pastures.

The lighting is interesting at this time of year.

It's all relative

Simmental cow in the pasture, they love company

That is a backscratcher, in case one is needed...

We found some more Toblerones, it looks like there might have been a fortification line here as well. I stepped in the stinging nettles.

This oak tree is 122 years old

This 122-year-old oak tree is a natural monument. It was planted in 1895 to commemorate the opening of the Rehabilitation Clinic in Heiligenschwendi nearby.

This was our view for lunch, before the final ascent to the look-out tower

The Blueme look-out tower. It is 16m high

On top of the 16m-high Blueme look-out tower (highest point in the community of Thun)

The 16m-high Blueme look-out tower (highest point in the community of Thun)

From the tower, it was another 2-hour descent to Sigriswil. We walked along a light ridge with views in three directions.

From the tower, it was another 2-hour descent to Sigriswil. We walked along a light ridge with views in three directions.

We were rewarded with clear views of the Eiger-Mönch-Jungfrau peaks

There is a gorge between us and our destination of Sigriswil, so we had to back-track a bit.

At the back of the gorge was this old mill (Grabenmühle), converted to a restaurant called "Funky Fish"

This is the 5-year-old suspension bridge (pedestrian only) in Sigriswil, it is 350m long and hangs 180m over the gorge. 

The Information Center in Sigriswil

From Sigriswil we took the bus back to Thun, from where you get a magnificent view of the Eiger North Wall.

12-km hike from Goldiwil to Sigriswil near Thun (Lake Thun)

We haven't spent a lot of time in this area, not as much as other areas in Switzerland.