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...