From the Klausen Pass (Schächental Valley) to the Bisis Valley

30 June 2018 -- Weather forecast for the weekend: Very Very Hot. So guess what, we went to the mountains! I did scorn slightly, though, as my Other Half said "better take a good jacket along". Glad I listened, for two reasons: 1) leaving home at 6:15 is coolish even on a very hot day, and 2) clouds can come up very quickly in the mountains, and then it gets COLD!

Which is exactly what happened.

But at least the first hour and a half that we spent on the Balmer Ridge (including the 1-hour uphill climb) at the Klausen Pass were sunny, with clear skies, and a view to make the heart soar. This is one of my favourite places in the world and we have been in this area many times. Besides it being so close to our home!

But then thick dark clouds formed on the ridge and it got cold on the first half of our VERY long descent into the Bisis Valley to the North. I thought we'd never catch up to the sun, but eventually we did, and even though the trail was rough and hard to find, the slight breeze made our journey quite comfortable.

This one was a very long hike, took us almost 5 hours. On the map it measures 11 km, but with the steep uphill and very long downhill, calculates to about 17 km when you consider "performance km"!

Special Treat: As we came up the Schächen Valley with the PostBus from Flüelen (a treat in itself), just a short stretch before the Pass all cars had to stop at the hairpin turn as the mountain farmers were taking their herd of cows to pasture and needed to cross there. Our bus driver quipped "It's the Schächen Valley Street Parade!"

The bus ride up the Schächen Valley to the Klausen Pass is a treat in itself, with the narrow curving roads and the steep drop into the valley below.  

At the last hairpin curve we had to wait for the cows to cross. Lots of people get out here to walk the Schächen Valley High Trail (where the cows are walking!!) Can't wait too long though... the stragglers have to make their way through the traffic.

We got out at the Klausen Pass Hotel, which is not actually at the Klausen Pass. But this is a great view westward into the Schächen Valley, where we came up from. 

And far away, the "Schächen Valley Street Parade" continues.... the cow bells echoed across the valley for a very long time.

Hotel Klausen Pass  is not actually at the pass, but this is where our trail starts. In the back, the right, is my favourite mountain, Mount Schärhorn. Looks like scissors, thus the name.

We still had early morning shade (9 a.m.) and cool early morning lighting for the 1 hour 10 mins. ascent.

Up, Up, Up

400m ascent in 1 hour 10 minutes.  So proud!

On the other side of the ridge, looking North, is the Bisis Valley which ends at Muotothal. The large alpine meadow above is the popular Glattalp. A cable car goes up there, but can take only 8 people every 15 minutes, so you sometimes have to wait a couple of hours to get up or down!

   

Along the slope you can just barely see the zigzag path we climbed up, to the snows patch on the left. Now the trail follows the ridge for 30 minutes.

Here you can see how high we've come!

Walking the Balmer Grätli Ridge

Walking along the Balmer Grätli Ridge. On the next saddle past the rock tower is where we descent to the Ruosalp (to the right).

Looking backwards on the North side of the ridge. Our goal is the little lake called Waldisee, which you can barely see at the center of the photo. Above right is Glattalp, and the valley is called Bisistal.

Panorama Photo from the ridge looking East: Schächen Valley and Klausen Pass on the right, Bisis Valley on the left.

The Alpine Choughs are our accompaniment this time (no goats).

At the saddle called Ruosalper Chulm, you can descend to the South and go back to the Klausen Pass, or to the North as we did. This view is the South, with Mount Schärhorn at the back.

This is Ruosalper Chulm. We are now descending to the North. In the back is something pretty impressive: There is a road hewn out of the vertical cliff face to get to an alpine pasture, a single alpine pasture...

There is road hewn out of the cliff face to access the farm above. Last Autumn two people died when they were working on this road and a piece of the mountain broke and carried them off.

Last Autumn, three men lost their lives working on the upkeep of this road. You can see where the rock slide was.

Straight down below us, the ENTIRE mountainside was covered in little white flowers. It was a stunning tableau, looked like a dusting of snow or icing sugar.

Since this is an alpine pasture (the entire cauldron is called Ruosalp), there are cows!

Swiss Chocolate tastes special because the cows eat meadow flowers.

The trail was very hard to find, no trail really, just red-white markers every few meters.

This entire mountainside is a pasture, called Ruosalp. The farm below makes their own goat's cheese, which I don't like, so we didn't buy any. 

From about the height of the Goat Farm we look over at Lake Waldisee, an easy 20-minute walk. The trail continues for another 40 minutes at the back of the lake and then another 200m steep down to the road where the bus stop is.

At the level of the lake, this view shows where we accessed the ridge from the other side. And the crazy way the farmers have to mow...

At Lake Waldisee. Turns out you cannot swim here, it is a reservoir.

Lake Waldisee in the Bisis Valley

Our 17-km equivalent hike took us 5 hours. 400m ascent, 1300m descent. And 30 minutes on the ridge. It was fabulous.

From Passo del Lucomagno down the Valle Santa Maria

June 27, 2018 -- On Wednesday it was fairly hot in the lower areas so we went up high above the tree line to the rough and rugged terrain around the Lukmanier Pass (Italian = Passo del Lucomagno)... and could barely have had a better day to do this.

True, the wind up near the pass was very cold and uncomfortable, but the landscape of pink alp roses as far as the eye could see made up for the discomfort, and as the day progressed and we moved to lower altitudes (through scrubby forests, wide open plains with the meandering Brenno River, large alpine pastures with hundreds of cows) in the general direction of Olivone, the temperatures were ideal.

We can get to the Lukmanier Pass in under 3 hours, as there is a quick connection via Bellinzona/Biasca, which unfortunately we missed last year when we had planned this exact same excursion but the fast train to Bellinzona had technical issues... next connection is 3 hours later!!!. This time it worked, and the 1+ hour bus ride up the Blenio and Santa Maria Valleys are an equally stunning part of the excursion.

At the end of the day when we got back to the train station in Biasca, the temperature difference was INTENSE:  From the cool valley, to cool bus ride, then like an oven back in the Leventina Valley.

"Special Experience":  Up at the Pass a mobile Cheese and Sausage Farmer had set up a stand. He desperately wanted to sell us something, kept making us taste his meats and cheeses. We like to buy cheese from local farmers, so we settled on a Lukmanier Cheese. Very good. Wanted 300g, kept telling him to cut the piece smaller. We still somehow ended up with 700g of cheese at 17 SFr., not sure how that happened, it was surely a sleight-of-hand on the seller's part. At least it tastes good AND we are supporting local farmers...

Below is the village of Olivone, at the back of the Blenio Valley and transfer point of the bus from Biasca, to the one that goes up the Valle Santa Maria to the Lukmanier Pass

This is the Passo del Lucomagno, last bus stop. The lake is actually called "Lai da Sontga Maria" because this is the border of Cantons Ticino (Italian) and Grisons (Romansch) to the North. "Lai da Sontga Maria" translates to Lake Santa Maria. We are walking SE through the Santa Maria Valley, which is in Canton Ticino

Buying way too much expensive Lucomagno Cheese from the Mobile Cheese Vendor

Rugged landscape totally covered in Alp Roses. So beautiful.

It was windy and biting cold up here but stunningly beautiful.

 

Alp Roses everywhere. I somehow missed them last year, so very glad to be seeing so many this year.

We actually walked sections of various of the "Lucomagno Nature Trails". This first one near the Pass, Number 3, is an area of sinkholes and water sources

Descending from high alpine to forest and river level. This is the Brenno River. "Nature Trail no.7" is through some of the largest alpine pastures of Canton Ticino. 

So many different landscapes

Now we are on Trail no.5: "Where the River Lives". Some fun trees too!

"Trail no.5: Where the river lives"

 

And such a wonderful variety of flowers!

After reaching Aquacalda at about the half-way point of the excursion, we decided to leave the valley bottom and head uphill to a mountain village called Dötra which we saw on the map. So glad we did, as first of all, always a surprise to see villages with hostels and restaurants on these steep hillsides, and the view was better than if we had stayed in the valley bottom. 

At Aquacalda is one of the largest alpine pastures in Canton Ticino

We're headed uphill on "Trail no. 5:  High Moors, Birds, and Colourful Meadows"

Successful climb, it's all downhill from now on!

One last look down into the Valle Santa Maria at the alpine pasture in Aquacalda

Heading eastward: Wide open meadows up here, this is super pasture land

And yes, the meadows were colourful

Heading down to the village of Dötra

Perched on the steep mountainside, a village with stone-paved roads, two mountain restaurants and a hostel

Perched on the steep mountainside, a village with stone-paved roads, two mountain restaurants and a hostel

The village of Dötra all by itself on the mountainside. Junction of Nature Trails 4 & 5, and along the National Trail No.6: "Alpine Passes Trail" 

Dötra

Heading down from Dötra back to the main road to catch the bus back to Biasca. Beautiful wide meadowland

This is the village of Dangio in the Blenio Valley, heading back to Biasca. Worth a visit on another trip...

Our 13-km hike from Passo del Lucomagno to Camperio took us almost five hours