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.