Saturday April 27th and Sunday April 28, 2019 -- Unbelievable how cold the weather is, it is still snowing down to 700m, so it looks like it might be a while before we get up into the mountains.
Even our go-to place when the weather is cold in the North, a.k.a. Ticino, has had many days of rain recently, which fortunately for us stopped right in time for the weekend. So we went twice: Once on Saturday to hike at the base of Mount Ferraro (cloudy skies, great views, horrible descent) in the Capriasca near Lugano, and the second time on Sunday for a much better hike above Bellinzona. (Those photos can be viewed at this link: HERE)
SATURDAY: We took the bus up a fabulous winding road to Arosio which is just below Monte Lema near Lugano. The first part of the hike we had super views all over Lugano area, but too bad it was pretty overcast. Also, even this late in the season, we ended up in the shade of the mountain at the hamlet of Monti di Sigirino (above the village of Sigirino where we ended our hike).
I was really pleased with the new trail we found until the descent, which was really arduous. Lots of rocks strewn on the path. We ended our hike with a look at the alleys of Sigirino and the neighbouring village of Osignano.
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| Starting at Arosio (got there by bus along a fabulous winding road), the high trail section to Monti di Sigirino was a pretty nice hike, but the 550m descent to Sigirino was arduous. |
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| The start of our hike in Arosio in the Malcantone Region of Canton Ticino |
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| Our view over Lugano and Lake Lugano. On the right is Monte San Salvatore, and on the other side of the lake is Italy |
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| View up the Vedeggio Valley to the North, toward Cima di Medeglia and the Monte Ceneri Pass on the left. |
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| View into the Capriasca Region of Canton Ticino. In the back is the ridge called Denti della Vecchia. We have walked this ridge a few years ago. This is at the mountain hamlet called "Monti di Torricella" high above the town of the same name in the valley below. |
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| The level trail through the forest was pretty pleasant. |
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| Here at Monti Sigirino we started the steep descent. But first I saw something unusual on the mountain flank ahead.... |
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| There was a single tree way above the treeline. It looked so unusual, and so lonely. |
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| A single tree, how does it survive? |
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| Some very large and gnarly chestnut trees in these forests |
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| We never get tired of bridges! |
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| Back down in the valley bottom, checking out the village of Sigirino |
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| In the late afternoon sunshine you can see the "Denti della Vecchia" much clearer now |
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| Looking back at the church in Sigirino as we head out to the next connecting village called Osignano. |
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| Village streets in nearby Osignano |
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| A popular hike here is to the summit of Monte Ferraro, but we didn't want to take that detour, so we walked along the flank. Which was nice until the annoying descent |
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| We have walked many kilometers in this area..... |
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