But as we got to Lugano and saw clear skies and good views, we decided on the spur of the moment to climb to the top of Lugano's other home mountain: Monte Boglia. Its peak was snow-free and the entire climb was on the sunny side, which is what I needed because even here, at 10 a.m., it was a bit chilly.
We didn't have to start at lake level, because there is a bus to the village of Brè, on the flank of Monte Boglia, so total elevation we had to climb was about 730m, i.e. a 2-hour climb to the summit. I have been hedging on this one for a while, thinking it might be too much, but I decided to give it a go, and am pretty proud of how well the climb went! At places pretty steep and sometimes so warm I wished I had brought shorts, but height gain was quick and the breath-taking view kept me going. Only drawback: Whereas we thought we'd surely be alone this day, we had the bad luck of a guided tour group starting at the same time we did, and we heard them chatting for much of the way up...
For the descent we decided to go down the North side of the mountain to join a trail we'd done years ago (across the Denti della Vecchia crags), and even though we ran into snow on this shady side, the descent was easy. The last hour through the forest to the village of Cureggia was rather tedious, but we arrived at our destination just as the mini-bus was pulling in!
All day we marveled that in three hours and without leaving the country, we can do a challenging mountain climb in the middle of January!
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| Starting our hike in the village of Brè. From here it is only 2 hours to the summit of Monte Boglia |
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| We've been here in the village of Brè several times before, so we didn't need to look around much. Heading through the village to the main trail we pass this little "artsy" corner, which has not changed in several years |
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| I have always been baffled about this art display of Fernando Botero's Mona Lisa, an empty jar of Nutella, and a toilet brush. This has been here for at least four years. |
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| Heading up the hill, the Valais Alps, including the Monte Rosa Massif (highest Alps in Switzerland) look very close up today. |
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| A zoomed view of the lovely Monte Rosa Massif, the highest mountains in Switzerland, approx. 100 km from here |
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| At the back is the summit of Monte Boglia, which we plan to reach in two hours, by passing by way of that pointy cliff formation (Sasso Rosso) behind me |
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| Altogether this hike took about four hours, starting in Brè to the summit of Monte Boglia (about 2 hours) and then down the North side and to Cureggia (another 2 hours). We did not return to Bré because that was longer and we did that section of trail before. |
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| Always fun when the trail is paved with stones or set with steps |
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| The first view point: Village of Brè where we started, and the likewise named Monte Brè, and right in the center the distinctive Monte San Salvatore, Lugano's other major mountain |
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| A large and beautiful tree, which has grown around the trail sign |
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| At Sasso Rosso we get the first spectacular views of the Italian side of Lake Lugano to the East. |
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| More than half-way to our goal, hiking through the sun-dappled forests on Trail no.52: "Sentiero Lago di Lugano" (Lake Lugano Trail) |
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| And from here, our goal is within reach, and it wasn't difficult to get here. We gained altitude quickly, but I was too warm in my jeans! |
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| As the hiking group were just ahead of us on the summit (5 minutes further up), we decided to have a coffee break here on a lovely bench, with this spectacular view. Here we are right on the border of Italy (Italy behind me!) |
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| Near the summit we get the first views to the North to the Denti della Vecchia rock formations, which ridge we walked in 2016. These trail markers are Italian, as we are right on the border here. |
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| This border stone denotes the border between Switzerland and Italy, and the trail to the summit (another 5 minutes) is right along that border |
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| Here we are at the top! An actual mountain hike in mid-January. We thought we'd be alone, but a group of visitors took the opportunity for a guided tour to the peak on this day as well. |
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| A far-reaching view over the Lugano area, and all the way to the Valais and French Alps in the background |
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| As the group heads back to Brè the same way we came up, we are almost ready to head down the other, North side of the mountain |
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| One last look over this stunning landscape of southern Ticino and the Southernmost part of Switzerland |
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| To the North, the Capriasca Region which we have walked several times already, including most recently to the Monastery of San Bernardo on the hill on the left. |
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| Heading North down Monte Boglia toward the "Denti della Vecchia", we did have shade and snow on the frozen zigzag trail down that side, but it was easy to navigate |
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| After a 45-minute descent we reach Alpe Bolla, a location we passed through several years ago when we did the Denti della Vecchia hike. |
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| At this point we leave Trail no.52, which we were on as we passed over Monte Boglia, but which now continues on past Denti della Vecchia, from were we came on a previous hike |
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| As this is still on the Italian border, sign posts show us that we can reach Lake Lugano on the Italian side from here. A hike for another day! We're headed to the nearest next village with a bus stop: Cureggia on the Swiss side |
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| The whole next hour till Cureggia was mostly through forest like this, with sunshine, but rather drawn-out with little diversion (no rivers and just one building) |
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| We timed it perfectly, reaching Cureggia just as the little bus pulled in (Three minutes to spare). The hill behind is Monte Brè, and the village of Brè where we started is to the left of that. |
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| We got back to the train station in Lugano at 16:15. Here it is shady, but Monte Boglia and Cureggia still have lots of sunshine! |
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| We have done several hikes in this area, either starting or ending in the village of Brè. Very convenient as there is bus service from Lugano |
Interesting side note: As we were on the mountain we heard several muffled thumps which sounded like military exercises... very likely, as there is a military training grounds in the Isone Valley nearby. We found out later that their mortar exercises caused a forest fire, which is rather embarassing, as the area has almost the highest level of Fire Hazard at the moment, and fires of any kinds are banned at this time! I wonder who approved those exercises?
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