A stroll at the back of Val Calanca

(This post was actually made on Dec9, 2020. I just wanted add a few pictures because this was an excursion, although the planned hike was a failure....)

Tuesday June 16, 2020 -- In November 2017 we had discovered a remote valley called Val Calanca, situated in the Canton of Graubünden, tucked between the two major North-South passages (Leventina Valley South of the Gotthard Pass, and Mesolcina Valley South of the San Bernardino Pass). This valley is one of only three regions in Canton Graubünden where Italian is the main language and culture.

    (Photos from that excursion can be found at this link: CLICK HERE)

In November, the larches were flaming yellow, but otherwise it was pretty bare, so we wanted to visit the valley in summer, and do a different hike southward along the mountainside toward Santa Maria in Calanca.

So this year of the pandemic, right after the Government finally lifted the restrictions for cable cars, we traveled to Arvigo in the Calanca Valley (a 2.5-hour trip from home) with the intention of doing this three-hour hike. We called ahead to the little shop in Braggio on the sunny plateau 500m above Arvigo to make sure they were open, as we were going to buy our picnic supplies there! We didn't bother checking on the schedule of the cable car as the community of Braggio serviced by the cable car has year-round residents dependent on this service, so no reason to suspect anything other than a convenient ride! (Plus they'd only just re-opened after a 3-month lock-down). It was a big surprise to us when we stepped out of the bus at 11:00 a.m. at the cable car station, to be told that they were now doing the yearly revisions! (Usually done in November). For just two hours between 1-3 p.m. they were open for locals....

Our bus had not yet continued on its journey up the valley, so we hopped back on and traveled to the very last community serviced on this route -- Rossa, toward the back of the valley -- and simply strolled around the community, then walked South to the next one, before taking the next bus an hour later back out the valley. (By that time the weather had worsened, and our hike would not have been that pleasant anyway). This was one of our less successful outings, especially as we hadn't brought much to eat along with us and were pretty hungry! But we saw some nice houses... here are the photos of what this valley looks like in summer...

    (Oh, and we did do the planned hike in November 2020: LINK HERE)

Heading by bus into the wild, remote, and hidden Calanca Valley

Here at the river near Arvigo is the cable car station (no photos, didn't think to take any as we were too stunned to find out it wasn't running), and after realizing we had to change plans for the day, we saw the bus still parked at the side of the road, and ran over there quickly to continue our ride up the valley.

Last stop on the bus run is the town of Rossa. We got off here hoping to find a restaurant, but there was none. So we just strolled around the town a bit.

We started with a little stroll to the South end of the community, looking at all the houses, mostly such wooden chalet-type homes.

Through the trees we could see the next village to the South, called Augio, which we could reach on foot by the time the next bus headed back out of the valley (only 1 km)

Then we turned around and headed North again, with this view over the rooftops to further North into the valley. What caught our attention was a weird pink house at the far end of the village.

As we had a closer look at this house, it seemed to me this was very similar to many of Swiss Architect Mario Botta's designs which we often encounter as we travel through Switzerland. The house was called "Swisshouse Rossa"

It turns out that the designer of this unusual building is another Swiss architect named Davide Macullo, whose forefathers came from this valley, and who (no surprise) apparently oversaw the construction of several of Mario Botta's constructions in countries all over the world. 

We then crossed the Calancasca River for a look at the village from the other side

The church in Rossa has a date inscribed above the entrance: 1693

Then we continued along the main road, strolling southward and admiring all the pretty buildings along the way

Between Rossa and Augio was a little hamlet of houses with a chapel. Very quaint.

Cute little tiny log house

Meandering between the houses in Augio

The path through the village of Augio

There is a trail starting in Rossa that takes you above this waterfall to a heart-shaped lake (lots of pictures of this advertised as a hiking goal in this community) 1200 meters up....

More nice houses

This little one with the crooked windows was my favourite!

This was a restaurant, but instead of skipping another bus, we decided we'd rather head home.

Even the smallest villages have a church

And here at the Community Hall, our "strenuous" hike ends, catching the next bus back out of the valley.....

This was a long way to travel to spend only an hour in two villages! Total hiked on this day: Just under 3 km!!!!

Val Calanca is one of the most remote valleys in Switzerland. People driving North from Italy can choose between the Leventina Valley or Valle Mesolcina to access the Northern part of Switzerland, and very few are aware this valley exists in between! We were disappointed to not have been able to do the 3-hour hike as planned, but we ended up doing it in November 2020.