Walking along the Ticino River on the Low Road in Val Bedretto

Monday Aug. 24th -- Instead of a Wednesday hike this week, we both have to work, so with my last day off for a couple of weeks I decided to do a hike on my own this time. 

I returned to the Bedretto Valley where we have done several hikes already, but this time I started near the Nufenen Pass (well, 400 altitude meters lower than the pass, along the pass road) and walked down valley in the direction of Airolo. As we had previously hiked a section of the Four-Headwaters Trail (the High Trail) starting at the pass, and another time we did a section of the Low Trail from Fontana to Airolo, I made it my goal to connect the missing section!

[For photos from our hike two years earlier along the High Trail, CLICK HERE]

It was quite a challenge, a 15-km section that takes about four hours to walk, and I wasn't sure I could complete it walking alone. But there was little uphill, and I gave myself 6 hours so that I could take as many breaks as needed, stopping once about half-way in a cute hotel in Ronco to have coffee on their terrace and rest my feet. 

Unfortunately it was colder and more overcast than I had expected, especially at the start. But once the cold wind no longer was an issue, it became a very nice walk, through a variety of landscapes starting above the tree level with mainly wild blueberry bushes already showing signs of autumn, to forest and meadows and wetlands, along very nice trails. And along the way I was able to get a closer look at several tiny communities which we pass through when we ride the bus up the valley.  

NOTE: The mighty Ticino River, one of Switzerland's main rivers, has its source at the Nufenen Pass, and it was along this river that I walked the whole day. 

On the trip up the Bedretto Valley toward the Nufenen Pass, the bus leaves the main road and travels on a narrow paved road through a handful of small villages such as this one, Villa Bedretto. My plan is to walk through those villages on the way down.

Also off the main road, in the village of Ronco, is a handful of houses including this Hotel/Restaurant. It is my plan to stop here on the way down. It's about 90 minutes' walk from my starting point.

I got off the bus before the Nufenen Pass, along the winding pass road, a full 400m altitude below the pass. In Sept.2018 we walked down from the Nufenen Pass to this point, then took the "Sentiero Alto Val Bedretto" (the High Trail) to All'Aqua via Pian Secco. This time I'm following the "Strada Bassa" or Low Road via All'Acqua with the goal of reaching Fontana

Another Marmot sighting. And the Marmot hole was interesting, because instead of a pile of dirt shoveled out of the hole, this one shoveled out a bunch of rocks! And the bird looks like a sparrow, but might be a dunnock. 

Starting near Alp Cruina, I managed to walk over 15 km down the valley all the way to Fontana, which was my goal, as on a different occasion we had walked from Fontana to Airolo, so this closed the gap. The trails were pleasant, well-tended, without a lot of ascent. Between Ronco and Ossasco I stayed on the road in order to look at the villages (the actual Strada Bassa crosses to the other side of the valley)

Behind me is the striking Mt. Nufenenstock. Until I got nearer the tree line, it was icy cold and windy up here. Right around this area is the source of the Ticino River.

Heading down valley always parallel to the road. There was very little traffic so not much traffic noise.

Another look back at Mt. Nufenenstock, and the Nufenen Pass on its right. The landscape is already showing signs of fall colors.

Zoomed view of the peak of Mt. Nufenenstock. Interesting how the cloud travels through the cleft!

Crossing the young Ticino River

A pretty landscape covered in wild blueberries, with a very comfortable trail weaving through the bushes.

A look East down the Bedretto Valley

Once I reached the tree line, the trail continued as a wider path toward All'Acqua

Heading down to the main road now.

Pretty daisies next to the river.

Right next to the river was a building, which I thought housed some livestock, as I heard some scraping noises. A peek in the open door showed a cheese cellar!!! And the farmer was just around the corner scraping one of the loaves.

After over two hours (90 minutes of walking), I reached Ronco, where I took a quick peek into the church and then had a coffee and a long rest on the terrace of the hotel around the corner.

The community of Ronco consists of about 15 buildings including the church and two restaurants! I had a coffee on the terrace of the Ristorante Stella, lower right.

From Ronco I continued along the narrow parallel road to the main highway, i.e. the road that the bus takes through these two villages ahead. 

First of the two villages I passed through is Bedretto.

Between Bedretto and Villa Bedretto, the third of four daily buses between Airolo and the Nufenen Pass makes its way up the valley (time is approx. 13:45). That truck in the meadow was doing road construction closer to the village and had to travel 300m up the road to let the bus pass.

A final look up the valley just before reaching the next village called Villa Bedretto

Villa Bedretto. This is where the large church is, that I saw on the way up. After visiting the church, I descended to the river on the right.

The truck doing the road maintenance had to back up the 300m again after letting the bus pass!

The parish church of Villa Bedretto is called "Chiesa dei Santi Martiri Maccabei" (Church of the Maccabean Martys). As is common with churches here, the original one was built in the 14th century, and after several destructions and rebuilds, this one dates from 1897, so a fairly young church.

Lovely light pastel colours in the interior of the "Chiesa dei Santi Martiri Maccabei", 1897

Lovely light pastel colours in the interior of the "Chiesa dei Santi Martiri Maccabei", 1897

Down to the Ticino River and another 1.5 km to the next town of Ossasco.

At Ossasco, the sign tells me I only have another 30 minutes to Fontana! Next bus is in an hour, so plenty of time.

The town of Ossasco, on the South side of the river. 

In Ossasco, view up the valley.

The final 30 minutes to Fontana are through the forest above the road and river

Here is my destination of Fontana. Below in the valley, the military is doing shooting practice. 

I had about 20 minutes before the bus came, so I sat next to the house with the Swiss Flag, and the sound of the stream drowned out the continuous shooting of the military target practice!

I started at about 9 a.m. and took my time with lots of breaks and caught the 15:24 bus in Fontana. So 6.5 hours for a 4-hour hike, but I was very proud that I had completed this distance without a walking partner.

This is an area where we have also done a lot of hiking.

A Descent to Schwyz between the Gross and Klein Mythen

Wednesday August 19th, 2020 -- About a year ago at this time, we did a hike along "the back side" of the two Mythen Peaks, the prominent mountains which form the backdrop of the quaint city of Schwyz, which is the capital city of the Canton of the same name. On that hike we discovered an alpine dairy located between the two peaks, aptly named Zwüschet-Mythen (= "Between the Mythens"), where we purchased some of the cheese they make on site when they spend the summers there. It was the best cheese we'd ever had, and we had intended to return this summer to purchase more.

So on this beautiful sunny day with very clear air, we headed up the fairly recently completed Rothenfluh gondola cableway, from whose summit station it is only a 40-minute walk to the farm, where we purchased two kilos of the cheese, and also had a lunch of bread and cheese (how original) and their home-made sausages.

After the lunch, we walked up BETWEEN the two peaks, something we had not done before, and to our great surprise, descended on a wonderfully well-laid path which consisted mostly of steps for the first 200m of the total 940m descent back to the town of Schwyz.  (On our ascent with the cable car, the Schwyz side of the peaks looked like a vertical drop, and we anticipated a steep and difficult trail!).

The larger of the two peaks, Gross Mythen, is a popular peak to climb and is overrun with people at the best of times. We did the ascent in 2014 and so don't need to do it again. Fortunately for us, barely anyone else spent any time on the West side of the mountain where we descended. We finished off the hike with a look at the town's main square, which basically consists of St.Martin's parish church (considered the most grandiose parish church in Switzerland) and the beautifully painted City Hall building. 

Oh, and when we did the hike on this trail a year ago, we were with Urs' Uncle Tobias, who knows the area well, and brought to our attention that chamois often hang out beneath the steep cliffs near the farm, so we knew where to look, and they were there again! Always fun.

From the train station in Schwyz, you take a bus to the Rothenfluh cable car station. A glimpse toward the Uri Alps West of Lake Uri confirms that we have a fantastic visibility today!

As the bus heads through the main square in Schwyz, we get a good look at "Zwischen Mythen", i.e. the space between the two peaks where we are coming over from the other side.

As we head up in the gondola cable car on the side of the Gross Mythen (= Greater Mythen), we cannot imagine that we could actually do a passage there!

Heading up from Rickenbach (Schwyz) on the Rothenfluh gondola cableway

Passing by Gross Mythen, you can see the zigzag trail that goes up to the summit. A very popular trail. Side note: The red rock at the top is older than the rock below it, indicating that the Earth's crust was flipped over to create this peak

Although we were alone in the cable car, we are used to keeping on our masks!

There is a look-out point next to the restaurant at Rothenfluh. What a fantastic view of the region: Schwyz below, Brunnen and Lake Lucerne on the left, Mt. Pilatus and Mt. Rigi in the center, Lake Lauerz below that, and right behind Lake Lauerz is Lake Zug

There are several of these picture frames around popular areas in Switzerland. It's part of "The Grand Tour of Switzerland", and I have collected about a half dozen so far.

A close-up view of the trail up Mt. Mythen. All there is at the top is a restaurant and rather small viewing area. 

A view to the South to the mountains in the Muotathal and Hoch Ybrig regions.

A view to the North into the Alpthal Valley, and the place called "Zwischen-Mythen"

An approx. 3-hour hike: 40 minutes from Rothenfluh cable-car station to the Zwüschet-Mythen Alp Restauratn, then a short ascent, and an almost 1000-m descent to Schwyz.

Skihaus Holzegg

A view South to the popular vacation village of Stoos, and the look-out point called Fronalpstock. The world's steepest funicular runs up to the village of Stoss from the valley bottom. 

At Holzegg Restaurant, the trail goes in four directions. The most popular trail is to go up to the peak of the Gross Mythen.

A look North into the Alpthal Valley. We have walked down from here once before.

Approaching Alp Zwüschet-Mythen

We caught sight of three chamois on the North flank of the Gross Mythen. They seemed quite comfortable here!

VIDEO:

Chamois calmly grazing on the flank of the Gross Mythen

They seem to be used to the sound of cowbells,

and the hikers passing by

Alp Zwüschet-Mythen

Refreshments, then a lunch of cheese and bread, and in the foreground, our purchase of two kilograms of cheese! And an address for their farm in Schwyz where we can purchase more in the winter season, yay!

Heading up the hill to cross over between the two peaks. This view is to the East.

As we cross at the highest point on the trail, first view back down to Schwyz and Lake Lucerne.

We were expecting a steep and slippery trail, but a huge effort was made to create a very long set of stairs, which were very pleasant to walk down on.

Taking a break on a bench to drink in the view

Zoomed view of this building in Schwyz, which is called the Collegium and is an academic institution (high school for approx. Grades 10-12). 

A nice descent through the forest: Looking up at the cliffs above us. 

View from above to the town of Schwyz

Zoomed view of the main square in Schwyz, with St. Martin's parish church

A little window in the forest

Another rest on a bench before the last stretch into the town.

The Collegium

Some very nice villas!

A look back at where we descended from

Heading toward St.Martin's

The little chapel building is the ossuary that belongs to the church. Unfortunately all the doors were locked and you could not see into the windows. 

The first thing we did when we got down to the town of Schwyz was, of course, to check out the parish church, St. Martin's, which is the 6th church at this location, the first having been built in 730, and this most recent being late-Baroque from the mid-18th Century. It is considered the most grandiose parish church in Switzerland. 

St.Martin's as viewed from the main square

Pompously decorated, but still light and airy, this is late-Baroque style from the mid 18th-Century.

A stunning organ with loads of gold-leaf

The back side of the church

And across from the church is the wonderfully painted city hall building, depicting the historical battle at Morgarten in 1315. The only drawback of this beautiful old town is that the traffic passes through the main square, which really takes away from the atmosphere.

City Hall, Schwyz

Depiction of the battle at Morgarten, 1315

Beautiful work of art

I am always fascinated by the trade signs depicting what the places of business are.

Beautiful town square, somewhat marred by the traffic.... The red peak of the Gross Mythen is very distinctive.

Our hike from the summit station of the Rothenfluh gondola cable-way, between the two peaks, and down to the town of Schwyz

We had also done lots of hiking in this area, including a hike to the summit of Gross Mythen in 2014.

This is what the two peaks look like when viewed from the cable car which you can take up to Stoos from Morschach, i.e. to the South.