Via Gottardo from Giornico to Personico

Monday October 12, 2020 -- After three days of not hiking (that is a long time for us as this is, once again, a hiking week, but we were not so lucky with the weather this time....) we wanted to make this hike a good one, a real mountain hike for a change. Unfortunately, winter came early this year, and there is snow down to low elevations almost everywhere we wanted to hike.

But as is often the case, the weather promised to be nice South of the Alps, so we chose to do a section of the "Via Gottardo" (Trail no.7 of Switzerland's seven national trails), about half-way up the Leventina Valley, and across from the sunny "Strada Alta" (a 45-km long high trail from Airolo to Biasca, which we have done in stages and almost completed). This stretch between Giornico and Personico via the tiny mountain village called Faidàl was originally one of the earliest passages into the Leventina Valley from the South. 

The hike up to the village of Faidàl took two hours and required an ascent of about 600m, which we covered in good time, as the sun disappeared quickly along this side of the valley. (When we studied the maps, we knew it might be risky, but didn't expect the sun to disappear behind the hills by noon). Furthermore, there was a cold North wind, and so we didn't stay long in Faidàl where we had our picnic lunch, and where we just managed to enjoy about 15 minutes of sunshine! But the view definitely made the climb worth it. 

In retrospect, it was a bit disappointing that of all the other places we could have been, we chose one with so much shade on this otherwise absolutely cloudless day....

Side note: The chestnuts were dropping all around us, it felt like the trees were aiming their ammunition at us!

To get to the start of our hike (Giornico) we took a bus from Bodio. To the West we got a good view of the hillside where we would be walking. It was hard to imagine that there was a trail up there. Also, at this point, it still looked like we would have luck with the sunshine.

From the bus stop along the main road in Giornico, we made our way down to the Ticino River

Crossing the Ticino River, a view past the two historical churches to the hillside where we are hiking up. That dark valley is called Val Cramosina, and we have to cross that.

Signs indicate two hours to Faidàl. We did it in just under the two hours. From there it was another just over one hour to descend to Personico. Along National Trail no.7: Via Gottardo

Chiesa San Nicolao in Giornico. This church, completed in 1210, is a monument of national importance and is the most important example of Romanesque architecture in Canton Ticino. We have visited this church before, so didn't go in this time.

A large part of our ascent from Giornico was along steps such as these, which make the climb go much faster. 

As we climb, a look down at Giornico, where we started. About half-way up the mountain on the other side is the Strada Alta Trail, which gets way more sunshine than this side of the valley!

A zoomed view of the two churches in Giornico, and the Roman Bridge over the Ticino River

After an hour climb, we got to Catto.

At Catto, there was this property with terrace with sun exposure and a wonderful view, and no one present, so we stopped here for a few minutes

Enjoying the sunshine and view from the property at Catto. Below in the valley bottom is the city of Biasca.

Past the dark Val Cremosina and through more forest, we came upon another clearing with a couple of houses, and surprisingly, a post office MAILBOX on which was marked: Next pick-up in July!

The entire forest floor and mountain trail were thick with chestnut hulls. The chestnuts pop out when the hulls hit the ground, and I could have collected tons of them (usually I take home about a dozen, and let them go bad).

This clearing with the little collection of houses, is called Masgianéngh.

A lovely sunny clearing. If we hadn't been in a hurry to get to Faidàl before it fell into the shadows, we would have stopped here for our lunch break. From here it's only another 30 minutes to Faidàl.

Finally reached Faidàl. We were so glad that we beat the shadows here! This was 12:15.

We stopped here for lunch but there was a cold wind blowing, so we didn't stay long.

Looks like sunshine!

We walked to the top of the village admiring the houses here

From above the village of Faidàl, a view North up the Leventina Valley toward the Gotthard Massif. Below at valley bottom is the town of Giornico where we started. Far and wide the landscape is sun drenched (especially the Strada Alta Trail on the opposite side) whereas here, the shadows are approaching quickly!

Leaving the village of Faidàl, soon to be in shadow (it was now 1 p.m.), to descend to Personico (another hour).

These are beautiful chestnut forests with huge old abandoned trees. Centuries ago, the people lived from chestnut harvests, and the hillsides were well-tended orchards, but have fallen into disrepair.

Another clearing with a few more houses, this one is called Venn. Totally in shadow before 1 p.m. at this time of year. But this chestnut tree, it was once HUGE!

Descending through the shadowy forest, there are still plenty of places all around us where the sun is still shining!!

This was a nice surprise

We hurried down the hill, but couldn't make it to the village of Personico before most of the houses were in shadow.

Zoomed view of the wonderful snow-capped peaks slightly to the North of us.

We would have had to wait over an hour for a bus in Personico, so we walked two more kilometers along the Ticino River to Bodio, where we planned to catch the 15:01 train North. (Due to a delay in that train, we actually returned South to Bellinzona instead).

11 kilometers altogether, and quite a climb (total over 700m ascent). The section along the Via Gottardo Trail. With a couple of side "trips" and the walk to Bodio, we hiked for over four hours.

Earlier this year we hiked a section of the Strada Alta Trail (via Sobrio, where each house bears the name of a famous composer). This time we hiked on the opposite side of the valley. The shadow on the Google Earth Map pretty well reflects the shadow we had by the time we reached valley bottom!

Because we returned to Bellinzona, we had to wait 45 minutes for the next fast train North. But here the sunshine was wonderful! Just behind the train station is this church on a hill. Unfortunately the gate was locked, but we had a nice sunny spot on that bench in the little section of grass

Checking out the back side of the church, to see if there is a different access. We didn't find one.

The beautiful Castel Grande in the center of Bellinzona. One of Bellinzona's three castles, which together compose one of Switzerland's 12 World UNESCO Sites. (In medieval times, the three castles and their fortifications closed off the Ticino Valley for control of the route to the Gotthard Pass, i.e. the valley where we had hiked this day).