Mountain Hike from Alp di Brogoldone (Ticino) to Landarenca (Graubünden)

Friday July 2, 2021 -- This particularly challenging hike actually started on Thursday July 1.....

Always when we are at the train station in Bellinzona in the Ticino, we look up to the mountain peak called Pizzo di Claro, whose trailing range marks the canton border between Ticino and Graubünden, and we tell ourselves: One day we will walk up there. 

The mountain tops in Ticino are steep and high and for us often inaccessible, but a cable car from Lumino near Bellinzona saves us 1000m ascent on the Ticino side, and a cable car in Landarenca in the Calanca Valley (Graubünden side) saves us another 350m on the descent. Nevertheless, the pass is at 2200m and the distance between the two cable cars is long, longer than we can do in one day.

But from the Lumino cable car station, an additional 2-hour and 600m of hiking straight uphill through the forest brings us to a convenient alp at 1900m, a former alpine farm converted to a hostel called Capanna Brogoldone. So on Thursday afternoon we headed south and arrived at the hostel at 6 p.m. where we were treated to a rather gourmet meal for a hostel, and a long quiet sleep, as there were only 8 guests overnighting. 

That way we could start early (08:30) on Friday morning for the long hike in the high alpine landscape, with the trail-markers claiming 4 hours and 10 minutes to Landarenca, and the forecast promising pure sunshine. Unfortunately, neither of those were true! High alpine "trails" in a rock-strewn landscape are usually non-existent, and you have to find your own way following the red and white trail markers, and that requires way more time than regular walking. And although the skies were clear on either side of the ridge, thick clouds right above the peak blocked most of the sunshine, and it was VERY cold. (And the room in the hostel was also very cold!)

So a 4-hour hike took us about 5.5 hours, not including our breaks, and it left me a bit disappointed, as I "need" such challenging hikes to have perfect conditions. But we did see several marmots and even an eagle, and managed once again to reach Landarenca and the subsequent bus station at Selma with 10 minutes to spare, a good thing because the next connection was two hours later, and I wasn't in the mood to hang around that long...

Heading to the cable car station in Lumino. Up on the left is the Alp di Brogoldone where we are spending the night. 

A view of Lumino as we head up the mountainside

The Lumino cable car saves us 1000m ascent. It used to only service the scattering of homes high on the hillside (Savorù, or Sauru), but at some point was opened to the public, which is a real advantage for hikers!

At the top station of the Lumino aerial cableway

View down into the Mesolcino Valley from above the Lumino/Savorù cable car, which is actually Graubünden, even though Italian is spoken here 

On Thursday afternoon, we made our way from the summit station of the Lumino cableway to the hostel Capanna Brogoldone, a 2-hour uphill hike. We arrived at the hostel at 17:45

It was a hot day, but lucky for us, the ascent was totally in the forest 

Always happy to find a water fountain, even in the middle of nowhere!

A couple of clearings give us views of the mountains on the other side of the Leventina Valley, mountains we might never climb.

I thought this part of the forest all covered in moss was kind of cool

The view down on the Magadino Plain from the Alp di Brogoldone (Bellinzona and the Ticino River below). We arrived at 17:45

Dinner was at 19:00, so we had a little over an hour to spare. We climbed up higher to get a view of the hostel from above

Looking down at Capanna Brogoldone and the Magadino Plain

Back at the hostel, we all had dinner outside, although it became cool when the sun disappeared

I'm not a fan of dogs, but this fellow was so cute. He barked whenever a new person came, but only once. Then he knew we belonged there. And he begged for a piece of our dinner.

Early morning in front of the hostel. The weather is actually looking promising at this point. 

As it was such a nice morning, we all ate our breakfast outside again. This was great! Also, good breakfast, everything home made: Jams and bread.

The signs claim 4 hours 10 minutes to Landarenca, which is what you measure on the map, but the rocky terrain meant over five hours to get there. (Photo taken the evening before)

Second day's hike from Capanna Brogoldone over the Passo di Mem into Val Calanca in Canton Graubünden. In Landarenca we took the cable car down to the valley bottom where we caught a bus back out. But this hike took us at least five hours, maybe more. 

It's another 300m uphill climb to get to the pass. Down below is the Alp di Brogoldone where we spent the night

VIDEO:

Panorama of the Leventina Valley from above

Alpe di Brogoldone

Walking along the East side of the Leventina Valley. The view is all the way up the valley to the Gotthard Massif to the North. Ahead on this side is the peak of Pizzo di Claro

Fantastic panorama view from the Magadino Plain all the way to the Gotthard Massif. We could even see the tips of the Monte Rosa Massif in Wallis, as well as the Bernese Alps

You can see the trail heading up to the pass, as well as Pizzo di Claro

There were lots of alpine roses here as well

The rock-strewn landscape means the going is much slower than on a normal trail

Finding our way through the rocks

Up at the saddle / pass... sitting on the canton border between Ticino and Graubünden, admiring the mountains in the Mesocco (Mesolcino) Valley

Till here we had good weather and lots of sunshine!

But from here on most of the upper area was in shadow of thick clouds that covered the sun

Up ahead is the next passage into the Calanca Valley. It's much further than it looks

There were loads and loads of Gentians. These might just be my favourite flowers

We spotted several marmots! This one thinks he is hiding

This collage is probably all the same marmot

But then we saw two of them. Who knows if they were playing or fighting....

Once in a while the sun warmed us up a bit.

We also saw an eagle (a golden eagle)

First glimpse into the Calanca Valley. Across the valley is the sunny terrace called Stabbio, where we had been twice already. It is accessible only by cable-car, but people live there year-round. 

Here's where we had lunch. When the clouds covered the sun, I had to put on every piece of clothing I had along (not much) because it was so cold!

A wild and barren landscape up in the high mountains

Heading down the hill now in the fantastic Calanca Valley. Next stop is that little alp down there: Alp di Rossiglion. From the hostel it was supposed to take 3 hours to get there, but it took us at least four hours.

Being watched

The goats could roam the entire hillside here

There was a large section of avalanche snow.

Lots of Alpine Roses

Alp di Rossiglion

That's a big rock!

Some tricky crossings!

Just above Landarenca was this little hamlet called Bolif. From here it's another 30 minutes to Landarenca

Another look into the Calanca Valley and the community of Stabbio on the sunny terrace on the other side

Ahead of us around the corner appears the village of Landarenca (also only accessible by cable car)

Village of Landarenca. This is our second time here. We had learned that this village was the second place in all of Switzerland (after Zurich) to allow women the vote in 1971.

Landarenca. From here we take the cable car down to Selma at the valley bottom

Taking the cable car down to the valley bottom to catch the bus. We had to operate the cable-car ourselves, and at the bottom you have to buy a ticket from a machine to be able to get out of the cable-car station.

End of our excursion in the cable car in Selma

There is Urs, waiting for the bus in front of the restaurant in Selma. We had about 10 minutes to spare. Otherwise we would have had to wait another two hours for the next bus. 

The entire hike over two days, from the cable-car station at Savorù (Lumino) to Landarenca. Over 13 km, and a total of 1200m up and 1200m down. The map says 5 hours 30 minutes, but in reality it's at least a 7-hour hike in all. 

How this 2-day hike looks on Google Earth Satellite Map (ca. 7 hours total)

We've hiked many times in this area near Bellinzona, both in the Leventina and in the Calanca Valley but never yet between the two.