High Trail in the Bedretto Valley near the Nufenen Pass, and a Crossing into Italy

Friday August 6th, 2021 -- FINALLY!!! One nice day with plenty of sunshine and devoid of rain! (This is the third of three separate weeks we took off for hiking this summer, and we have not had a lot of luck with the weather).

There were lots of nice places to chose from this day. Although I have to say, given that we have had very little "warmth" this summer, our choice of going to the Nufenen Pass, where it is usually cold and windy, was a bit unusual. But the icy wind meant that we managed our 1-hour ascent to the Corno-Gries Alpine Hostel in just 45 minutes!!! Once we got there, we found an out-of-the-wind bench to enjoy an early morning beverage, before continuing on the fabulous high trail toward the San Giacomo Pass into Italy, and as the day progressed, the temperatures rose a bit. But up high here on the trail at about 2300m above sea level, it probably didn't get warmer than 20 degrees. It was only as we did our final descent to All'Acqua in the Bedretto Valley that I had to change from pants into shorts.

We both love the Bedretto Valley, which is situated East-West at the foot of the Gotthard Massif, starting in Airolo at the entrance of the old Gotthard Tunnel, all the way to the Nufenen Pass into Goms in Canton Valais (the highest pass with a paved road in Switzerland, and one of the last passes to open to traffic in the spring). From near the pass you can easily cross on foot into Italy. Urs has done many hikes in this area in his younger days, and I have been here five times since coming to Switzerland in 2013 (twice on my own). This is the area where the mighty Ticino River has its source.

As we knew this would be our only hike in a 10-day stretch or so, we made it a good one: Five hours, 16 kilometers, great luck with the weather, superb trails, spectacular views, and barely noticeable ascents. This is my favourite kind of hiking...

Heading up the Bedretto Valley by bus, toward the Nufenen Pass. Right up ahead is the mountain flank which we are going to walk across this day. 

The first goal of this day is a visit of the Corno-Gries Swiss Alpine Hostel, which you can see like this from the bus. We started our hike from the Pass Road just below the Nufenen Pass. We have often seen this structure on our many trips here, and had determined to hike up there one day. 

Always these cows across the hiking trails!

How pretty!

Our hike starts at the Cruina Alp next to the pass road. Looking down the Bedretto Valley, the red line is approximately where we are doing the hike. 

A bit of colour in this otherwise very colourless landscape!

It took us only 45 minutes out of the suggested 60 minutes to reach the hostel! The unusual remote and isolated location of this building, as well as its unusual structure, is what attracted us to come have a look. 

Unfortunately, the building is very exposed to the cold winds up here. We did find a bench out of the wind to have some refreshments. Behind the building, had we continued uphill, we could have crossed the Corno Pass. A plan for another time. (In fact, most of the hikers coming up this way cross that pass)

It was too cold to sit at the picnic tables, but it makes for a very nice view down the Bedretto Valley!

A view of this unusual structure from the back side. The upper section are the dormitories, the center is the kitchen and dining hall, the bottom has the washrooms and entrance.

For us, the hiking trail is to Passo San Giacomo down-valley. From there to All'Acqua at the valley bottom, but via a longer route

And off we go, toward Alpe San Giacomo and the pass into Italy. (The slopes to our right form the border, so we are walking very close to the border). 

A bit more colour, but not much! The blue flowers are my favourites. 

Behind me are the pass road toward the Nufenen Pass and the mountains on the North side of the Valley

Looking behind us, you can just make out the Corno-Gries Hostel. On the left is the Corno Pass, and on the right is the Nufenen Pass (descends to Canton Valais on the other side). 

The wonderful Bedretto Valley stretched out below us. The hiking trail was very good and easy to walk. Also interesting for us is to see the other side of the valley, where we did another fantastic hike in September 2018 (Those photos are HERE)

A look behind me at Urs on the trail, and the fabulous pass road to the Nufenen Pass. At 2478m, it is the highest paved road pass in Switzerland. No wonder it's one of the latest to open to traffic in spring!

A zoomed view of the Nufenen Pass

Another look backwards at the pass road and the high trail on this side of the mountain. The dominant mountain in the background is called the Nufenenstock. We started our hike on the pass road, and hiked up into the couloir next to that mountain, before continuing on this high trail.

Ahead of us the trail continues toward the San Giacomo Alp

Always some water courses to cross along the way. 

The fantastic Pizzo Grandinagia ahead of us (Urs remembers crossing that pass ahead with his father when he was a teenager. That's not where we are going, though. We are headed around the corner to the right!)

And about 20 minutes later we were at the Passo San Giacomo, on the border between Italy and Switzerland! In the above photos, I am standing in Italy, and Urs is standing in Switzerland! The yellow trail signs are the Swiss ones, and the red/white signs are the Italian ones. 

We crossed the border and walked along the road on the Italian side for about 10 minutes until we could get a view of the Lago Toggia with its dam. Then we returned and crossed back into Switzerland. 

Something interesting we noticed about all the power lines here which bring electricity from Switzerland to Italy: The Swiss towers have six lines, but the Italian ones have only three! So the final tower on the Swiss side switches from six power lines to three (photo on the right)

Back on the Swiss side, we had our picnic lunch here, then continued down to Alpe San Giacomo

Very nice and large high moor region here. 

This large meadow is called the San Giacamo Alp

The Chapel of San Nicolao has been a pilgrim chapel since the mid 1400's

So many interesting features mean the long hike never gets monotonous

Now heading back into the Bedretto Valley, soon to start our descent toward the valley bottom. Above the tree line on the opposide side is where we walked in 2018.

A straight-on look up the Bedretto Valley toward the Nufenen Pass on the right, and the Corno Pass on the left. To me, an absolutely stunning landscape, even with the power lines in the way!

Trying out a self-timed photo!

One more break here before the final descent through the forest. 

As we got lower, the air got warmer, and eventually I did have to change into my shorts. 

A look down at All'Acqua where we caught the bus back out of the valley. 

And a final crossing of the Ticino River before reaching the main road. This bridge has been massively washed out along both banks, and we were very surprised that the trail had not been cordoned off here (there WAS an alternate route to the road)

Waiting for the bus, a look up the hill at the extent of our final descent from the high trail. 

Since this was one of only two real hikes we were able to do in a whole week of hiking vacation, we made it a good one! 16 kilometers and almost full five hours of walking time, which we completed in 7.5 hours! Not one bit tiring. A fabulous and successful hike. 

What the trail looks like on Google Satellite maps

The mint-green trail is the one we did this day. We've been in the Bedretto Valley at least six times, more if you count the area around Airolo. 

Where the upper Bedretto Valley is located.