Saturday September 25, 2021 -- Day 4 of our 4-day trip to Nature Park Beverin... and unfortunately not what we had hoped for!
Our plan for the day was a 4-hour hike starting at the San Bernardino Pass (the second main passage besides the Splügen Pass from this valley to the South), which was only a short ride from our accommocation, and would have been a fairly quick way home at the end of the day.
But even though the day dawned cloudless in the Rheinwald Valley, we should have checked the webcam for the Pass. Not 10 kilometers away and barely 500 meters higher up, the pass was shrouded in thick fog, and there was thick cloud cover in the Mesocco Valley south of the pass. Not wanting again to hang around and wait for the clouds to dissipate, we rode back down to Nufenen, back past the five villages of the Rheinwald Valley and the Rofla Gorge, and down to Andeer, which is the next town North of the Rofla Gorge.
Unfortunately, due to the two-hour delay, it was too late to plan a longer mountain tour, so Urs said "it doesn't always have to be a 4-hour hike" and we settled on a valley-bottom walk along the Via Spluga Trail from Andeer to Zillis (Basically, this is the section between the Rofla and Via Mala Gorges). It was barely a two-hour and 8-km walk but it was hotter than the entire summer we had had, and not the best choice for a valley-bottom hike, but this walk was mainly about pretty houses, churches, flowers, painted walls and other unique features. But with the heat and the longing to be higher up, this walk made me more tired than any four-hour hike in the mountains.
(In the village of Zillis at the end of our hike, is an old church called St.Martin's. It has the best-preserved painted wood-panel ceiling of its kind in the world. We know this because we visited it on the day we walked through the Via Mala Gorge, so we didn't go in this time. But pictures of the ceiling and the gorge hike can be viewed HERE).
But all in all, we had a good four days in this beautiful area! Top weather, few people, and a very special accommodation in the 300-year old former traveler's Inn in the village of Nufenen...
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| At 9:15 a.m. we are saying good-bye to the village of Nufenen where we spent three nights in a lovely studio apartment in a 300-year-old renovated traveler's Inn. We are taking the bus through the San Bernardino tunnel to the village of San Bernardino. |
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| Even though we could see that the pass was in thick fog, we decided to take the bus up anyway (from the South) and just continue right back down on the North side, back into the Rheinwald Valley where we had just come from. |
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| The bus had a stop of a few minutes at the pass, so time for a couple of photos in the fog. Sometimes the effect is quite nice! |
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| Even though a few people did get out at the San Bernardino Pass, we were the only ones who continued down the North side. Here we are coming back to the Rheinwald Valley, where the weather is beautiful! |
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| Continuing down the Rheinwald Valley 90 minutes after our start, we pass all the familiar villages: Nufenen, Medel, Splügen, Sufers. |
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| We had decided to see the town of Andeer, and to walk from here just eight kilometers northward along the Hinterrhein River to the village of Zillis. |
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| A look south over the village of Andeer. It is in the region at the back where we did the three previous hikes. |
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| Walking through the town of Andeer and admiring the houses |
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| We always like to come across covered wooden bridges |
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| Crossing the Hinterrhein River in Andeer |
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| The stretch we are following is the Via Spluga Trail no.50 (the old market trail which we had also followed when we descended from the Splügen Pass two days earlier). Clugin and Donath are the two towns we are passing through, and then continuing to Zillis |
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| A short hike for us, not quite 8 kilometers and just over two hours. But it was very hot, especially the stretch from Andeer to Clugin (wide forest road, no shade), so it seemed longer |
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| The little chapel in Clugin dates from the 12th Century and contains frescoes from 1350. |
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| I was very happy that this chapel was open for viewing, but there was a large iron lock you first had to figure out! |
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| Pictures of the 12th-Century Chapel in Clugin. This is more the style of Catholic churches and chapels of that era, but this region is actually predominantly Protestant with churches with simple interiors featuring lots of carved wood (ceilings, benches, pulpit, organ). This building is a remnant from before the region converted to Protestantism in 1530. |
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| This is the time of year for Autumn Saffron flowers, which are plentiful in the meadows. |
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| After the long section of road between Andeer and Clugin, we were glad to get back onto meadow trails (on the left). |
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| Heading down through the forest trail to the next village called Donath (or Donat) |
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| Arriving in Donat after passing through the forest below |
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| We never get tired of these beautiful houses. There is so much intricate detail, and often paintings of family crests on the walls. |
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| I am always happy to find a town fountain, especially on a hot day, to fill up water bottles and bathe my head and back (which gets very hot from the back-pack!) |
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| In the village church, the text indicates that the church was renovated in 1688! (Later as well, but it would be at least that old, at least 1463 according to documentation). |
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| On this house is painted a saying, and the date 1608 |
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| The text here is in the local Rumantsch language. "Tgea" means "House", and the dates would indicate the house was built in 1552! |
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| An interesting "foyer"? |
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| This are very similar coats of arms, found on separate buildings. |
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| Up the hill are lots of similar chapels. I was so longing to have been up there to check those out! We could have taken a bus up the hill and walked down, but didn't decide quickly enough. |
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| This calf must have been born in the night. There were two of them lying in the grass, as if they had recently been "dropped". It had just gotten up on its wobbly legs and made its way to the first meal. |
DAY 2 Hike: Splügen Pass to Splügen via the Suretta Lakes -- HERE
DAY 3 Hike: Juf to Cröt via Cresta --> HERE
DAY 4 Hike: Andeer to Zillis
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