Winter Hike in the Beautiful Val Lumnezia in Canton Grisons

Wednesday February 8, 2023 -- Weather prediction was for super clear air this day, so we headed into the mountains hoping for a really nice winter walk with spectacular alpine backdrop....

We chose a round tour hike (Trail no.250: "Senda d'unviern Triel") in a valley we had never been to before: Val Lumnezia (Valley of Light) in Canton Grisons, a side valley to the Surselva and Rhine Canyon. As it turns out, this part of eastern Switzerland which usually gets lots of snow has received much less even than we have here in the flat lands, so the countryside was pretty snow-free in many places!

The first uphill section was on the bare asphalt of the paved road (which is usually a prepared winter trail) and somewhat disappointing, but as we got to higher elevations, especially through the forested sections, we had plenty of nice snow on the trail. We had come prepared for cold weather, but it was so warm, we soon had to remove our long underwear!

On our way back down to Vella, we passed through a village called Morrisen, an unusual name for this area (normal names here are Vattiz, Vignogn, Cumbel, Lumbrien, Vrin, Glogn).

As we were finished early back in Vella (having started at 10 a.m.), we took the 3 p.m. bus all the way to the back of the valley to the charming village of Vrin, where we had 10 minutes to look around before the bus headed back out of the valley to the Rhine River at Ilanz. The ride was fabulous, with the most fantastic views.

Another highlight of the trip is that we passed through the Rhine Canyon to get there and on the way back. This is a region where one of the world's largest rock slides took place 10,000 years ago. The river has carved some very fascinating shapes as it created the gorge.

The train passes through the Rhine Gorge on the way from Chur to Ilanz. The Rhine Gorge is known as the Grand Canyon of Switzerland.

Heading into the Lumnezia Valley by bus, this is a view of the Surselva Region where the Rhine flows. There is way too little snow here.

View from the bus as we head into the Lumnezia Valley. The dominant peak here is called "Piz Terri"

Another view toward the back of the beautiful Lumnezia Valley as we head to the town of Vella, the starting point of our hike.

We actually started our hike slightly south of Vella, above this village called Vattiz

Description of the looped winter trail from Vella to Triel, the highest point of the loop. We didn't do the entire loop, which takes about 4 hours in winter. "Senda d'unviern Triel" is Romansch for "Triel Winter Trail"

We started our hike at 10 a.m. in Vattiz south of Vella, so did not complete the full suggested loop. In summer, the recommended time for this path would be less than 3 hours, but with the snow, it would have been about 3.5 hours. At 3 p.m. we got on the bus in Vella and headed to the back of the valley.

Looks like a vacation village....

The first part of our ascent was on a snow-free asphalt road, which was disappointing, as usually these roads are prepared as winter trails with lots of snow, even enough to sled back down on.

Soon we reached the expected snow, as the trail entered forested areas.

A look down into the lower plateau area, where there are several farms, some of which have their own chapels.

Even though a large part of the hillside was snow-free, at least the trail had nice "crunchy" snow to walk on.

Winter Trail no.250: "Senda d'unvrien Triel", which is Romansch for "Triel Winter Trail", Triel being the highest point of this loop.

The air clarity was perfect and we had spectacular mountain views all day.

A look to the back of the valley at the peak called Piz Terri, and all the barns over the hillside

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So many skiers on this one single piste!

Behind Urs is another side valley to this one, it is called the Valsertal, or Valser Valley, another one which we have yet to discover

The restaurant at Triel, the highest part of our loop trail. It is just about noon now, and inside the restaurant it was totally packed with skiiers having lunch (this was the mid-station of the chair lifts). We had a picnic lunch along anyway, but you're not supposed to use a restaurant's outdoor tables to eat your picnic lunch

We continued down the trail toward a barn which looked like a good place to have our picnic lunch

The stone wall in front of this barn was the perfect place for our picnic lunch

Enjoying our picnic lunch in the sunshine in front of the barn

This is the view we had across the valley from our lunch spot. There were several ravines on the other side, and villages on each side, some very close to the chasm! The river which has carved the main north-south gorge is called the Glogn River.

A close look at one of the villages on the other side of the valley, and how close the houses are built to the chasm!

Continuing down the trail back to Vella

By the time we reached the village of Morrisen, there was no more snow on the road

Inspecting the buildings in Morrisen

As a side note, at the far end of the Valser Valley, clouds (or fog) were pressing over the peaks from the south. It is an interesting phenomenon.

Walking down the roads in Morrisen

We always find interesting things along the way. Like this set-up of a hand-made model village at a private home. We went over for a closer look.

There were loads of neat details in this model village, but the funnest part was, although this was quite obviously an alpine village, someone decorated it with plastic animals, most of them jungle animals, like the zebras in the barn and a hippo on the balcony. And a lego pirate in the castle!

Last stretch now to the town of Vella, from where we were planning to take the 3 p.m. bus to the back of the valley (the detour cost us only an hour).

Probably not the main access to this house!

In Vella, there was this cutest little chapel with frescoes painted on the outside. Obviously we had to look inside! The Chapel is called "Kapelle Sogn Roc". It was donated by the village magistrate "Gallus von Mont" during the plague, and consecrated in 1592.

This is one of the loveliest interiors of chapels which we have visited.

These altar pieces which can be closed with hinged doors are fantastic pieces of art, and some of our favourites to discover along the way.

Details inside and outside of the chapel

Next to the chapel is the "Schloss de Mont" (De Mont Castle), built in 1666 after a fire destroyed the original stone house in this location.

Village center of Vella, with the de Mont Castle and the Sogn-Roc Chapel

What our hike looks like on Google Satellite Maps.

The following photos were taken from the bus as we rode the 25 minutes to the back of the Lumnezia Valley to the village of Vrin. We had about 10 minutes to quickly look at some of the buildings, before taking the same bus back and out of the valley to the train station at Ilanz. It was a spectacular bus ride.

Vrin was the last station on this bus run, so we took a ride to the end of the line, where we had 10 minutes for a quick look around the village before the bus headed back down the valley to Ilanz. The bus ride was 25 minutes to Vrin from Vella

The bus approaches the village of Vrin

Such a beautiful church tower in this small mountain village!

The church building looks out of place in this village of brown wooden houses.

From the south end of the village of Vrin, a look to the very back of the valley now (where there are three or four more hamlets accessed by bus in summer. Up there is one of the largest alpine plateaus in Switzerland (6 km2), the Greina Plains

Now a look down the entire Lumnezia Valley as the bus heads North again. The main river which has carved a deep gorge down this valley is called the Glogn River.

On the other side of the river, a small villaged called Surin

The east side of the Lumnezia Valley

One of the larger villages in the valley: Lumbrein

One of several villages across the valley and on the other side of the ravine. Obviously a "younger" village, as it seems to be a planned build

As we pass Vattiz again just before Vella, a good look at the interesting "round" chapel which we had seen earlier there at the start of our hike (we did not do a detour to visit it, though).

The clouds are still pressing over the peaks at the back of the Valser Valley

Another cute village on the other side of the valley. This one would be called Pitasch

Another gorge off the main one, this is called Val da Riein, just before we reach the "exit" of the Lumnezia Valley

Final descent to Ilanz. There is a winter trail we would like to try out at the height of the upper village of Falera near the snow line, but only if we have a really good snowfall!