Two-Day Hike with Overnight at Lukmanier Pass: Day 1, over the Bareta Pass

Sunday July 30, 2023 -- The first day of our two-day trip started in the beautiful Blenio Valley, where we have been many times before. This is quite north in Canton Ticino, and so they also receive enough snow in winter that there is a skiing region called Alpe Nara. The chairlifts operate only for a short period in summer, and we had never been there, so we took this opportunity on two nice (supposedly) consecutive days to do two 5-hour hikes, this first one crossing over into Valle Santa Maria, where we had reserved a room in the Santa Maria Hospice at the Lukmanier Pass for the night.

We had to get the timing quite right to access the two chairlifts, as the bus to the hillside village of Leontica, from where the lower chairlift starts, runs only every two hours. There was no room for error, and any delayed connections would mess up the plan. So we were on our way by 6 a.m. and so pleased to get to Leontica without any glitches by 8:45, only to discover, to our dismay, that the lower chair lift was not in operation. We had to look long and hard to find a hand-scribbled note informing us we had to access the higher chair lift (500 m altitude up the hill) by car!!!!

In a panic we started knocking at doors to see if someone would drive us up (walking was out of the question, it would have added 90 minutes to our hiking plans, and it was already hot at that elevation). We were lucky to flag down a farmer headed to his property up there, and he was kind enough to take us along, on what turned out to be a 10-minute drive on a narrow curvy road.

From there the 13-km hike over the Bareta Pass from one valley into the other went well, the panorama views were fantastic, and the only thing that spoiled the day were thick clouds blocking the sun mostly only right above us. It even got uncomfortably cold. 

The last bus run up to the pass was at 16:48, and we just made it on time again, but then we were way too early at the hotel at 5 p.m. (in retrospect we could have made it home the same day, but this way we saved ourselves 7 hours travel time). As it turns out, 13 km apparently wasn't enough walking after all, as we then managed to add another 4-km walk along the lakeshore of Santa Maria Lake, before heading to our room at 7:30 p.m. for a shower and good night's sleep in this very remote location. In all, we walked about 6 hours and 17 kilometers this day!

Heading up the Blenio Valley by bus from Biasca, we can see the high up alpine pastures called Pian Nara where we are planning to start on our hike. 

We got to Leontica at 8:45, and even though we had to walk another 15 minutes uphill to the chair lift station, we were in no hurry now that we had made it here in good time. So we took another look into the parish church first. It was already quite hot at this elevation and we were looking forward to going up to an elevation of 1000 meters higher!

It was a 15-minute walk from the bus stop in Leontica to the chair lift station, which to our dismay was closed, without explanation. The upper chair lift was in operation, but you could only get there by car. We asked a couple of people who wouldn't drive us, but then managed to flag down a car on its way up, and the kind farmer took us along. It was a 10-minute ride or so to the upper chairlift. He refused our payment.... 

Heading up by car to Cancori, the upper clearing where the second chair lift starts. All the way up we could see this very cute chair lift run, and so wished we could have ridden in it. Maybe there are not enough people in summer who want to use it, so maybe it's not feasible to run in summer. (Apparently the information is on the website, it runs only for groups and special events. But we had a link to an old website where operating times were listed, provided by the Ticino Tourism website, go figure). 

We got to the Alpe Nara chair lift at 9:40, still plenty of time for our planned hike, and the rest of the day went without any additional surprises. 

The chair lift from Cancori to Alpe Nara, where our hike starts. It was an almost 15-minute ride. 

From the summit station a look down to the upper hillside clearing called Cancori, where there are lots of vacation homes. Also, this view is down the beautiful Blenio Valley

Starting our hike at Pian Nara at about 10 a.m. There is no time yet given to the Bareta Pass, but from here we head in the direction of Capanna Piandios, which offers accommodations for people doing long hikes in this area. 

The hike from Alpe Nara in the Blenio Valley via Passo Bareta to Acquacalda in Valle Santa Maria is almost 13 kilometers! It also takes longer than 4-1/2 hours because of the steep descent after the pass. We started at 10:05, and got to the bus stop at Acquacalda at 16:40

Another look at Cancori and down the Blenio Valley

Up ahead is Capanna Piandios, a 30-minute walk from the start of our hike. We took a trail past it higher up as we didn't need to go down to the hostel. 

Passing some cows in alpine pastures. The sound of their bells accompanied us for a while. 

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The lovely sound of the cow bells, always a pleasure when we are hiking in the mountains.

We also saw very many butterflies and lots of different kinds

Sometimes it takes a bit of gymnastics to get where we need to go!

There were also lots of very interesting mushrooms. Urs thinks some of them were the very sought-after porcini mushrooms, but too old to be palatable

In this wet area there were frogs.

Very happy to have some sunshine here, which looks promising for the rest of our hike. Here we are crossing the Alpe di San Martino, another high alpine pasture. 

Heading toward the pass. The whole region here was rock like this, it was actually quite attractive. But once we got to the shadow section, we had no sunshine anymore for a couple of hours. 

Close-up of some of the peaks on the far side of the Blenio Valley

It was fun walking over all these rocks. It is a puzzle to find where the trail actually goes through. 

The summits of the mountains to the east form the boundary between Canton Ticino (where we are) and Canton Graubünden. The mountain with the glacier is called Adula Rheinwaldhorn and is the source of the Anterior Rhine River (Hinterrhein) which flows down the far side (on the Graubünden side). 

What a fantastic landscape. In the very center, barely visible, is the Luzzone Dam, which was mostly in our sights when we descended the Valle di Campo the next day. 

We got to the Bareta Pass at 12:45 and had our picnic lunch here on this rock, with this fantastic view up the Valle Santa Maria to the Lukmanier Pass (Passo di Lucomagno). But it was very cold, and we didn't stay long. 

Even though we had no sunshine up here at the pass, the view down the Santa Maria Valley was very clear and so spectacular. At the bottom of the valley is the town of Olivone, which is at the top of the Blenio Valley. 

At 13:25 we continued our hike, descending now into the Santa Maria Valley. Our goal of Acquacalda is still 2-1/2 hours walk away!

More gymnastics required

Way down there on the right is the bus stop on the Lukmanier Pass road, in Acquacalda, 2-1/2 hours of hiking still required! It's also a descent of 750 meters altitude, and 7 more kilometers!

We went a bit slower on the steep descent

A long stretch downhill along the mountainside, and still no sunshine 

A close-up look at the Adula Rheinwaldhorn which we can still see from here. 

Finally we've gotten far enough down off the mountain that the clouds along the peaks are no longer blocking the sun. Way up behind me we can see the Bareta Pass, where we crossed over. 

And more gymnastics! Some of these rivers are not so easy to cross, especially when the water starts finding its way over the hiking trails

Cute stone hut along the way. 

This little clearing is called "Ri di Gana Rossa", and from there it was STILL another 40 minutes to the road!

Always interesting how the buildings are built against huge boulders that once came down from the mountains a long time ago. 

The final clearing before reaching the pass road. There were lots of vacation homes in this clearing, and very many people here! Unfortunately, we still had a bit of uphill to go from here! We made it to the restaurant at Acquacalda about five minutes before the bus was to arrive, enough time for Urs to buy a cold drink!

The Lukmanier Pass bus arriving at Acquacalda. It was a 10-minute bus ride from here to the Pass. 

On the way to the pass we observed hundreds of cows being led back down to their barn further down the road for the night (From our hike the next day, we watched them all being led up the hill again). 

At the Lukmanier Pass we got checked in to the Santa Maria Hospice where we had reserved a room for the night. This is the view out of our room window at 17:05. The little yellow cart below is a local farmer selling cheese. He was already here five years ago when we started a hike from here, aptly named the "Cheese Trail" in July 2018. (Those photos are HERE).

There were still too many people at the hotel restaurant, so we decided to walk along the lake for a bit. It turned into another four kilometers! But it was on a level road, with nice views across the Santa Maria Lake, and not too hot. Very interesting here is that although the entire Santa Maria Valley southeast of the Pass is in Canton Ticino, the Santa Maria Hospice (our hotel) and the main part of the lake are in Canton Graubünden, but along the lakeshore we crossed Canton borders six times on our one-hour walk!

In Graubünden dialect this lake is called "Lai da Sontga Maria"; in Italian it would be "Lago di Santa Maria".  Currently I am now in Canton Graubünden. 

Looking north along the lake. They are building a new gallery for the highway, to protect it from avalanches in winter, as the pass road is driveable virtually year-round, with some exceptions. 

At this point we are in Canton Ticino again. That peak is called Scopi, and there seems to be quite a building on top of it. 

Close-up view of the building on top of Mount Scopi. Urs says this is some sort of military facility. It looks massive. 

An entire system of power lines built on towers in the lake! This is a reservoir lake and there is a dam at the north end. The mountains in the background are in the Surselva Valley, where the Posterior Rhine flows. The Lukmanier Pass road descends from here to Disentis.

Heading back to the hotel

The Santa Maria Hospice is one of only a few buildings up here at the Lukmanier Pass. We were not expecting the huge construction site next to it, with all the cement mixers. These are required for the upgrade of the road gallery. Luckily for us, this was Sunday, and due to the Aug.1st holiday on Tuesday, there was no construction happening on Monday either. So it was quiet, if not very scenic. 

This placard is welcoming you into Canton Ticino, re-iterating the fact that on this side we are in Canton Graubünden. 

A stone statue watches over the Santa Maria Valley. I was too tired to walk to the other side to take a photo, but the statue is of a woman holding a baby. Quite obviously Mary and Jesus

We found a bench behind the Santa Maria chapel and sat here for a while. The chapel looks modern, but internet descriptions have the artwork as dating from the 16th Century. 

Back in our room at 19:30, there is still sunshine here. The cheese trailer is shut, and the cars are gone, and it's very nice and quiet up here. There were maybe a dozen people who spent the night. We are looking forward to an early start by 8 a.m. the next morning. 

What our hike looks like on Google Satellite Maps

Location of the Lukmanier Pass, Blenio Valley, and Santa Maria Valley.