Sentiero dei Monti: The "High High Road" in the Leventina Valley

Tuesday May 28, 2024 -- The only other nice day in this week of very heavy rains--Urs' first vacation week, and not great for hiking--was south of the Alps, which we knew would be the case earlier in the week (that is why we stayed in northern Switzerland on Sunday).

Instead of going all the way south to Locarno where the temperature was about 24 degrees, we stayed in the northern part of Canton Ticino, closer to the southern flanks of the Alpine range in the Leventina Valley. There is a very popular 45-km trail here from Airolo at the Gotthard Tunnel to Biasca--the "Strada Alta", or "High Road"--which we have walked completely by now, always doing sections of about 10 km at a time (with overlap).

Along one of these stretches we once met a man who told us that there was a parallel, even higher trail (500 to 700 meters higher than the regular "High Road", which was also quite beautiful, and we have long wanted to do this one. It is called the "Sentiero dei Monti", or "Trail of mountain hamlets". On this beautiful Tuesday, we decided to attempt it. Starting at the best public transport stop in Molare on the way to the winter resort of Carὶ in the north, the minimum time to walk to the final village along the Strada Alta with a bus stop (Sobrio) is about 5½ hours. 

As it turns out, we changed our minds along the way, as there were long sections through the forest and that got tiring, so we found a different way back to another bus stop along the Strada Alta (Tengia), which we did not at all regret. In all it ended up being a 4.5-hour walk after all, but the air temperature and visibility were perfect. And we did pass through several of the mountain hamlets and many waterfalls.

From home we take a train south and through the old Gotthard Tunnel to the town of Faido, from where we catch a small bus up the mountain. Here in Faido we had a 20-minute wait for the bus, so we walked from the station into the heart of town (1 km) to buy our sandwiches at the grocery store there, and then we caught the bus on its way through the town. 

On the bus ride up the winding hairpin turns, we pass the very pretty church at Rossura, where we once ended a stretch of the Strada Alta in Dec.2014, and started another stretch in October 2018 (the 2018 photos are HERE)

A look south to the Leventina Valley bottom as the bus continues higher up the mountain. 

As the bus winds its way higher up the mountainside, we pass through several small villages. This one just before Molare (where we started our hike) is called Campello. 

Here at Molare we are starting on our hike. The small bus (with most of the other people who got on at Faido) is continuing on to Carὶ and then even further along to Predelp, where we also once did a fantastic hike (see HERE). On this day, we were the only ones getting off here, and the only people hiking the same trail. 

We are walking along the trail called "Sentiero dei monti" (Trail of the small mountain hamlets), in the hopes of going all the way to Sobrio, but weren't sure if we would be able to accomplish 5+ hours of walking. As it turns out, we made it to Monte Angone and then doubled back on a lower trail, which we did not regret doing. 

We started in Molare at 10:15, and ended up catching the 17:00 bus back down to Faido from Tengia. It was at the hamlet of Fragéira where we decided to descend to Tengia instead of continuing southwards to Sobrio. This meant an hour less of walking, and it was a very nice trail as well. 

Every little hamlet even high up in the mountains has a church! This one in Molare is the parish church of San Giacomo. Apparently there was a date of 1724 on the building, and it has a Baroque interior from 1764. 

Leaving Molare and heading out on our trail. The temperature was perfect for this day, not at all too hot. It was now 10:25.

Always glad when there are bridges over the rushing rivers.... 

...because when we got to this major river in a couloir called Fornace (with avalanche snow still lingering slightly further up), there was no bridge, probably because there usually isn't that much water coming down from the mountain! In such cases, we always have to study carefully where there might be a better way to cross. The peak at the back is called Pizzo Molare.  

In the center back you can see the village of Molare, where we started on this hike. And now I am trying to figure out where to cross the river... 

The best place to cross was to use this tree that had washed down from higher above. At this point we really hoped we wouldn't come across anything worse than this... 

Here at Fornace there is a side trail which you can take to cross the Nara Pass about 600 meters higher up! We were near that pass on the other side last year, but did not ascend from here. (Photos HERE)

At 11:10 we reached the first "Monti" (=Mountain Hamlet) called Matenc, accessible by paved road from Faido and Tengia. It was high time to change into shorts and put on sunscreen. 

Here's a good place for a break! We often look for benches like this. 

A view north up the Leventina Valley (Cari and Molare on the far right) toward the Gotthard mountains. The goats have full run of this entire mountainside. There are no fences for them. 

Enjoying the view and the fantastic day we were able to enjoy. 

Continuing on now, and a look back at the hamlet of Matenc (consists of about 8 buildings). 

The trail leads uphill to the next Monti called Cassin. 

Here in Cassin there were about 15 buildings, including a tiny votive chapel 

The small votive chapel in Cassin. We are still headed toward Sobrio, but surprised that we had already come 3.2km (1 hour) and the sign is still showing about 5 hours to go! This is where we figured we would probably have to descend to the Strada Alta (where the buses run), much sooner. 

10 minutes later we came to the next Monti called Audesc, also with a small chapel (this one was locked). 

Continuing on from Audesc. From here we had a rather "boring" 1-hour walk through only forest until the next Monti called Fragéira, which is where we decided to change our plans. 

Another less difficult stream to cross. 

On the west side of the Leventina Valley, the summit of Pizzo Forno towers 2200 meters above the valley bottom! (We would have liked to do a hike on that flank as well, but are unsure about the status of that avalanche snow in the valley called "Vallone di Gribbio". There is trail that passes there, but you don't want to be caught in the snow in an avalanche couloir.)

Across the valley along that trail we would like to walk one day, is a small hamlet called A-Césc where you can spend the night for a very cheap rate. We plan on a 2- or 3-day trip to do that some time. 

An interesting cliff along an otherwise rather uneventful 1-hour hike uphill through a forested area 

Once-in-a-while we have a clearing with a view. Way down below (in fact, about 1000 meters below) is the town of Faido, from where we caught the bus up the mountain. 

And 600 meters below us is the village of Calonico and the San Martino church on the edge of the cliff. Calonico is one of the many villages on the Strada Alta trail, which we passed through on our 2018 hike from Rossura, and most recently where we ended our 11-km hike from Sobrio in November of 2023.

At 13:40 we reached Fragéira, the highest altitude location this day. This is where we decided to descend to Monte Angone and take another trail to the North (2 hours from here) instead of continuing to Sobrio. (Another 3+ hours from here!) 

We found a mountain house here with a picnic table. No one was home, so we had a long break here! 

A lovely place too "borrow" for a break!

It is always exciting when we find the first gentians!

Heading down from Fragéira at 2:15 p.m. 

We had to do a detour as the main trail was closed due to forestry work, but this turned out better, as we were higher up with this wonderful view all the way to the Gotthard mountains. That incredible machine is an innovative excavator from the company Menzi-Muck, which is used for such work on steep hillsides. 

Up the valley on a lovely sunny plateau is the community of Dalpe. We descended to this community when we crossed a pass on the upper left, back in September 2022. 

Heading down to Monte Angone. Way below is the town of Chironico on the other side of the Leventina Valley. We have been there a couple of times as well.

Below us is the hamlet of Monte Angone, also accessible by paved road from the valley below! 

Heading into Monte Angone. It was so pretty up here!

Also here is a small chapel, dating from 1554! It is named in honour of the Madonna of Lourdes, and was renovated in 1958. 

Oratorio della Pieta (Madonna of Lourdes)

Many nice vacation homes in this small hamlet. This one is for sale... would be nice to live here, AND it's accessible by car!

Another look at the mountain called Pizzo Forno. The clearing there on the right is Gribbio, a place we really want to get to, as we have not yet walked on that side. We are now headed in the direction of the Strada Alta (Rossura etc.). This trail which we now took heading north again is basically another parallel trail between the Strada Alta and the Sentiero dei Monti. 

This was a bit complicated to pass through/over!

One of several waterfalls we passed on this stretch. The pool was deep enough that it would have been fun to swim in on a hot day. (There are many such pools in this valley). 

On this stretch we are walking directly above the Gotthard Train Base Tunnel (longest train tunnel in the world and currently being repaired due to massive damage which occurred in August 2023), and I am pretending to listen to the trains! 

This next hamlet is called Cò, and we stopped here for another break. 

Attempting a self-timed photo!

Summit of Pizzo Forno. Looks like a glacier, but it's just not-yet-melted snow. You can see the trail of an avalanche at the top.

Always happy to fill up with cold mountain water from these troughs!

From Cò it is only 35 minutes to the bus stop at Tengia, and 10 minutes more to Rossura, which we were hoping to reach also (but we didn't even have those extra 10 minutes once we got to Tengia). 

Continuing on the trail now toward Tengia. It's just after 4 p.m., it takes 35 minutes to Tengia from here, and we want to make the 5 p.m. bus back to Faido. 

We passed a lovely clearing up here... this is a nature reserve called Campiroi

This waterfall near the hamlet of Sursell was even more impressive than the other one with the pool. 

VIDEO:

Fabulous Waterfall

Another great waterfall above Sursell! Here we had to plough our way through the meadow to get to the road. 

Final stretch now down to Tengia. Ahead of us are the villages we passed on the bus ride up. In the center are Carὶ and Molare where we started.  

We arrived in Tengia at 16:50, just in time for the 16:59 bus. No need to look at the village too closely, as we have passed through here before. 

The bus stop is just north of the village as the bus actually just makes a detour to here on its way up the mountain. We got here only a couple of minutes before the bus did. AND we were the only passengers for the whole trip back down to Faido, a private chauffeured ride in a sense!

Passing back through Rossura on our way back down to Faido at the valley bottom. 

Here's our 17:39 train for the 2-hour trip back home from Faido!

What our four-hour and 14-km hike looks like on Google Satellite maps. The red line is the winding road from Faido to Predelp via Tengia (we got out in Molare, and caught the bus in late afternoon in Tengia on its way down again). It is really nice for us that there are small buses which make the run up to these mountain villages so that we can start our hikes further up the mountains....

Heading north by train toward the Gotthard Massif. This time the train goes through the original 15-km tunnel from Airolo, not the base tunnel. They now call this the panorama stretch. 

A close-up look at the beautiful Gotthard Massif

On the north side of the Gotthard Tunnel, it's always fun to pass the village of Wassen. As the railway makes two 180-turns here, we actually pass this village three times. 

This is the end-of-day weather on the north side of the Alps. 

This little guy hitched a ride home on our train. He has the cutest name: "Red and Black Froghopper", and is actually a species of cicada. I threw him out at one of the stops along the way....

Location of the Leventina Valley in Switzerland, just south of the Alps. 

These are the hikes we have done in the northern part of the Leventina Valley. The lower tracks all joined together are the different sections of the "Strada Alta" which we have walked.