Magnificent Crossing of the Lucendro Pass

Wednesday July 18, 2018 -- On Wednesday we went up to the Gotthard Pass. Raw, empty, a rocky wasteland of incredible beauty... every step forward more stunning than the next...

This was Plan A from the weekend before, when the weather wasn't so good and we walked the Viamala Gorge instead. Good decision to wait, because Wednesday was a glorious day, we could not have asked for better weather. And while the valley bottoms languished in the heat, we waded through snow and wore jackets. This excursion will go down as one of my favourites. 

The St.Gotthard Massif is the major divider of northern and southern Switzerland, through which the Swiss have built 15-km long train and vehicle tunnels, and most recently at 52 km the longest train tunnel in the world, in order to provide faster access to the South. Previously, travelers had to cross at the Pass to which also some incredible streets have been built.

We didn't stay at the Gotthard Pass (2106m), but walked up to the dammed Lake Lucendro, then over the Lucendro Pass (2532m) and high above the Bedretto Valley, then descended to the highway that goes up to the Pass from the South. It was a long hike, steep on both sides (descent especially!), but the views West to the Nufenen Pass and South into the Leventina Valley... and the first glimpse of the old Tremola highway. Cannot be surpassed.

We did worry about the snow, though. Approaching the Gotthard Pass by bus, and seeing all the snow on the flanks where we were headed... but it turned out we didn't have to go back. The few snow patches we had to cross were manageable... Thousands of years back when these passes were the major crossings, the original planners of these trails (some of which are laid out with rocks to look like actual roads) knew to place the trails where the snows melt the fastest and crossings could take place as soon as possible in the spring....

Oh, and an important fact: The area just below the Lucendro Pass is the source of the mighty Reuss River which flows North to join the Rhine River near the German border....

Start of our hike at the Saint Gotthard Pass, heading to the Lucendro Pass. It took us over two hours to get there, though (more like 2.5).

This is the Lucendro Dam. Hard to believe that up there is a beautiful lake, and higher still many small lakes

 

In just a few minutes we're up at the lake level

Lago di Lucendro. Our goal is the valley at the back, on the left, and the amount of snow did cause us some concern...

Looking back past the Lucendro Dam to the Saint Gotthard Pass

After walking to the back of the lake, we climbed another 350m altitude to the Lucendro Pass, then across a steep mountain flank, where we were surprised by snow

The hike up to the pass was actually not difficult

Fascinating roads way up here indicate that this was also used as a crossing road

The few snowy patches we had to cross were easy enough to navigate

Most of the remaining snow is left over from avalanches

Only another 15 minutes from here to the pass

Looking backwards to where we came, it is difficult to explain what a powerful feeling this landscape triggers... in the very center of the photo are two people...

Even in this barren rocky landscape, plants find their way through

More remnants of an early road

And arrived at the pass, what a feeling of achievement! Our trail continues past those snow patches to the small saddle beyond.

Goal achieved!! Passo di Lucendro, 2532m above sea level. Our final goal is Belvedere, 1 hour 40 minutes to go, but it actually took us about 2 hours (not counting 2x 30-minute breaks!)

First order of business, a well-deserved picnic lunch and 30 minutes pause at the pass

With careful navigation, these snow patches weren't too difficult to cross, although you wouldn't want to slip

All the way from the pass, we kept getting better and better views into the Bedretto Valley, all the way to the Nufenen Pass

Once we reached the little saddle, we got a) this spectacular view all the way down the Bedretto Valley to the Nufenen Pass in the West....

...b) this stunning scene straight ahead to the East, to the Sella Lake (also a dammed lake, also a hike we plan to do this summer).... AND ....

... c) this equally spectacular view into the Leventina Valley to the Southeast. (Below is the curve of the modern road up to the Pass, that is where we will catch our bus).

This final ridge to the road was a lot further and more difficult to walk down than it looks...

 

(Video):  The old Tremola Road, all cobblestoned, right up to the Saint Gotthard Pass. It was awesome as we turned the corner and saw this amazing picture in a small opening in the hills....

Another engineering marvel: The old Tremola Road from Airolo up to the Pass on the South side of the Saint Gotthard Massif. We got this first glimpse in a small opening between the hills

Modern Day Fortress: This entire area is replete with military defenses

Another more open view of the Tremola Road, all the way up to the Saint Gotthard Pass where we started our hike about 6 hours earlier.

And this is the modern road from Airolo to the Saint Gotthard Pass

Happy to see the bus (which was late, and later held up by a stupid horse-drawn coach carrying tourists down the old road... we almost missed our connection in Airolo). By this time, I was pretty ready to head back home!

Our hike was 12 km, our walking time was about 4 hours, 45 minutes. We were up here for 6.5 hours total. This map also shows the old Tremola Road in Blue. 

As an aside: This gorge is called the Schöllenenschlucht (Schöllenen Gorge) and is on the North side of the Gotthard Massif. They are forever working on this road that descends from Andermatt to Göschenen. They have to set up some pretty hefty scaffolding to do this....

The Legendary Viamala Gorge, from Zillis to Sils im Domleschg

July 14, 2018 -- Oh those weather reports, not so accurate lately! This time we ended up going with Plan C1....

Definitely not as satisfying as actually executing Plan A, Plan C1 was to walk through the legendary Viamala Gorge (through which flows the Posterior Rhine River) in Canton Graubünden, where it didn't matter that it ended up raining slightly. It's a gorge I've wanted to walk through for a long time anyway. But the vehicle traffic was rather annoying, so plans changed once more as we opted for the mountain trail about halfway down the gorge (Veia Traversina) instead of staying on the old roadway.

Our excursion started in the village of Zillis after admiring the unique little church called St.Martin's which has the best-preserved wood-paneled ceiling of its kind in the world. The panels are about 1m square in size and by dating the wood, it was determined that the panels were painted in the early 12th century. The church's origins date to the year 500. 

This entire area (called the Domleschg) was one of the major North-South routes back into prehistoric times... and the traverse of the deep canyon without the help of modern roads was somewhat dangerous, hence the name "Via Mala" which means "Bad Road".

After a descent into the canyon and back out again, and not joining the other tourists in the specially-made-for-tourists descent into the narrowest part of the gorge (to a viewing platform below), we left the old roadway and passed across the fabulous 60-m long Traversina Suspension Bridge, more of a staircase than a bridge as the far end is 22m higher than the near end. 

After stunning glimpses 300 vertical meters into the canyon below we passed by the ruins of the Hohen Rätien Castle, perched on a promontory at the Northern entrance to the Viamala Gorge. This entire area is replete with churches and fortresses, and the Hohen Rätien Castle grounds are not only the largest castle areal in Canton Grisons, but also house the earliest Christian Church built in the region.

Having seen our fair share of castle ruins we decided to bypass the ascent (in the meantime it got hot) to this Monument of National Importance and head directly down to our destination of Sils. We ended our excursion with a long bus ride through the Domleschg to admire all the castle and ruins....


HIGHLIGHTS of ST.MARTIN's ZILLIS:
(153 painted sliding wooden panels in the ceiling, each about 1m square. The panels depict the lives of Christ and St.Martin. All along the edges are paintings of animals -- half land animal and half sea animal -- as it was believed back then that for every land animal there must be an equivalent sea animal).

St.Martin's church in Zillis, origins date from the year 500, many additions and upgrades over the centuries.

153 panels, each approx. 1 meter square

153 panels, each approx. 1 meter square

Some very nice details

You get a kink in the neck from staring upwards. There are mirrors available to make the viewing easier, or to make you dizzy, as in my case.

The panels are made of thin wooden boards joined by wooden dowels. A layer of glue solution was added to prevent absorption, before the drawings were painted.

Dating of the wood shows that the trees used for these panels were cut in the winter of 1109/1110

 

Another glimpse of the church as seen from the museum window. We're not fans of museums, but it cost 5Fr. to view the church, and the price included a visit of the museum. It was worth it.

THE HIKE TO and THROUGH the VIA MALA GORGE

This is the village of Zillis, where we started our hike. Headed North from here toward the Viamala Gorge

Beautiful old house in Zillis, Canton Grisons

On our way North, we passed through the quaint village of Reischen, where we had our first picnic

On our way North, we passed through the quaint village of Reischen, above which was the first of many castles we saw this day

Right above this bridge at the top of the cliff is a castle, Fortress Haselstein

Fortress Haselstein, one of very many fortresses on this important North-South passage

These days the trip through the Viamala Gorge takes about 5 minutes by car.... 

This is the only section where we were actually at the bottom of the gorge. On the other side we had to go up to the road again.

This is the narrowest section of the gorge, where the highway goes through. Behind me is the Tourist Center where you can buy souvenirs and have a coffee and for 6 Fr. you can descend into the gorge.

The narrowest part of the Viamala Gorge

For 6 SFr. you can descend into the gorge to a viewing platform. We have been in many gorges, so we skipped this one.

As we continued on our trail, there were several places where we also saw down into the gorge

Instead of taking the old road on the left side of the valley, we went higher up on the right side and came across this superb suspension bridge, which is actually a staircase because the far end is 22m higher than the near end! This bridge is called the Traversina Steg

The Traversina Steg: 60 m long and 22m higher on this end. The Viamala gorge is in the background.

At this spot that we stopped for a picnic, we could see down on the old highway which was the original suggestion for the trail out of the valley. (The river is 300m vertically below)

Our very lovely picnic spot 300m vertically above the river

You can just barely see how our "picnic spot" juts out over the cliff face !!! 

Shortly before our descent to Sils, we passed the ruins of the Hohen Rhätien Castle, the largest castle areal in Canton Grisons, perched on a promontory at the North entrance to the Viamala Gorge. We weren't up for the hot ascent, so we skipped this as well, although this cultural monument is apparently also well worth a visit.

A selection of the many castles (there were also lots of ruins) on our bus ride to Rhäzuns (instead of returning to Thusis)

Distance-wise this was only 11 km, but it took us almost 4 hours to walk (not counting the time in Zillis)