Via Gottardo from Giornico to Personico

Monday October 12, 2020 -- After three days of not hiking (that is a long time for us as this is, once again, a hiking week, but we were not so lucky with the weather this time....) we wanted to make this hike a good one, a real mountain hike for a change. Unfortunately, winter came early this year, and there is snow down to low elevations almost everywhere we wanted to hike.

But as is often the case, the weather promised to be nice South of the Alps, so we chose to do a section of the "Via Gottardo" (Trail no.7 of Switzerland's seven national trails), about half-way up the Leventina Valley, and across from the sunny "Strada Alta" (a 45-km long high trail from Airolo to Biasca, which we have done in stages and almost completed). This stretch between Giornico and Personico via the tiny mountain village called Faidàl was originally one of the earliest passages into the Leventina Valley from the South. 

The hike up to the village of Faidàl took two hours and required an ascent of about 600m, which we covered in good time, as the sun disappeared quickly along this side of the valley. (When we studied the maps, we knew it might be risky, but didn't expect the sun to disappear behind the hills by noon). Furthermore, there was a cold North wind, and so we didn't stay long in Faidàl where we had our picnic lunch, and where we just managed to enjoy about 15 minutes of sunshine! But the view definitely made the climb worth it. 

In retrospect, it was a bit disappointing that of all the other places we could have been, we chose one with so much shade on this otherwise absolutely cloudless day....

Side note: The chestnuts were dropping all around us, it felt like the trees were aiming their ammunition at us!

To get to the start of our hike (Giornico) we took a bus from Bodio. To the West we got a good view of the hillside where we would be walking. It was hard to imagine that there was a trail up there. Also, at this point, it still looked like we would have luck with the sunshine.

From the bus stop along the main road in Giornico, we made our way down to the Ticino River

Crossing the Ticino River, a view past the two historical churches to the hillside where we are hiking up. That dark valley is called Val Cramosina, and we have to cross that.

Signs indicate two hours to Faidàl. We did it in just under the two hours. From there it was another just over one hour to descend to Personico. Along National Trail no.7: Via Gottardo

Chiesa San Nicolao in Giornico. This church, completed in 1210, is a monument of national importance and is the most important example of Romanesque architecture in Canton Ticino. We have visited this church before, so didn't go in this time.

A large part of our ascent from Giornico was along steps such as these, which make the climb go much faster. 

As we climb, a look down at Giornico, where we started. About half-way up the mountain on the other side is the Strada Alta Trail, which gets way more sunshine than this side of the valley!

A zoomed view of the two churches in Giornico, and the Roman Bridge over the Ticino River

After an hour climb, we got to Catto.

At Catto, there was this property with terrace with sun exposure and a wonderful view, and no one present, so we stopped here for a few minutes

Enjoying the sunshine and view from the property at Catto. Below in the valley bottom is the city of Biasca.

Past the dark Val Cremosina and through more forest, we came upon another clearing with a couple of houses, and surprisingly, a post office MAILBOX on which was marked: Next pick-up in July!

The entire forest floor and mountain trail were thick with chestnut hulls. The chestnuts pop out when the hulls hit the ground, and I could have collected tons of them (usually I take home about a dozen, and let them go bad).

This clearing with the little collection of houses, is called Masgianéngh.

A lovely sunny clearing. If we hadn't been in a hurry to get to Faidàl before it fell into the shadows, we would have stopped here for our lunch break. From here it's only another 30 minutes to Faidàl.

Finally reached Faidàl. We were so glad that we beat the shadows here! This was 12:15.

We stopped here for lunch but there was a cold wind blowing, so we didn't stay long.

Looks like sunshine!

We walked to the top of the village admiring the houses here

From above the village of Faidàl, a view North up the Leventina Valley toward the Gotthard Massif. Below at valley bottom is the town of Giornico where we started. Far and wide the landscape is sun drenched (especially the Strada Alta Trail on the opposite side) whereas here, the shadows are approaching quickly!

Leaving the village of Faidàl, soon to be in shadow (it was now 1 p.m.), to descend to Personico (another hour).

These are beautiful chestnut forests with huge old abandoned trees. Centuries ago, the people lived from chestnut harvests, and the hillsides were well-tended orchards, but have fallen into disrepair.

Another clearing with a few more houses, this one is called Venn. Totally in shadow before 1 p.m. at this time of year. But this chestnut tree, it was once HUGE!

Descending through the shadowy forest, there are still plenty of places all around us where the sun is still shining!!

This was a nice surprise

We hurried down the hill, but couldn't make it to the village of Personico before most of the houses were in shadow.

Zoomed view of the wonderful snow-capped peaks slightly to the North of us.

We would have had to wait over an hour for a bus in Personico, so we walked two more kilometers along the Ticino River to Bodio, where we planned to catch the 15:01 train North. (Due to a delay in that train, we actually returned South to Bellinzona instead).

11 kilometers altogether, and quite a climb (total over 700m ascent). The section along the Via Gottardo Trail. With a couple of side "trips" and the walk to Bodio, we hiked for over four hours.

Earlier this year we hiked a section of the Strada Alta Trail (via Sobrio, where each house bears the name of a famous composer). This time we hiked on the opposite side of the valley. The shadow on the Google Earth Map pretty well reflects the shadow we had by the time we reached valley bottom!

Because we returned to Bellinzona, we had to wait 45 minutes for the next fast train North. But here the sunshine was wonderful! Just behind the train station is this church on a hill. Unfortunately the gate was locked, but we had a nice sunny spot on that bench in the little section of grass

Checking out the back side of the church, to see if there is a different access. We didn't find one.

The beautiful Castel Grande in the center of Bellinzona. One of Bellinzona's three castles, which together compose one of Switzerland's 12 World UNESCO Sites. (In medieval times, the three castles and their fortifications closed off the Ticino Valley for control of the route to the Gotthard Pass, i.e. the valley where we had hiked this day).

From Valzeina in the Schrankenbach Valley (Prättigau), to Landquart

Thursday Oct. 8, 2020 -- Back in May this year we were in the Prättigau Region of Canton Grisons, walked along the cliffs on the North side of the gorge that separates the Rhine Valley from the Prättigau. From there we could see on the South side a little valley which we needed to discover. That's where we went this Thursday.

We knew that the weather would be overcast in the morning, with forecast to clear with sunshine in the afternoon, so we were glad that the earliest we could get into the valley (final stop = the tiny village called Valzeina) was at about noon. It was so disappointing that the sky just refused to clear... we even sat on a wet bench at the edge of the cliff looking down into the Rhine Valley while eating our lunch, waiting and waiting.... and then we started our descent through the forest and wouldn't you know it, that's when the sky cleared, when we no longer had a view into the Schrankenbach Valley! But still, the view North along the Rhine Valley was spectacular, especially as we could see where we had descended to Malans in May.

When we got down to the Landquart River, our original plan was to walk eastward through the gorge to where we had originally caught the bus (30 minutes along paved roads), but there was more sun westward, so we walked out to the town of Landquart along the Landquart River (60 minutes on forest trail), but in retrospect it was a rather tedious 4 km, and walking through the gorge might have been more interesting...

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First we had to wait 40 minutes in the tiny town of Grüsch, for the bus to take us to Valzeina. We admired some of the buildings there:

Village of Grüsch below Seewis

Village of Grüsch below Seewis

Village of Grüsch below Seewis (on the hill above, you can just see the ruins of a fortress)

Zoomed view of the ruins of the Solavers Fortress (13th Century)

Then a 16-minute bus ride to the furthest stop in the back of the valley: The tiny town of Valzeina, with a church and a "Hofladen", which is a small shop in a private home where the farmer offers homemade goods (we purchased cheeses as we often do).

Tiny town of Valzeina

We always love to peek in to the farmer's shops, usually in a cellar room, or as in this case, an add-on to the original farmhouse

This looks like it might have been the entrance to the original house, but with an add-on they have created an entire room where they sell their homemade goods.

We usually buy cheese and/or sausages out of the fridge. You write down what you bought in the book, and put the money in the little safe box

The "Hofladen" in Valzeina, a cute add-on to the original farmhouse

We started our hike about noon, first 15 minutes to the crest of the mountain, where we could look down into the Rhine Valley 700m straight below. From there a walk along the crest which should take 30 minutes, but we gave it an hour in the hopes of the skies clearing. At 13:30, as we were descending through the forest, we finally had sunshine.

A look into the back of the Schrankenbach Valley. It would have been so much better if the sky had been blue!

A look past the church down the valley into the Prättigau region

As we got to the crest (only about 15 minutes' climb) we got this super view into the Rhine Valley (below is the town of Zizers) 700m below. The mountain range with the white cap is the Calanda.

Heading North along the crest, a look back at the village of Valzeina below. Always hoping that the clouds would finally dissipate!

After waiting almost an hour, we decided we should start our descent. Who knows when the better weather would move in? This is the last look up the valley

Heading along a meadow before the descent through the forest, a couple of donkeys raced down the hill to greet us!

VIDEO:

The Donkeys ran down to greet us!

There was a huge storm just four days earlier that caused lots of flooding and other damage in several regions of Switzerland. These fallen trees are pretty recent, probably from that storm

This fallen tree is a bit older, someone carved a step in the trunk so it would be easier to cross!

Finally! At 13:30 (90 minutes after we left Valzeina), the sky started to clear! This view is down into the Prättigau, to the North of the Landquart River.

The peak of the Calanda looking fabulous!

As we reached the clearing above the gorge and the Landquart River, we get a sun-drenched view of the Rhine Valley toward the North. And right across is the forest we descended in May when we walked above the Gorge on its North side.

Making our way down on the Prättigau side. Below is the city of Grüsch, where we started our excursion in a small post-bus for the 16-minute ride up the valley

What a lovely surprise, one clearing with a view back up the Schrankenbach Valley to those snow-covered peaks that earlier blended into a milky sky. Now you can see them so much better!

A zoomed view of the mountains at the back of the Schrankenbach valley, the ones we could barely see earlier when they blended into the milky-white skies.

More recently-toppled trees

Finally, we got down to the Landquart River, at the mouth of the gorge (called Chlus). One option would have been to walk eastward through the gorge, but the trail there (30 minutes) is a paved road. 

We decided to walk along the Landquart River for four more kilometers to the train station in Landquart. This vantage along the River gives us a good look of the crest that we walked. At the arrows is where we got the fantastic views down into the Rhine Valley

There was a tree fairly swarming with these admiral butterflies

Crossing the Landquart River to its North bank.

A look behind us (eastward) toward the gorge, and the cliffs on the right where we walked along part of the crest, and then down to the river.

Our trail as mapped on Google Earth. Starting at Valzeina, we walked up to the crest, then along the crest for a short distance before descending through the forest.

Both hikes which we did in this lower end of the Prättigau region this year.

This is what the Schrankenbach (Valzeina) Valley looked like as seen from the North side, where we were hiking in May of this year: