Day 1: Cademario

Half a day hike and we arrived at village of Cademario on the first ridge, 800 meters altitude.

 Old courtyard with cut branches and sedges.



















View between buildings

Old stone steps.

 

Very new modern house.

A rustic cottage, several hundred years old.

Day 1: Casa Leone in Breno

Our first night was in a small bed and breakfast in the small town of Breno.
Day One was 15 km and 700 meters up.

Key to a house that is still occupied, built originally in the sixteenth century.

 Swifts in the evening, coming to roost in the church belfry.

Camera Verde above, the Green Room.
Courtyard where meals where served below.

2: Leaving Breno

 Chestnut trees were an important food source and are still common at lower altitudes.  They appear to have diseases, although not as bad as America.  Dead Chestnuts had been carved into sculptures.

The spruce forests are traditionally harvested but they did not look healthy.

Rushes growing in a moist spot in the shade.

2: Approaching the Crest

View to southeast toward Breno village we had left, and the Lake of Lugano beyond.

View of the trail looking back down.

2: View from Zottone Crest

View from Zottone crest, 1,570 meters altitude.  

Monte Rosa to the southwest in the Alps, second highest mountain in Europe.

View to West:  villages in Italy on the other side of Lago Maggiore, Alps beyond.

View to north: path toward Monte Tamaro that we will be taking.

View to east, where we came from, Lugano and Lago di Lugano.
Breno is the small village we started from that morning, visible down valley at 800 meters.

2: Path Toward Hut

This day we had hiked from Zottone crest around Monte Magno, to the Passo d'Agrario.
The refreshment hut there was visible from a long way away.  1,550 meters elevation.

2: Around Monte Tamaro

2: Capanna Tamaro

Capanna Tamaro is at 1,867 meters.  Total for day:  20 km, 1,000 meters up.
We were lucky all day with clear skies and good views.

At sunset, looking southwest toward Monte Rosa, left of picture, 4,634/15, 203 feet.

3: Early Hike up to Monte Tamaro

Monte Tamaro is just under 2,000 meters.
There are cable cars with access north and south, so the paths are often crowded.
Not, however, at 7 in the morning and not from the refuge at 1,800 meters.

4: Medeglia to Gola di Lago

Bus from hotel at Rivera (500) to Medeglia (700).
Start hike at Medeglia and go through wet woods to Gola di Lago.
I think the feathery flower growing along abundant streams was Goatsbeard, Aruncus dioicus.

 Gola di Lago was a marshy area with historical markers commemorating fighting during both world wars.  We lost the path and did not venture into the wet pasture to read the history markers.  Next time....