From Ballabio to Soldanella refuge through Val Grande

One of our favorite sources of information for hiking excursions is the Diska's, which accurately describes an impressive number of mountain hiking paths in our area. Also, for the excursion we made on Monday the 13th we referred to that website.

The path climbs Grignetta mount to a hundred+ year old refuge. Some maps, including Kompass n. 91, list the old name "rifugio Cavalletti" (Kompass n. 105 that overlap n. 91 on that area, instead the new name "Soldanella").

mount Grignetta; the glacier
that gives birth to Grigna river

Coming from Lecco by car we reach Ballabio after the new tunnel. At the roundabout, drive for Piani Resinelli, and following the main road you reach Ballabio Superiore. Here there is a little parking lot at left and the skinny road Via Grigna, that follows the homonymous stream, on the right. This is the starting point of the excursion. We left the car a little before.

The path begins on a carriage road open to local car traffic, but not far after a little bridge, it starts to climb on a path in the forest. Except for a couple of points it is easy to find the right way because at every fork or the wrong path, there is a clear marker pointing "piani Resinelli".

The first doubtful intersection is when you exit from the woods, where you'll find another carriage road. Here you must go left uphill. The road changes direction soon (because it is closed by a chain), and re-enters the woods on a steep slope at right. At a certain point the vegetation starts to thin away and you reach a meadow where you can enjoy a scenic landscape both at right and left.
This is the second doubtful point. After the meadow we reached a mountain house, where we asked for directions. Maddie made friends with their dog. Mr. Bentley barked to the "enemies" that didn't belong to his pack. The lady indicated the refuge, a white house that looked very close (but sometimes what you see is not what you get!). The lady explained the path for us, but she forgot one fork, where we decided to go left, passing next to a scenic waterfall (the other option looked like connecting to our choice a little above).
After the waterfall, the path goes to a steep slope and asks for one last effort. That's the strain of the first excursion of the season! Finally we reached the top next to a villa where four young people were enjoying a rest, shattering the peace of the mountain with loud music. We asked a confirmation on directions.

Just after the villa we were surprised to notice around us a place crowded enough that can also be reached by car (Piani Resinelli). Here i managed in hiding myself from a particularly sassy female colleague that i see refreshed and rested coming out from a car with some friends, all well dressed with designer hiking boots, clothes and backpack. Fortunately they didn't stop at the refuge! At the refuge we rested with a good bottle of water and a plate of cured meats.

The excursion doesn't have any particular difficulty, if not for the fact we were coming from months of lacking physical exercise. This past winter in fact, the weather was so ugly we were not able to make any true excursions on the snow.

The return was definitely easier.

GPS track record: A: start point; B: waterfall; C: refuge

Outward: Time: 2:30 Distance: 4.04km [2.5mi] Difference of level: 645m [2116'] (659m [2162'] uphill and 14m [46'] downhill) Altitude: 715m [2346'] to 1359m [4787'] Backward (on the same path): Time: 1:53

Refuge Larcher al Cevedale

Alpini's chapel at Malga Mare

Still on the same subject, here we go with another excursion we made just the day after the one at Lago della Vacca.
The original intention was to hike the "anello dei laghi" (="lakes ring"), that connects the starting point (Malga Mare), before reaching refuge Larcher, the lakes Careser, Nero (=Black), Lungo (=Long) and delle Marmotte (of the Marmots).

Still a little tired by the day before excursion, instead, we decided to leave the lakes for the next time and reach the refuge Larcher on the shortest, even if less spectacular, path, and then come back on the same.

Refuge Larcher

Malga Mare (strange name for a mountain farm at almost 2000 meters! ["mare"="sea"]) is reachable by car from Cogolo (TN). After some kilometers the road becomes really narrow and a driver begins to hope not to cross anybody in the opposite direction.
At a certain point, to keep driving a fee (2 euros) has to be paid to the guys of the Stelvio park, next to a parking lot. But we have not yet reached our destination: from that point there is still about 10 km to go before reaching the end of the road, where there is an hydroelectric generating station of the electric company and a parking.
Here, besides the Malga, there is also a little chapel dedicated to the Alpine soldiers and some picnic tables into the pinewood on the brook banks. Some cows are free on the fields.
The path starts with a fork: on the right it begins the path to lake Careser. We followed the other option marked #102 to refuge Larcher.

Refuge Larcher and Cevedale mountain glaciers

The best part is the beginning where the path winds in hairpin bends uphill among grassy fields, pinewoods and roaring torrents over which there are some little wooden bridges. In this part I was also able to see a deer. When arrived to the top it begins a long tract on a rocky path that goes till the destination.
At a certain point once arrived to plain "Venezia", there is another fork. The marker signs to Lago Lungo on path #146. Going straight the refuge starts to be visible while walking for a distance that looks neverending. The landscape opens on the perpetual snow of the Cevedale mountain glaciers. On the opposite ridge of the valley the Noce Bianco torrent, with its rapids can be seen. From the refuge, built right next to the cliff, a breathtaking view can be enjoyed.
The refuge, that has, besides the restaurant, also some bedrooms, can also be used as a base for several other excursions.
After a break and a sandwich with the local speck we took our way back on the same path.

• Time to go: 2:35
• Time to return: 1:52
• Round trip distance: 13.8km [8.6mi]
• Difference of level: 660m [2165feet] (794m [2604feet] uphill, 134m [440feet] downhill)
• Altitude: from 1953m [6407feet] to 2614m [8576feet]

GPS track
A: parking at Malga Mare; B: refuge Larcher; C: Pian Venezia plain; D: Lake Careser; E: Lake Nero; F: Lake Lungo; G: Lake delle Marmotte

A rainy weekend

For this past weekend, encouraged by the wonderful sunny days of the week, we decided to go hiking nearby in Valsassina, not too heavy nor long, considering that the puppy Mr. Bentley has a still limited fuel range, and we were expecting we would have to carry him on the backpack.
Anyway, at the end we didn't go, because it was raining cats and dogs all the time, making a little clear only sunday evening, and giving us a wonderful view that looked stolen from a documentary about tropical forests. Allright... the excursion will be postposed to the next weekend.
This is what one could see from our terrace yesterday evening.

Landscape from our terrace

What kind of view can be seen from your house?