A Hike from Rifugio Ca’ San Marco to Lago di Pescegallo

Overview ~ Notes ~ Hike to Eat ~ Casa Cantoniera and Linea Cadorna ~ 

Cultural Literacy, Italian Style ~ Photos

  

  

Top left: View from Passo di Verrobbio looking north toward Valtellina and Switzerland
Top center: Lago di Pescegallo, Valgerola Italy.

Top right: Tracks from Rifugio Ca' San Marco to Lago di Pescegallo.

Bottom left: Small lake near Passo di Verobbio.

Bottom center: View south over Lago Valmora, near Rifugio Ca' San Marco.

Bottom right: Heading toward Ca' San Marco.


Sometimes the best hikes are the ones that materialize the day before. A friend asked us on Saturday if we wanted to go hiking the next day with a group of friends. Of course we did.

Overview

Duration: 2 hours (walking time)
Elevation: 445 m
Length: 7.8 km
Location: Italy, Bergamo, Alta Valle Brembana

Notes

We got a late start on Sunday due to large group logistics but managed to arrive at Rifugio Ca’ San Marco at still the respectable morning hour of 10:30 am, where the morning coolness was still perceptible.

Our destination was Lago di Pescegallo and CAI Sentiero 161, which runs from the rifugio toward Lago di Pescegallo and eventually Passo di Salmurano. With the size of the group, the late start, and unspoken “let’s have ourselves a little Sunday walk but let’s not miss lunch” hanging in the air, we knew this was not going to be an epic hiking day.

From Rifugio Ca’ San Marco, at about 1,830 meters, we headed toward Passo di Verrobbio at 2,026 meters. Once over the pass, the trail enters Val di Bomino and Valtellina. The scenery improved considerably around the pass, where there are remnants of World War I trenches (Linea Cadorna).

Our original destination was Lago di Pescegallo, but lunch exerted a stronger gravitational pull. There wasn’t enough time to descend to the lake and climb back before our reservation, so we turned around above it. Our outing came to 7.8 km with about 445 meters of elevation gain. The lake will have to wait for another day.

Hike to Eat

Back at Rifugio Ca’ San Marco, we arrived just as everyone was ordering lunch. We were with a very hungry group, and we dawdled on the way back to the rifugio, our attention caught by a small snake and a family from Lazio. The snake was likely a biscia or grass snake.

We went appropriately Valtellinese with pizzoccheri della Valtellina and penne con ragù di lepre. We finished by sharing strüdel, and then someone passed around some very good young goat robiola bought from a vendor who set up shop in the rifugio’s parking lot.

The pizzoccheri were particularly appropriate because we had just walked over the ridge into Valtellina. And so was our wine: a Triacca Valtellina Superiore Inferno 2021, made with Nebbiolo. We were drinking wine from the valley we could see off to the north.

But the gastronomic story didn't end with lunch.

As mentioned, in the parking area outside Ca’ San Marco was a cheese and salumi vendor. This made our day. We left with Bitto, fresh cow's-milk robiola, grasso d’alpe, bresaola, rye bread, dried blueberries, and bisciola – the Valtellinese sweet bread with figs, walnuts, and raisins. The vendor told us that his Bitto came from the milk of cows grazing below the rifugio, probably from the same malga we had looked down on while hiking.

Bitto has a fascinating connection to these valleys. Its origins are traditionally traced back to the Celts who took refuge in Valtellina and, as skilled herders and cheesemakers, developed long-lasting cheeses as a way of preserving the nutritional value of milk. Today's Bitto is a full-fat, semi-hard cheese made from raw whole cow milk, with a small amount of goat milk optionally added. The complicated modern history of cheese also produced "Storico Ribelle," the name adopted by producers who wanted to preserve the older production traditions.

So, one afternoon we had quite the Valtellina lineup: pizzoccheri, Nebbiolo wine from Valtellina, bitto cheese, bresaola (cured meat), bisciola (sweet bread), and gorgeous scenery.

Casa Cantoniera and Linea Cadorna

Today Ca’ San Marco may just seem like another rifugio, but there is more to it.

Ca’ San Marco’s role must be placed inside the geopolitical logic of the Via Priula, a historic communication route and an alpine hiking route that connects Bergamo to Morbegno, passing through the San Marco Pass.

Ca’ San Marco was built in 1593 at the edge of the Venetian mainland territories, it functioned as a casa cantoniera (point of monitoring traffic, goods, and movement) on an international frontier: a staffed outpost at the very crest of the Passo San Marco, where the Republic of Venice met the territories of the Grigioni (Three Leagues). The formal customs house — the actual dogana — sat lower down at Mezzoldo, where goods and travelers were inspected before beginning the climb. Ca’ San Marco, by contrast, was the high‑altitude presence of Venetian authority: a shelter, a control point, and a symbolic marker of the border. In early‑modern Alpine practice, this was typical — customs in the last village, state outpost on the pass itself — and Ca’ San Marco fit that pattern precisely.

Today the pass separates two Lombard valleys: Val Brembana (Province of Bergamo) on the southern side and Valtellina (Province of Sondrio) on the northern side. Administratively it is no longer a state frontier, but geographically it remains a watershed divide between the Brembo and the Adda, and culturally it still marks the transition between two distinct alpine regions with different historical trajectories. Before the unification of Italy, however, this ridge was a true international boundary: Venice to the south, the Grigioni to the north, and beyond them the routes toward Chur, the Rhine, and northern Europe. The Via Priula was built precisely to exploit this crossing, allowing Venetian merchants to bypass Spanish‑controlled Milan and maintain direct access to transalpine trade.

The Orobie form a steep, folded, high‑relief chain that historically acted as a natural barrier: militarily defensible, commercially constraining, and climatically severe. Only a handful of routes could be made viable, and Passo San Marco was one of the few that could be kept open and controlled. Snow, fog, and avalanches made the crossing dangerous; Ca’ San Marco’s bell was used to guide travelers in storms. In this sense, the building’s function was inseparable from the landscape: the mountains created the obstacle, the pass created the opportunity, and Ca’ San Marco was the human instrument that made the frontier navigable and governable.

Nearby and many centuries later, we can see remains of World War I activity. At the Verrobbio pass, which we passed through to go to Lago di Pescegallo, the remains of the trenches built before the outbreak of the First World War by the Italian Army are still present. In anticipation of a possible breakthrough of the Tonale front and a consequent descent of the Austrians along the Valtellina, Italy build these defenses. They are part of the Cadorna Line. Fortunately, these defensive constructions were never used.

The official name of the Cadorna Line is the Northern Frontier. Cadorna comes from the surname of Luigi Cadorna (1850 – 1928), Chief of Staff of the Italian Army, who ordered them built. This defensive system is 70 km long, stretching from the Varese area to the Aprica pass in Val Camonica, and served as a second line of defense in case the main front, at Stelvio and Tonale, collapsed or in case of attack by the Austrians through neutral Switzerland. Fortunately, the Cadorna Line was never used.

Cultural Literacy, Italian Style

Our education continued in the car on the way home.

First came an important Bergamasco proverb: La bóca l’è mai straca se la sa mia de àca – roughly, the mouth is never tired if it hasn't tasted of cow, or, more practically, a meal isn't really finished until you've had some cheese.

Given the amount of cheese we'd just bought, we were apparently taking the proverb seriously.

Then somehow, we arrived at the seven deadly sins and a discussion of ignavia – sloth, indolence, or the unwillingness to take a stand.

And then came 15 minutes discussing the movie Amici miei ("My Friends" in English.)

According to our Italian friends, Amici miei, Mario Monicelli's 1975 comedy, is basically required reading – or viewing – for understanding Italian culture. The film follows a group of middle-aged Florentine men who escape everyday life through their zingarate: elaborate, spontaneous, and often ridiculous pranks. This is one of those films we've heard referenced enough that not knowing it starts to feel like a gap in our Italian cultural education.

It wasn't the longest hike we've done, and technically we didn't make it all the way down to Lago di Pescegallo. But we crossed from Bergamo into Valtellina, walked past old military trenches, ate pizzoccheri, drank Valtellina wine, bought cheese with roots stretching back to the Celts, and returned home with a lot more.

Not bad for a Sunday.

Photos

  

Rifugio Ca' San Marco in Alta Valle Brembana, Bergamo, Italy.

  

Left: Menu at Rifugio Ca' San Marco.

Center: The lion of San Marco / Venice affixed on the side of Rifugio Ca' San Marco.

Right: A wine from the nearby Valtellina, a Nebbiolo.

  

Left: Rifugio Ca' San Marco - pizzoccheri - a typical food from the nearby Valtellina valley.

Center: Rifugio Ca' San Marco - penne con ragù di lepre.

Right: Rifugio Ca' San Marco strudel.

  

Left: Bitto cheese on polenta crust.

Center: Our cheese and meat haul.

Right: Local vendor's sign at the rifugio, selling cheeses and other products from the nearby valleys.

  

Left and center: Part of the Linea Cadorna at Passo di Verrobbio. 

Right: A cow grazes near Rifugio Ca' San Marco.

A Hike to Rifugio Fratelli Longo and Lago Diavolo from Carona

Overview ~ The Route ~ Resistance ~ Rifugio Longo ~ 

Water, Dams, and Electricity ~ A Final Thought ~ Flora

  

Left: View from the Lago Diavolo dam looking west.

Center: View from trail 208 - looking east.
Right: Rifugio Longo with green backdrop.

On a warm July Sunday, we headed up to Alta Val Brembana for a hike to Rifugio Fratelli Longo and Lago Diavolo. We stopped in Branzi (of cheese fame) for a coffee before continuing on to Carona and parking.

Starting in Carona, we followed a combination of CAI trails 210, 209, 208, 224, and 258 in a loop that took us through forests, past reservoirs and waterfalls, and into one of the most historically interesting valleys in the Bergamasque Alps. The hike ended, as many of our hikes do, with an excellent lunch at the rifugio. This is one of the few rifugi we haven’t been to in the Orobie, so it was nice to get a chance to visit.

Overview

Length: 19.7 km
Elevation Gain: ~1,010 m
Duration: 7 hours total including lunch, 4 hours 51 minutes moving time
Highest Point: 2,142 m
Starting Point: Carona (1,189 m)
Destination: Rifugio Fratelli Longo (2,026 m) and Lago Diavolo

The Route

We started in Carona (here) on CAI trail 210, a mostly paved service road that climbs steadily into the valley. Around the third kilometer we left the road and took CAI trail 209, a forest trail that climbs through the trees to meet trail 208, the Sentiero delle Orobie Occidentali. From there we continued on trail 224 to Rifugio Longo.

After reaching the rifugio, we continued up to Lago Diavolo, one of the iconic alpine lakes of the Orobie. The lake sits beneath rugged peaks and beside a dam that today holds back the alpine waters. Today, the lake looked pretty low to our eyes. 

We returned to the rifugio for lunch before descending on trail 258, a narrower and more interesting trail that drops into the valley and follows portions of an old aqueduct before reconnecting with trail 208 and eventually Carona.

One of the highlights of the day was encountering a large herd of Bergamasca Sheep. Seeing roughly 1,500 animals spread on a steep slope under the trees felt like stepping into another century. The Bergamasca breed originated in the valleys around Bergamo and remains closely associated with pastoral life in Val Brembana. The shepherd spoke a broken Italian indicating he was from somewhere else. Our Italian friends hinted he might be of Balkan origin.

Resistance 

A recurring theme on this hike was the difference between taking "the road" and taking "the trail." 

A few of our Italian companions generally favored the obvious and established route. Suggestions to deviate from the main trail, whether by taking trail 209 through the forest or making a detour to see the dam and lake, were initially met with skepticism. Once the alternative route revealed a hidden view, an interesting landscape feature, or some unexpected beauty, enthusiasm returned.  

Yet the next suggestion for a detour often triggered the same debate all over again. 

Perhaps this is one of those universal hiking truths: many hikers want certainty, while others are willing to trade certainty for curiosity. On this day, curiosity won some battles but not all of them.  

Rifugio Fratelli Longo 

The rifugio sits at 2,026 meters in the Valle del Monte Sasso and is one of the classic destinations in the Orobie Bergamasche. The rifugio is named after Giuseppe and Innocente Longo, two Bergamasque brothers who died while climbing the Matterhorn (Val d’Aosta) in 1934. 

The history of the rifugio is intertwined with that of nearby Rifugio Calvi. A mountain hut was originally constructed on this site by the CAI Bergamo section in 1923 was dedicated to the four Calvi brothers. Following damage and neglect during World War II, a larger rifugio was built nearby in the valley, becoming today's Rifugio Calvi. The older structure was renovated and rededicated to the Longo brothers, giving rise to the current Rifugio Fratelli Longo. 

Today, Longo serves hikers traversing the western Orobie and climbers heading toward passes that connect Val Brembana with Valtellina. Despite its remote location, it remains a welcoming place for a meal and conversation. During our visit, we chatted with the manager, who mentioned her son was preparing for a trip to Los Angeles, Death Valley, and Las Vegas. Small connections like that are one reason rifugi remain special places. 

Water, Dams, and Electricity 

The valley above Carona looks wild today, but much of its modern appearance was shaped by hydroelectric development during the twentieth century. 

Beginning in the early 1900s, the growing industrial centers of Bergamo and Milan needed electricity. The high valleys of the Orobie, with abundant snowfall (back then), steep gradients, and natural basins, were ideal for hydroelectric production. A series of dams, tunnels, reservoirs, and aqueducts were constructed throughout the area around Carona. 

Lago del Prato, Lago Marcio, Lago del Diavolo, Lago Fregabolgia, Lago del Sardegnana, and other reservoirs became part of an interconnected system designed to capture and move water efficiently through the mountains. Some of the trails hikers use today originated as service roads for dam construction and maintenance. The old aqueduct section we followed on trail 258 is a reminder that much of the valley's infrastructure was built not for recreation but for moving water. 

The dams dramatically altered the landscape while also preserving a visible record of twentieth-century engineering. Standing near Lago Diavolo, it is hard not to admire the ambition required to build large concrete structures in such a remote alpine environment long before modern construction equipment could be easily transported into the mountains. 

Today, hikers pass through a landscape where natural and human history coexist. Alpine lakes, shepherds, and centuries-old mountain traditions share the same valley with dams, tunnels, and hydroelectric infrastructure that helped power Lombardy's industrial growth. 

A Final Thought

We enjoyed this hike more than we expected. The combination of forests, reservoirs, alpine scenery, sheep, mountain history, and good food made for an excellent day in the Orobie. The route also reinforced a lesson we've learned many times: when given the choice between the road and the trail, the trail is usually the better story. 

  

  

  

  

  

Flora

[Apiaceae] Astrantia major

  

[Asteraceae] Centaurea sp.

  

[Asteraceae] Cirsium sp.

[Asteraceae] Pilosella sp.

[Onagraceae] Epilobium sp.

[Orchidaceae] Dactylorhiza maculata

[Orchidaceae] Gymnadenia rhellicani or Nigritella rhellicani

[Plantaginaceae] Digitalis grandiflora

[Rosaceae] Sanguisorba dodecandra