A Loop Hike in Valzurio: Baita Moschel to Rifugio Rino Olmo and Back

Overview ~ Notes ~ Plants ~ Photos

  

Left: Trail 320 below Rifugio Rino Olmo.
Center: Trail 320 looking north toward Monte Ferrante.
Right: The tracks and elevation profile for this hike.

Overview

Duration: 3 hours (walking time)
Elevation: 688 m
Length: 10 km
Location: Italy, Lombardy, Bergamo, Val Seriana

Notes

(We did this hike at the end of April 2024, and we are just getting around to writing about it.)

We were last in this area in November 2022 (see A Sunday Hike in Valzurio, Val Seriana). This time we arrived in a friend’s jeep past where we ended the 2022 hike and then started hiking. Honestly, it felt a little indulgent. We parked more or less where there are a series of small waterfalls called the Marmitte dei Giganti (here).

The first time we were in this area was in July 2018 when we passed just above the Baite del Möschel; we were finishing our 7-day hike: Seven Days on the Sentiero delle Orobie – A Journey Through the Bergamo Alps.

On this hike, we followed the trails 311, 311A, and 320. These links to the CAI web site are useful as well as the overall Geoportale (look for "mappe") page for seeing all the trails.

Finally, we had a quick lunch at Rifugio Rino Olm and then stopped and had a coffee at Baita Bruseda where we met a guy renting part of the baita.

Plants

[Family] Genus species – {Common names in English; Italian}

[Asteraceae] Tossilago farfara – {Coltsfoot; Tossilaggine comune}
 

[Asparagaceae] Scilla bifora – {Alpine squill; Scilla silvestre} (white and violet-blue)

  


[Boraginaceae] Pulmonaria sp. - {Lungwort; Polmonaria}

 


[Brassicaceae] Draba aizoides - {Yellow Whitlow Grass; Draba aizoide}
 

[Pinaceae] Larix decidua - {European Larch; Larice comune}


[Ranunculaceae] Helleborus niger – {Christmas Rose; Rosa di natale}

 


[Ranunculaceae] Helleborus viridis – {Green Hellebore; Elleboro verde}

Photos

 

Left: The Selter Ruí - a cold room in Valzurio.
Right: Baita Bruseda at 1499 m.

The Selter Ruí (or "cold hole") was once used as a storage and conservation area for dairy products coming from the Alpine huts further up the mountain. "This was due to the cold air currents: in winter air rises in the ground, that freezes, and in summer the air falls and cools down". "At the mouth of one of these outlets of frozen air our farmers built a small room where milk and cheese could be kept in the cool" (Rocco Zambelli from "La Valzurio", 1987) The small rectangular-shaped basement room has boulders leaning against a paleolandslide (rui-rovina), and features a barrel vault (hence the name selter).

 

Left: Coming down from Rifugio Rino Olmo along trail 320, view west.

Right: The meadow below Baita Bruseda - along trail 320.

 
Left: Marmitte dei Giganti in Valzurio.

Right: View from trail 320 looking down Valzurio.