Hike to Rifugio Bietti-Buzzi and Bogani - Grigna Settentrionale

Overview ~ Notes ~ Flora ~ Photos

  

Left: Porta di Prada on trail 24 to Rifugio Bietti-Buzzi.
Center: View from trail 25 into Valsassina.
Right: Tracks and stats for the hike.

Overview

Duration: 5.5 hours (with lunch)
Elevation: 687 m (2,254 ft)
Length: 11.7 km (7.3 mi)
Location: Italy, Lombardy, Esino Lario


This was one of those pick-a-rifugio-and-hike-to-it choices because we needed to get some hiking in! We’d never been to this area before and were curious about it. We arrived from Bergamo in a car, which took about 2 hours. You can arrive by public transportation, but it would be hard. You could make it to Esino Lario and then you’d have to walk from there.

Notes

We stopped at Albergo Cainallo, grabbed a coffee and then purchased a parking pass for the lot 2 km up the road located here. (You can also park for free at Albergo Cainallo and walk from there.) From the parking lot literally at the end of the road, we walked to Rifugio Bietti-Buzzi, backtracked a little and then headed to Rifugio Bogani and then back to the car. Relevant trails were marked as 24 and 25 but easier to just follow the signs to where you want to go.


We were excited by the food pictures we saw on the Bietti-Buzzi web site but were disappointed with what we got there. While we were happy to have food at all, we were less excited with pasta and a meat dish served in paper containers that got soggy to the point of almost breaking. That plus a less than warm reception meant we give this place a “meh”. When we stopped later at Bogani, we had a warm soda and an awful coffee. This is all to say that in our experience, the rifugi in Val Brembana and Val Seriana (rifugi under CAI Bergamo usually) are better options if the food is what you are after.

In terms of view: nothing. We picked the only summer day that was cloudy and cool. We were okay with that but lake views typical of this hike were not to be had.

We did stop at Azienda Agricola Bianchi Luca - Alpe Moncodeno, a cheese producer just down the trail from Bogani and bought some nice cheeses! Phew, didn’t want to get all negative about this hike.

Also, downhill from the cheese stop, in about 10 minutes, you reach the Ghiacciaia del Moncodeno, translated literally as the “Moncodeno Icebox”.

The Grigna Massif landscape is a mountain massif in the province of Lecco – where we are today on this hike – that is characterized by karst landforms like dolines, shafts and karren (micro-karsts). The area is renowned for its caves and in some cases, like Moncodeno, ice is still present.

Leonardo Da Vinci was among the first to note this. The “Abisso W le Donne” is among the deepest and most famous caves (1,160 m deep). Historically, the Moncodeno cave was used by local shepherds to extract blocks of ice and snow, which were then transported to nearby areas like Lecco and Milan. The cave has been visited and described by notable figures such as the Italian polymath Leonardo Da Vinci (1452 - 1519), the Danish scientist Nicolas Steno (1638 – 1686), and the Italian priest and scientist Antonio Stoppani (1824 - 1891).


The Grigna mountain massif reaches 2,410 m (7,907 ft). It is part of the Bergamo Alps, and it has two peaks, Grignone or Grigna settentrionale (2,410 m), the higher Northern, and the lower, Southern Grignetta or Grigna meridionale (2,184 m). On this hike we are exploring a part of Grigna “settentrionale” or northern.

Flora

 
[Apiaceae] Astrantia minor – Lesser Masterwort

[Gentianaceae] Gentiana asclepiadea – Willow Gentian

[Pinaceae] Larix decidua – Larch

[Ranunculaceae] Aconitum lycoctonum - Wolfsbane

[Ranunculaceae] Aconitum napellus – Monkshood, Venus’ chariot, or wolfsbane

Photos

   

Left: Tracks and stats for this hike.

Center: An ammonite fossil near Porta di Prada.
Right: Traditional cheese-making setup at Azienda Agricola Bianchi Luca - Alpe Moncodeno. It includes a wooden table with a stone circular object on top, likely used for pressing cheese. The white cloth bags hanging from the table probably contain curds being drained of whey. To the right, there’s a large copper cauldron, used for heating milk. 



   

Left: Descending into the cave of Moncodeno.
Center: Looking up from the inside of Moncodeno.
Right: Information about famous visitors to Moncodeno.


   

Views of Trail 24 to Rifugio Bietti-Buzzi.

   

Left and center: Views from Trail 24 to Rifugio Bietti-Buzzi.
Right: View from Trail 25 over Valsassina.

  
Left: A feature called "Porta di Prada" on Trail 24.
Center: Rifugio Bietti-Buzzi in the mist.

Right: Rifugio Bogani with larch trees.


A misty day above Lago Como, which should be down there somewhere.