Cardeto Hike - Giro dei Laghi

Overview ~ Notes ~ Flora ~ Photos

  
Left: Lago di Mezza di Cardeto - Alta Val Seriana.
Center: A horse grazing above Gromo - Alta Val Seriana.
Right: Trail 233 in Alta Val Seriana - heading down into Gromo.

Overview

Length: 14.1 km
Duration: 6.5 hours (includes a leisurely lunch)
Elevation gain: 881 m
Location: Italy, Bergamo, Alta Val Seriana, Gromo

Notes

Just like our last hike to Alpe Dosdè, a call comes from friends with a hike offer. We said yes, and we went. It’s good to have friends!

This time to Alta Val Seriana, above Gromo to visit the Cardeto Lakes (Laghi di Cardeto).

The name Cardeto most likely comes from the Italian word cardo — meaning thistle — with the suffix -eto, which indicates a place characterized by or abundant in something. So Cardeto can be interpreted as “place of thistles” or “thistle field,” a toponymic nod to the vegetation that once grew (or still grows) in that high alpine basin.

The trails that we followed were Sentiero 233: Gromo - Passo Portula and Sentiero 233A: Cardeto - Giro dei Laghi. We stopped at Baita alta di Cardeto but did not go up to Passo Portula. We had a wonderful lunch at Baita Cardeto Flavio Rodigari. The brasato con polenta had tender chunks of beef that melted in your mouth.

On our clockwise tour of the lakes we visited:

• Lago Basso (1708 m)
• Lago di Mezzo (1798 m)
• Lago Alto (1862 m) - and then we dove in for a quick swim.

Flora 

[Asteraceae] Carlina acaulis


[Caryophyllaceae] Silene dioica


[Ericaceae] Erica carnea


[Hypericaceae] Hypericum maculatum


[Juncaceae] Juncus sp.


[Melanthiaceae] Veratrum album

This plant is poisonous to humans and livestock. Humans should avoid touching it. If you touch it, wash your hands afterward.  V. album is generally avoided by cattle, but if there is nothing else available may graze it. Farmers pasturing their animals in alpine pastures consider this plant a "problem plant", "underuse indicator", and "space thief". It spreads easily and needs to be maintained. 

[Rosaceae] Sanguisorba dodecandra

Sanguisorba is a genus of flowering plants in the family Rosaceae native to the temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. The common name is burnet. This species is unique to the Bergamasque Alps.


[Rosaceae] Sorbus aucuparia

We usually don't talk about trees that much on Travelmarx, but the rowan trees we saw today were numerous and made for beautiful photos against the mountain backdrops. Rowans are mostly small deciduous trees 10–20 meters (33–66 ft) tall in the Rosaceae family. They are flashy in the spring with their flowers and again in late summer with the clusters of orange fruit, looking like a cluster of berries though they are not true berries. 

Rowan berries have a natural preservative called sorbic acid, but when they’re raw they also pack a bit of parasorbic acid (around 0.4%–0.7% in the European variety). Parasorbic acid can upset your stomach and even mess with your kidneys if you eat a lot. Luckily, cooking, drying, or even freezing them breaks it down into harmless sorbic acid. They're far too mouth-puckering to enjoy straight off the tree.

Photos

  

Left: Baita Cardeto Flavio Rodigari - brasato con polenta.

Center: Baita Cardeto Flavio Rodigari - pasta con verdure.
Right: Baita Cardeto Flavio Rodigari - tagliere.

  

Left: Baita Cardeto Flavio Rodigari.

Center: A horse grazing along trail 233 in Alta Val Seriana.

Right: Monte Calvera in Alta Val Seriana.

  

Left: Lago Alto di Cardeto - Alta Val Seriana.
Center: Lago Basso di Cardeto - Alta Val Seriana.

Right: The Bergamasque Alps - view east from Laghetti di Cardeto.

  

Left: Trail 233 - walking from Baita Cardeto toward Gromo.

Right: View of Alta Val Seriana from Trail 233 above Gromo.

  

Left: Trail 233 starts out among Rowan trees.
Center: Trail marking for 233.
Right: Tracks of Laghetti di Cardeto hike.

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.

An Early Spring Hike to Lago Branchino in Valcanale (Ardesio), in the Upper Val Seriana

 

Left: View south from Corno Branchino towoard Corna Piana.

Right: Climbing Corno Branchino

It was embarrassing. As we approached the trailhead, we assured our friend driving that we hadn’t been here and in fact, we had been here twice before. Once with this friend and once on our own. Give us a break, we are still new to this area!

Duration: 7 hours (includes lunch)

Elevation: 843 m

Length: 10.5 km

Location: Val Seriana

We first came to Valcanale – a east-west valley branching off the upper Val Seriana - in July 2018. See Hike in Valcanale: Rifugio Branchino and Lago Branchino. Can I just say, wow, we took some great photos on that day. We weren’t just using cell phone cameras at that time like we are now.

Then a few weeks later, we started our big hike in Valcanale. See Seven Days on the Sentiero delle Orobie – A Journey Through the Bergamo Alps. We arrived by bus from Bergamo that time.

Today’s hike was mostly on snow to reach Passo Branchino and return. At the pass, we went up to see the “pyramid” on top of Corno Branchino (2029 m). Given that Rifugio Branchino (1787 m) was closed, we ate at Rifugio Alpe Corte (1410 m).

Because of the snow, we don’t have many flower pictures save for [Asteraceae] Tossilago farfara – Coltsfoot and [Asteraceae] Petasites albus – White Butterbur, both of which are described in our Bergamasque Prealps Flowers and Flora Pinterest for Asteraceae page.

We saw an interesting sign in the rifugio that talked about the biodiversity of this area. We’ve wanted to hike the Sentiero dei fiori (part of which is trail 222) for some time. Still on our list. The trail goes from Passo Branchino to Rifugio Capanna 2000. The flowers on that trail are supposed to be amazing. 

The sign in the rifugio talked about insects named after local place names and/or are unique to this area including: Scythris arerai – a moth (story), Trechus montisarerae – beetle, Abax arerae – beetle, Leptusa areraensis – beetle, Ischyropsalis lithoclasica – spider, and Allegrettia comotti – beetle.  Arera(e) refers to the nearby Pizzo Arera.

  

Left: Climbing to Corno Branchino.
Center: On the south flank of Corno Branchino.

Right: View north from Corno Branchino.

  

Left: Rifugio Alpe Corte - a plate of ribs (costine) with potatoes.
Center: Rifugio Alpe Corte - torta della nonna.

Right: A sign describing the biodiversity of the area including insects found or named after local place names like Pizzo Arera.

  

Left: Heading toward Rifugio Alpe Corte.
Center: Tracks for this hike.
Right: Heading to Rifugio Branchino.

  

Left: Trail 218 near Rifugio Alpe Corte.

Center: View south from Rifugio Alpe Corte toward Pizzo Arera.

Right: Trail toward Passo Branchino in early spring, full of snow.

 

View southeast from Passo Branchio toward Passo Val Vedra. Notice the red tinge of the snow from the sands of Sahara. Each year tens of millions of tons of dust blow out from North Africa carried on strong seasonal winds. Some of that ends up in Italy.