Val Grosina and Alpe Dosdè Two-Day Hike

Overview ~ Notes ~ Photos

   

Left: Lago Negro - view southeast - Val di Avedo.
Center: Beam of light lights up the flanks of Corno di Lago Negro.
Right: The tracks for day 2 of the hike.

  

Left: View from Agriturismo Alpe Verva, north toward Monte Forcellina.
Center: A yellow wheelbarrow at Agriturismo Alpe Verva.

Right: The tracks for day 1 of the hike.

Overview

Hike 1

Length: 15.5 km
Duration: 4 hours (moving time)
Elevation gain: 897 m
Location: Italy, Valtellina, Grosio, Val Grosina, Alpe Verva

Hike 2

Length: 16.7 km
Duration: 4 hours 53 minutes (moving time)
Elevation gain: 743 m
Location: Italy, Valtellina, Grosio, Alpe Dosdè

Notes

This hike came about when friends texted us and proposed this itinerary to escape the heat of Bergamo. What were we to say, no?

It’s a two-day hike with one night at Rifugio Federico in Dosdè. We hadn’t visited this area before and were happy to discover some more of the mountains around Bormio. We were here in late June, but south of Bormio, see Valtellina Week Hike 1: Forni Glacier Trail, Valtellina Week Hike 2: Val Zebrù to Rifugio Campo – Loop Hike, and Valtellina Week Hike 3: Val Cedec at the Foot of Gran Zebrù and Rifugio Pizzini.


Alpe Dosdè is a high-altitude pasture area (alpeggio) situated at around 2,100 - 2,200 m in the Livigno Alps of Lombardy, northern Italy. The pastures lie at the foot of Pizzo Dosdè and Corno di Dosdè, just inside the municipality of Valdidentro in the province of Sondrio, near the Swiss border. Rifugio Federico (Valgoi), where we stayed, is in the Alpe Dosdè pasture.

Our two-day hike went counterclockwise around Cima Viola (3,374 m). Thinking of a clock, we started at the 4 pm mark at Rifugio Eita (1,703 m), crossed Passo di Verva (2,301 m) and ended up at 10 pm mark at Rifugio Federico in Dosdè (2,133 m). The next day we returned to 4 pm mark, passing through Capanna Dosdè (2,824 m), completing our loop.

We had half-board (dinner and breakfast the next morning) at Rifugio Federico in Dosdè, a very fun and friendly place. The shared accommodations were good. Bring noise-cancelling headphones if you are sensitive to night sounds like snoring. 😊

The start of the first day was a bit grueling going from Rifugio Eita to Passo di Verva, then the second half of the walk was more relaxed and more interesting with its views north toward Val Viola and Monte Forcellina, followed by a left turn to walk up Val Viola to reach the rifugio.

On the second day, the first part of the day was gorgeous walking along the eastern flanks of Alpe Dosdè. We walked through groups of cows and horses, some who came over to us for a scratch. We heard marmots whistle and occasionally could spot them.

Then, we climbed up to 2,824 m (9,265 ft) to reach Capanna Dosdè. After that, it was all downhill, with a stop at Lago Negro. This is in the upper Val di Avedo.

On our way back to Bergamo, we made a detour to Teglio for dinner to try some... drum roll please ...pizzoccheri.  We ate at Ristorante Pizzeria Al Castello where pizzoccheri is for a minimum of two people. See photos in the section below. For more information about this Valtellina dish, see the blog post The Many Faces of Pizzoccheri.

For information about the plants we saw and the meadow ecosystems we walked through, see the post Val Grosina and Alpe Dosdè Hike Plant Notes.

Photos

 

Left: Full hike route - counterclockwise, starting and ending at 4 pm on the clock face.
Right: Livigno Alps and where this hike is around Cima Viola.

  

Left: Leaving Eita behind as we start the hike - view over our shoulders, looking south.

Center: A small lake in Val Grosina.

Right: Agriturismo Alpe Verva (Ristorante).

 

Left: Polenta e formaggio dell'Alpe at Agriturismo Alpe Verva.

Right: Ricotta at Agriturismo Alpe Verva.

  

Left: Entering Alpe Dosdè - with glacier in the distance.
Center: Entrance to Rifugio Federico Valgoi in Dosdè.

Right: Sign - Sentiero glaciologico Giuseppe Nangeroni e Italo Bellotti al Ghiacciaio di Dosdè Est.

  

Left: Example room in Rifugio Federico in Dosdè.
Center: Dinner at Rifugio Federico in Dosdè.

Right: White polenta gnocchi with gorgonzola - dinner at Rifugio Federico Valgoi in Dosdè.

  

  
Left: View from Passo Verva looking south.

Center: View over Val Grossina.

Right: Val Viola - walking towards Rifugio Federico.

 
Left: View nearby rifugio early morning - east - upper Val Viola.
Right: Valley of Cantone di Dosdè - with moraine deposits.


 

Left: Sign - Explaining Vermulera Area, which includes Lago Negro.

Right: Rifugio Eita.

  

Left: Teglio - Ristorante Pizzeria Al Castello - Pizzoccheri.

Center: Teglio - Ristorante Pizzeria Al Castello - Sciatt.

Right: Teglio - Ristorante Pizzeria Al Castello - Ravioli al Castello.

  

Left: Looking south down Vermulèra (Grosio) below Lago Negro.

Center: Looking over Lac di Tres in Vermulèra.

Right: Walking down Val di Avedo (Val Grosina) - heading east - southeast.

  

Left: Lago Negro in Val di Avedo (Vermulèra) person at the edge.

Center: Lago Negro - and Italian trail sign in Val di Avedo (Vermulèra).

Right: Capanna Dosdè at 2,824 m.

   

Left: Horses in the morning in Val Cantone di Dosdè.

Center: Horses graze in Val Cantone di Dosdè.

Right: Cows keep watch in Alpe di Tres - Vermulèra.

  

Left: Alpe Dosdè - Val Cantone di Dosdè.

Center: Leaving Rifugio Federico Valgoi in Dosdè - looking back over our shoulders.

Right: A view back over Alpe Dosdè with Rifugio Federico visible.

Valtellina Week Hike 4: Fellaria Glacier East and Rifugio Bignami

Overview ~ Notes ~ Flora ~ Photos

 

 

Top left: Fellaria East Glacier Lake showing cliff with tongue or terminus with proglacial lake.

Top right: Heading toward Rifugio Bignami with Alpe Gera lake on the right.

Bottom left: Fellaria East Glacier Lake edge.

Bottom right: [Saxifragaceae] Saxifraga byroides

Overview

Length: 19 km
Duration: 8.5 hours (including time at the glacier lake, and lunch at Rifugio Bignami)
Elevation gain: 684 m
Location: Italy, Lombardy, Valtellina

Notes

In this post, we are on hike 4 of our Valtellina hiking week. We started this hike from and returned to Rifugio Zoia, where we stayed for 3 nights. Great rifugio and place. (We had a private room with bathroom!) We walked from Zoia to Diga Alpe Gera (about 1.5 km), where the hike really starts. You can also park at dam in a large parking lot.

Rifugio Bignami is more or less the midpoint to on the trail hiking from the Alpe Gera dam to the Fellaria East glacier lake.

The Fellaria Glacier (Ghiacciaio Fellaria) is in the Alta Valmalenco, province of Sondrio (Lombardy, Italian Alps), right below the Swiss border. Its upper plateau reaches about 3500 m a.s.l. and today its terminus sits near 2 600 m, where meltwater has pooled into a small proglacial lake. This lake is the real destination of today’s hike. And specifically, we are visiting the east tongue of the glacier. Up through the Little Ice Age (ca 1850) there were two glacier tongues (Fellaria West and East) joined into one continuous ice front, but retreat has isolated the eastern tongue and given rise to the lake between them.

We followed the Luigi Marson glaciological trail (Sentiero Glaciologico Marson) from Rifugio Bignami. Very informative signs and survey markers along the Luigi Marson glaciological trail chart a retreat of roughly 800 - 1000 m (that’s eight to ten football fields) since the mid-19th-century maximum. Almost all of that loss has happened in the last few decades, and the “lake” we visit today only existed in its present form from the early 2000s onward. Argh, so disheartening to see.

Luigi Marson was an Italian glaciologist-educator and professor at the Regio Istituto Tecnico di Sondrio and a member of the Società Geografica Italiana. He wrote the first systematic glaciological descriptions of Lombardy’s glaciers in 1899. In his honor, the Servizio Glaciologico Lombardo inaugurated the “Sentiero Glaciologico Luigi Marson” in 1996—a thematic trail (today’s hike) around the Fellaria–Palù ice masses designed to bring hikers up close to Alpine glacial environments.

During our hike today, we crossed paths with a group of retirees from Sondrio. They hike every Thursday and one of their rituals in the mountains is to sing the song Signore delle cime ("Lord of the Mountain Tops"). This popular Italian song of prayer was written by Bepi De Marzi in 1958. The group of retirees we met sing it as a tribute to friends they've lost. They performed it for us while we were sitting after lunch at Rifugio Bignami. Very touching.

Flora

[Caryophyllaceae] Cerastium alpinum

[Geraniaceae] Geranium sylvaticum

[Plantaginaceae] Linaria alpina

[Ranunculaceae] Ranunculus alpestris

 

[Rosaceae] Geum reptans

  
[Saxifragaceae] Saxifraga byroides

Photos

  

Left: The proglacial lake of Fellaria East Glacier.
Center: Staring at the Fellaria East Glacier.
Right: View from glacier view point back to Alpe Gera Dam.

  

Left: Rifugio Bignami.

Center: Rifugio Bignami - tortina.
Right: Rifugio Bignami - bresaola and sciatt.

  

Left: An ibex's horns stick out behind a rock.

Center: A group of ibex at the proglacial edge.

Right: Information about who is Luigi Marson was - the glacier trail is named after him.


   

Left: Glacier Info - Schematic shows Fellaria West, East, and Sasso Rosso dividing them as well as surrounding peaks.

Center left: Glacier Info - Explanation of the parts and retreat of Fellaria West.

Center right: Glacier Info - explanation of glacial erratics and roche moutonnée rock formations caused by glacier.

Right: Tracks from Rifugio Zoia to Fellaria Glacier East.

   

Left: Glacier Info - Explanation of Fellaria East glacial lake and features - glacier reached here once in 2000.

Center left: Glacier Info - explaining the pillow formations seen in alpine meadows.

Center right: Glacier Info - a sign showing how far the glacier has retreated.

Right: Glacier Info - There paths A, B, and C to the Marson trail.

  
Left: Glacial erratic - Masso erratico example.

Center: Fellaria Est Glacial Lake - Eastern Part.

Right: Fellaria East Glacier Lake edge.


   

Left: A view across Alpe Gera lake to the start of Alpe Val Poschiavina.

Center: Diga Alpe Gera and the ramp to get up on the dam - hikers must go up the ramp.

Right: Campo Moro Lake - Rifugio Zoia to the right out of frame.