A Short Post About a Long Hike - Vò Valley to Rifugio Tagliaferri

Overview ~ The Route ~ Photos ~ Flora

  

Left: Malga Venano di sopra (1870 m). Center: Baita Malga Venano di sopra. Right: A mossy beginning to trail 413.

Sometimes you have to wait to get or do something, and it’s worth it and you are probably better for it. Case in point: a hike to Rifugio Tagliaferri via the Valley Vò. We were supposed to go on Saturday with friends and for various reasons it didn’t happen and we were bummed. Then, a few days later on Wednesday, we decided to give it a go, just the two of us, and it was magical and worth the wait (and less crowded).

Overview

Length: 22.6 km
Elevation Gain: 1270 m
Duration: 8.25 hours (about 6 hours moving)
Highest Point: 2331 m
Starting Point: 1067 m
Destination: Rifugio Tagliaferri

The Route

The CAI Sentiero 413: Schilpario - Rifugio Tagliaferri is what we followed except for a small deviation on the last part going, which was more a “direct” route and not really worth the hassle and the sweat. Our advice, follow Sentiero 413 up and back. Easy-peasy.

The first 30 minutes of the hike are in a forest of spruce, mountain pine, alder, and hazelnut trees. The Vò torrente is always nearby and visible at times through the trees. Then the forest opens up to pastures. As you climb the mule track you come across: the Baita del Venano di sotto (1542 m), the Baita del Venano di mezzo (1679 m) and the Baita di Venano di sopra (1859 m). At the uppermost baita we saw a herd of about 1000 Pecora Gigante Bergamasca (Bergamasque Giant sheep), a massive Italian breed native to the mountainous valleys of Bergamo. The shepherd said he had been doing his job for 50 years and was ready for retirement. What does retirement look like for a shepherd?

We visited Rifugio Nani Tagliaferri back in 2019 approaching the rifugio from the adjacent valley with the Gleno Dam. See the post A Hike to Rifugio Tagliaferri via Val di Gleno. It was fun to come back and visit. This rifugio is the highest in the Bergamasque Alps at 2328 m. It’s also interesting for the story of why it was built.

The namesake of the rifugio, Nani Tagliaferri, was a mountaineer from Bergamo whose life and spirit embodied the rugged devotion to the Orobie Alps. His untimely death in in 1981 in the Peruvian Andes inspired his brother Francesco and a group of close friends resolved to honor his memory in a way that reflected his spirit—by building a refuge at altitude, where others could experience the same communion with the landscape that had shaped him.

The rifugio’s construction in the 1980s followed the logic of the military mule tracks of the surrounding valleys—meticulously graded, drained, and reinforced—linking the alpine valleys of Scalve and Valtellina. Set amid the Orobie Alps, the refuge overlooks a panorama that sweeps from the Bernina and Disgrazia groups to the peaks of Camino, Bagozza, and Concarena.

One botanical note: we saw so many raspberries on this hike. We sampled all along the trail, and they were good.

Photos

  

Left: Heading back down the mountain to to Malga Venano di sopra on trail 413.

Center: Last bit of the direct trail to reach Rifugio Tagliaferri.
Right: Sheep in Malga Venano di sopra.

  
Left: Leaving the rifugio on trail 413.

Center: Looking down on Malga Venano di sopra.

Right: View from the trail looking south toward Pizzo Camino.

  

Left: Trail 413 starts out gentle in the forest.

Center: Trail 413 goes by two small lakes in the upper reaches.

Right: View of Pizzo Tornello (2687 m).

  

Left: Venano di sopra conca.

Center: Trail - View from trail up to rifugio (hidden).

Right: Trail - Malga Venano di sopra – shepherd's hut.

   
Left: Rifugio Tagliaferri - special dish of the rifugio.

Center left: Rifugio Tagliaferri – spezzatino.

Center right: Rifugio Tagliaferri – dishes for a group of hikers

Right: Rifugio Tagliaferri - in the kitchen.


  

Left: Sign about charcoal production.

Center: Trail Sign at Malga Venano di sopra (1870 m).

Right: Just below the rifugio, out of sight.

Flora

[Apiaceae] Bupleurum sp.

[Asteraceae] Leontopodium nivale - edelweiss
 

[Asteraceae] Carlina acaulis

 

[Asteraceae] flower


[Campanulaceae] Campanula sp.

 

[Caryophyllaceae] Lychnis flos-cuculi

[Crassulaceae] Rhodiola rosea
  

[Crassulaceae] Sempervivum montanum
 

[Papaveraceae] Pseudofumaria lutea


[Rosaceae] Potentilla sp.


[Rosaceae] Rubus idaeus


[Saxifragaceae] Saxifraga aizoides

Val di Scalve – Hike to to Rifugio Cimon Bagozza, Passo dei Campelli, and Rifugio Campione

Overview | Details | Geography | Photos

  

Left: View over Val di Scalve east toward Presolana.
Center: Three hikers walking on snow near Malga Alta Campelli in Val di Scalve, Bergamo.
Right: Tracks and altitude profile for the Passo Campelli Hike.

Overview

Our first official hike of 2025 and it’s spectacular. We are hiking west of the alpine village of Schilpario, located in Orobie Bergamasche mountains. Schilpario is known for its cross-country skiing trails, which are internationally recognized. During the winter, the village transforms into a hub for skiing enthusiasts, while in the summer, these trails become ideal for hiking and exploring. It’s winter but we still are going for a hike!

Length: 17.9 km (11.1 mi) - out and back
Duration: 6 hours, with breaks and lunch
Elevation: Max elevation 2102 m (6,896 ft) Monte Campioncino, minimum elevation 1220 m (4,002 ft) at parking area
Location: Italy, Lombardy, Bergamo Province, Valle di Scalve

Details

We are not going to try to explain public transportation to reach Schilpario village: there is always is a way but it’s long. For example, in 2017’s hike A Hike from Passo Presolana to Rifugio Rino Olmo to Castione della Presolana, we took the bus to the other side of the pass. Looking at the indications given there should give you an idea of how to do it.

Today, we are with friends in their car. We stop in Schilpario to get some sandwiches made at Alimentari Spada di Spada Daniela (one of many possible places) and then continue on to the parking lot at the location called Parcheggio Fondi partenza sentieri (1220 m).

Today the rifugi were closed, hence the sandwiches. Also, when buying the sandwiches we showed our “American” side when we purchased a tube of mayonnaise to sauce-up those ever so dry Italian sandwiches!

The road from I Fondi in summer continues but is closed in winter so we are walking up today to our first stop at Rifugio Cimon Bagozza. There are enough curves in the road and snow on the road that during our walk we just followed the tracks going up! We saw people walking, sledding, cross country skiing, and ski mountaineering.

After a pause at Rifugio Cimon Bagozza (1600 m), we followed the signs up to our next stop Passo Campelli (1890 m) and then on to Rifugio Campione (1946 m). At Rifugio Campione (closed), we pulled out a portable picnic tables and two benches and set up for lunch. Two of us lazed in the sun and our other halves went up to the nearby peak of Monte Campioncino (2102 m).

We are more or less following the first part of the CAI trail Sentiero 428: i Fondi (Schilpario) to Passo del Vivione.

From the pass to Rifugio Campione there are wonderful views over the Val Camonica, where the previous year we visited rock drawings that are UNESCO designated. See our post A Visit to Parco Naquane to See Paleolithic and Neolithic Rock Drawings in the Val Camonica. From Rifugio Campione, we are looking west across the valley directly at the Parco Naquane.

Finally, relatively nearby is the Diga del Gleno that we visited in in 2019 on our A Hike to Rifugio Tagliaferri via Val di Gleno.

Geography

This hike takes place on the north of the mountain range known as the Gruppo Camino-Concarena within the Eastern Bergamasque Prealps. This range is known for its dramatic limestone peaks and rugged terrain, giving it a Dolomite-like appearance.

According to the SOIUSA (International Standardized Mountain Subdivision of the Alps) the mountain can be classified in the following way:

• main part = Eastern Alps
• major sector = Southern Limestone Alps
• section = Bergamasque Alps and Prealps
• subsection = Bergamasque Prealps
• supergroup = Prealpi Bergamasche Orientali (not the supergroup ABBA or ASIA 😊)
• group = Gruppo Camino-Concarena

To the north of this group is Valle di Scalve (where Schilpario is) and to the south, part of Val Camonica.

Photos

  

Left and center: Approaching Passo dei Campelli in Alta Val di Scalve.

Right: Northside of Concarena range.

 

Left: Approaching Rifugio Campione.

Right: Looking east toward Passo dei Campelli.

 

Left: Panorama near Passo dei Campelli in Alta Val di Scalve.
Right: Hike tracks.

  
Left: Snow mounds in Val di Scalve.
Center: Snow, tracks and blue sky in Val di Scalve.
Right: Soft mounds of snow and rugged peaks and Cimon della Bigozza (2,409 m).

  

Left: Trees in a sea of snow in Val di Scalve.

Center: Winter hikers near Passo dei Campelli in Val di Scalve.
Right: Ski trails leading down from Monte Campioncino to Rifugio Campione.

 
Left: Val di Scalve from just below Passo dei Campelli looking west.

Right: The Gruppo Camino-Concarena are your constant companion on this hike.

  
Left and center: View east over Val Camonica toward Monte Tredenus.

Right: View from the top of Monte Campioncino.