Ring of lakes, Valchiavenna 🇮🇹
Sunrise near the first campsite
It’s September, and I am itching to maximize my mileage in the mountains before the summer ends. One of my friends based in Como and I plan to explore a lesser-known area of the Italian Alps called Valle Spluga, situated in Valchiavenna, Italy. In the spirit of exploring new paths, we make our own trail and name it “The Ring of Lakes” as it passes through numerous alpine lakes, some of which do not even have names. The trail also crosses the border and enters the Swiss mountains for a short distance before returning to Italy again.
The trail we aimed to hike in 2 days
It is Friday evening, and I’ve just arrived in Milan after a short flight from Luxembourg. I pick up my rental car get my friend on the way and drive toward the trailhead. We arrive at the starting point of the trail at 12 AM on a full moon night. We are ready to hike to the first campsite, which is next to a lake, and it is less than a kilometer with around 200M of elevation. The sky is clear and moon is so bright that we do not even need to use our headlamps and we can to see all the nearby mountains.
We arrive at the lake ready to set up our tents for the night when we notice that the whole ground around us is covered in hail. We backtrack our steps and try to find some flat ground that is not frozen. Soon, we find two hail-free patches on the ground, just long and wide enough to sleep on. We step up the tents and put our mattresses strategically to not be on top of the frozen ground.
At this point, it is around 02h30, tents are up, and the moonlight is so good that we can not help but take out our cameras to get some long exposures of the mountains. Soon we go to sleep with the aim of waking up before sunrise. That means about 3 hours of sleep.
Long exposures of the Valle Spluga from the first campsite in the moonlight
It was so cold throughout the night that even my -2C-rated sleeping bag gave up. My watch tells me I barely got an hour of sleep, but I am still excited to explore the outdoors and snap some good photos. The whole ground around us is wet and soggy, which means my trail runners got wet and my toes are freezing right now. Soon enough, the sun lights up the peaks, and the mountain's reflection on the lake looks breathtaking. At the moment, I forget about my frozen toes and take photographs of the mountains for hours.
Alpenglow
Soon we head back to our campsite and make some coffee. I enjoy the sun on my face, relishing it as much as possible. In hindsight, I know that this would be the last time I am going to see the sun for a long time on the trail. We finally pack our bags and head towards the second campsite for the night. We are expected to cross a myriad of lakes until we reach the second campsite. We also intend to summit Piz Timun on the way.
Campsite Day 1
On our way from campsite to Lago Emet (In photo: Mattia Bedetti)
Soon we reach Lake Emet, and the weather takes a turn; powerful winds bring dark clouds into the sky and our plans to summit Piz Timun go down the drain. As the storm approaches us, we put on our rain gear and head to the next campsite. Hiking in the rain is not so bad if you have the proper clothing. Eventually, the storm dies out, and we are closing in on the next lake, Nero. This lake is encircled by man-sized boulders on one side and a high mountain on the other. We must hop through all these boulders and climb that very steep-looking peak to be at the campsite for the night.
Lago Emet just before the storm approached us
Lago Nero surrounded by boulders
At this point, all 4 limbs are at work trying to get through this boulder field without plunging into one of the thousands of voids in the boulders. Then the mountain that we need to climb appears. Not only is it steep, but also obscured by loose shards of granite that keep on slipping under your feet. This is that part of the trail where a single misstep can lead to a fatal injury. Soon we make it to the top of the mountain pass “Pass di Lai Ner“ which serves as the border between Italy and Switzerland. After a long stretch, we put down our packs and sit down to soak in the view. Suddenly, I concede how isolated this place is. We have not seen another person on the trail for hours, we have got no phone signals, and there is no trace of human life around. And to add to all this mysterious ambiance, we have thick clouds passing through the mountain pass which gives the place an eerie feel. I am scared yet humbled at the same time. We are literally at nature’s mercy here.
The mysterious ambience of the second campsite at Passo Di Lai Ner
Campsite Day 2
Even though we are at 2600M right now, this place to camp is much more habitable than last night’s. We set up our tent and head to a nearby lake to fetch water and take pictures. The sun is setting, and a constant stream of clouds flow through the pass, giving us timely windows to capture the lake. We go to sleep early so that we can wake up before sunrise to climb Pizzo Spadolazzo.
I managed to sleep for 8 hours, it does not feel as cold as last night, but the weather outside was is promising for the sunrise photo session. The whole sky is covered in clouds, and it is too windy. We decide to hike to the summit anyway, as we have nothing else on our agenda. The peak is sheathed in frozen rocks and boulders, making it slippery. As we advance toward the summit, the sky keeps getting clearer, and we have a window to capture some dramatic photos. Finally, we reach the summit, our hands and faces are frozen by the wind, but the scene is making it all worth it. The sun is still behind the peaks, starting to rise slowly, clouds are passing through dramatically, and there is the full moon above the horizon on the other side. What a perfect moment to witness, our gamble paid off, and we capture some beautiful landscape shots.
Sunrise photoshoot from Pizzo Spadolazzo 2720M (second photo shot by Mattia Bedetti)
On our way to Suretta Glacier (In photo: Mattia Bedetti)
Soon we head down, pack our tents, and head towards the Suretta Glacier, the next point of interest on the trail before we start to go down to the valley. This part of the trail has a really mysterious vibe to it. It’s been more than 24 hours, and we have not seen a single living soul around us. At this point, there is no maintained trail anymore, and you have to follow small pyramids made out of stones from one place to another. Route finding is not so obvious on this part of the trail. We come across numerous streams and small ponds full of crystal-clear water. Now we are on another boulder field. At this point, I am getting too tired of hopping on boulders, it is mentally draining to walk on boulders since you have to think of each and every step carefully.
After walking for hours, we spot the glacier in the distance. We can’t spot the peaks in the background because of the clouds, but the sight is beautiful nonetheless. We also spot an ice cave on the glacier that is covered by massive boulders on the top, which just made us realize that the boulders we have been walking on for a while were actually on top of the glacier. The route we are following goes through the ice field, which is not great because we do not have any safety equipment. We quietly get out of the way and walk all the way around the glacier to join the main trail.
The hidden glacier buried under the boulders (Shot by: Mattia Bedetti)
Heading down to Montespluga from Suretta Glacier (In photo: Mattia Bedetti)
It’s mid-day right now, we are at 2600M, with the sky clearing up. It is so good to see the sun again finally. From here on, we have got 600M decent on the boulders again to the valley floor where our car is parked. Soon we come across 2 more lakes, but at this time, we are so desperate to go down to the car that we do not care about their beauty anymore. We make one last stop for lunch and head on to the last leg of the descent.
Looking back, it was a very satisfying trek. The weather did not play ball all the time, but I loved the solitude I had on the trail, and we also managed to get some really good photos. It was my first time camping in the wild, totally self-sufficient with all the food and water.
Sunset over outskirts of Milan caught from my hotel room
