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Longbyt · #34 23.04.2010, 20:57

Day 2 –from Osco TI to Anzonico TI
Time – 4 hours, Distance – 14 Km, Uphill - ca.665 m, Downhill - ca.830 m
Starting point - Hotel Marti in Osco

Link to GPS track and pictures
The first picture shows the restaurant where we had our first evening meal as the hotel was, in theory, still closed. The landlady seemed to have an excellent idea of how hungry we were after the day’s hike.
Again this the second day the path is very well marked and well walked.

The views looking back along the trail are very satisfying – Osco getting smaller as the distance increases. Crossing the various streams is ‘interesting’, some ‘bridges’ looking a little more stable than others. Sometimes it’s simply a case of choosing your own stepping stones. The footpath over one of the streams is sometimes impassable. When it is carrying a lot of water, a detour has to be made, crossing lower down the hillside.

There was quite a variety in the types of buildings we saw. Some attractive, some very much in need of repair. The frescos in the church in Rossura have been uncovered and it is time well spent to have a look at them. The old wash-house is obviously the basis for the communal laundry found in so many Swiss blocks of flats!

The mill in Calonico, which has recently been restored, was not clearly visible through the slats of the door, but the camera made a good job of the picture. During a short break, we were passed by two hikers who were doing the middle stretch of the Strada Alta in one day. Rather them than us. They were the only walkers we saw on the route at all. Unbelievable. We reached our goal in Anzonico safely and were quickly made welcome by our ‘innkeeper’. Another rewarding day.

Day 3 – from Anzonico TI to Pollegio TI
Time 4 1/2 hours, Distance 15 Km, Uphill - ca.425 m, Downhill - ca.1110 m
Starting point. - Osteria Anzonico.

Link to GPS track and pictures.
Once again, we were the only guests at the inn. Very convenient, as it meant that once again we were the sole occupants of our six-bed room and had two shower rooms at our disposal! The previous evening we had eaten at the Bellavista (the only restaurant as the hotel kitchen was closed for its ‘half-day). In Anzonico we found a tiny shop which enabled us to add some variety to our diet – though GrumpyGrapefruit would be surprised at the size of the ‘200 gramme’ piece of cheese we requested! Possibly no-one there asks for less than a pound.

The weather was not quite as sunny as the previous two days but the path, once again, was good. It says something for the rockiness of the region though, that a chamois crossed the path just in front of us.
Reaching Cavagnago we were slowly returning to ‘civilisation’ and the village was much more ‘alive’ than most other places we had passed through. In Sobrio we managed, at last, to find a restaurant which was open. We enjoyed a short break and caught up with a little of the news of the outside world.

The last part of the stretch, the descent to Pollegio, is steep with many steps but we reached the valley floor without difficulty.
Unfortunately, the Postbus from Pollegio was running about two minutes late and we didn’t have time to buy our tickets and get on the next train from Bellinzona to Rivera-Bironico. As the Postbus only goes up from there to Isone once an hour (last run around 6) this cost us an extra hour in the end and we were not quite as early as we would have liked. The pizza we ate later was enough compensation.

We had now fulfilled an old dream of Mr L – ‘doing the Strada Alta’.