May 28 - Hike & overnight stay at Lago Riton, Piora, Switzerland - Alpine Heaven!

We took the train early in the morning to Faido where we then took a bus to Piotta. A short walk across the narrow valley Leventina and we were at the base of the Ritom funicular, one of the steepest in Switzerland with a maximum gradient of 87.8%! We climbed 2,575 feet to the station at Piora. After a 1/2 mile walk we were at the Ritom reservoir where we booked dinner and a room for the night at the albergo Ritom. 

There are a series of lakes up here in Piora which I read were easy to hike to. 

We are climbing up the slope in the funicular. 

We are at the top, on our walk to Piora - looking across at the mountain side on the other side of the valley. Notice the high, alpine meadows. 

Looking down on the town of Ambri-Piotta. You can see the airport below.

The funicular (red, on right), was built in addition to huge water pipes which go down to the hydroelectric plant, which produces electricity for the electric trains. 

Another view down the Leventina valley. 

Some old stone homes a little above the town of Altanca, which is situated halfway up the slope. 

At the top looking over the Leventina valley

There is still some deep snow in places up here! 

Looking out onto Lake Ritom. 

Lots of Alpine flowers were in bloom. 

We follow the path up the hill from Lake Ritom towards Lake Tom. You can also follow a path all around the lake and not have to climb too much. The other side of the lake, with the dark pines, still had a lot of snow and was too difficult to walk. 

Up this path we find a gorgeous mountain stream. 

The stream feeds into the lake. 

Rick, checking out some Marmott holes! 

We decide this is a good place for a picnic! 

Although there is still snow on the ground, it is warm in the sun - in the 60's, and not windy. 

There were a number of school field trips on the trains and buses we took to arrive here. This group of maybe 10 year olds follows us up the hill. 

We let the school group go ahead of us. See them on the path? 

We then decide it might be smart to follow them, since there are many patches of snow. Let's see what route they take, and we'll do the same!

We saw many colors of Alpine flowers, later learning that some are VERY poisonous! Don't touch! (I don't think these are.)

The path has disappeared under this deep snow. It actually zig zagged to the right and then left. The group takes a shortcut, following some footprints left by previous hikers.
This makes me nervous - in Switzerland, when there is snow, it is VERY important to stick to the path, because you can't see crevices under the snow and you may fall through, but since the group (especially the boys!) have no problem, we follow them. If we didn't see these kids hike over this snow, we would not have continued any further - - but I'm SO glad we did!

After climbing over that huge patch of snow, a beautiful vista...

Rick and I were the last to make it over the snow - very slowly, using my hiking poles - a lot! The last student struggled with us. She was only wearing flat soled sneakers! She was using her hands to climb through the snow and her hands were frozen!

Our reward! Lake Tom. 

Funny story... the school group had gotten ahead of us. We hadn't seen the lake yet, as we were behind some hills. Rick and I took our time, enjoying the landscape. We didn't know where the kids had gone. Once we finally walked over the hill, there they were, waiting for us and clapping that we made it over the snow! How cute! 

Beautiful reflection in the lake. 

Lake Cadagno.

I don't have a picture, but to the right of Lake Tom there was another high ridge with snow on it. The school group did not go any further, as some of the girls were afraid, but also, the path crossed some snow again, and if you fell and slid, you'd eventually slide right into the ice cold lake Tom! The teachers also thought there would be too much snow on the other side. Rick and I decided to try the hike, and I went off the path and around the snow. Slowly we made it to the top of the ridge. Here is what we saw on the other side - Lake Cadagno! And the path down was not full of snow. Yeah! 

And to our surprise we see a group of houses! Up here??? Switzerland never ceases to amaze me. 

Lake Cadagno in the back, and the end of the reservoir on the right. (just the dry end of it). 

If a hiking path doesn't have an orange sign, you watch for markings on rocks and trees or whatever. Here is the red and white sign marking our path down. 

If you look closely you'll see in the background, behind the lake and a little to the right, some bigger, long buildings. This is a farm in the "alpe piora" where they will bring cows and goats for the summer. The grass and flowers here are very unique and the cheese that will be produced is the most expensive in Switzerland! about $60 per kilo. Unfortunately it is sold out by fall, so we can't taste this cheese during our trips in the spring. 

Coming to the summer home settlement of Cadagno.

A summer home on Lake Cadagno

Cadagno. We are between 6,000 and 6,600 feet altitude. 

Another view of Cadagno and the ridge in the background that we came over. The lake is on the right, with a berm to hold the water. This is actually a man-made lake. 

The edge of the lake. The little building is where you can buy drinks in the summertime. It's obviously a busy place during the summer!

There is a small inn here (Capanna) - Canvetto del Carletto. 

They haven't officially opened yet, but a couple people were getting it ready and were happy to serve us a beer! So refreshing!

Leaving lake Cadagno. 

From Lake Cadagno there is a road we could follow, but we take the path up over another small ridge, to this great view of Lake Ritom. 

Look closely at the patch of green meadow in the middle and towards the right. The little building is the church of San Carlo. 

A closer view of San Carlo church.

And when you think the view can't get more idyllic, there is a stream running by in our view. 

The path will continue to take us to the far end of the reservoir, which is dry here. We will go down a very steep path (but manageable). You can see the line of the path that continues around the lake, but there is snow on it on that side.

There is this huge plateau at the end of Lake Ritom, uncovered by the low water. 

The streams running into the lake cut little gullies in it. 

As we come around the corner on the steep path, we see this beautiful, gushing waterfall! So many surprises on this hike!

Around another bend in the path we find still another gushing waterfall!!

Rick walks out to explore this plateau. 

This entire plateau is firm, but topped with soft sand. What a great beach! It's hot out here on the sand. (See part of the heart I drew in the sand?).

 :-)

More Alpine flowers. 

Purple Alpine flowers growing from the rocks by the waterfall. 

The lake with a typical flying saucer cloud that I see once in a while in the Alps.

There is a tadpole in each bubble! This place will be crawling with frogs soon.

Little flowers along the wall of the hillside. 

It's about 6pm and dinner is at about 6:30. We need to hike back to the lodge. You can see the church of San Carlo in the background. Once we get into the shade, the temperature drops at least 20 degrees. Brrr!

The lodge is at the other end of the lake. An easy walk but still a long way to go. 

We are now standing along the top of the dike, looking back at where we hiked today. Seven hours in all, but with lots of rest to enjoy the beauty! 

We hiked up along the creek back into that "bowl" first. That is where Lake Tom is. 

From the "bowl" of Lake Tom we hiked over the ridge down into the "bowl" on the right, to Lake Cadagno. 

Dinner at Restaurant Lago Ritom, with a view of the mountains across the valley Leventina. 

Dinner was basic for up here. We had a salad and something like a beef stroganoff. Simple but enough. 

Our view in the other direction - the wall of the reservoir and the "bowls" of Lake Tom and Lake Cadagno. 

We spend the night. It was so hard to stay awake - we were SO tired! But I wanted to see the stars up here in the mountains. There was still too much light even at 10:15  - the moon was shining brightly on the snow. Plus, it was cold! Time to go to bed. 

The lodge was like camping in a building! Very rustic, and we couldn't get the water any warmer than ICE COLD! Apparently we had to let it run full force for about 5 minutes. We quit trying after 3 minutes, and just dealt with the ice water. 

Very glad we stayed the night, but one night is enough "roughing it" for me! At least the bed was comfortable and the down comforter a treat! 

May 29, in the morning. A little haze over the valley. 

Our breakfast was basic too. Bread, butter and jam, a slice of cheese. 

Cappuccino was great!

Hazy morning looking down to Valley Leventina. So glad we had a clear day yesterday!

The Ritom funicular comes up to get us. We are the only passengers going down. 

Actually, we were the first guests at the lodge this season, although there was another couple from the Valais valley who spent the night too. 

We walk across the valley to where our bus stop is.
Looking back at the funicular line. You'd never know all that beauty was up there!
The white church you see halfway up the mountain, that is the town of Altanca. The other homes are on a ledge that you can't see from here.
We are exhausted, but happy! Great trip and highly recommended!