April 11, 2017 Cog wheel train to Monte Generoso & hike to Scudellate

Rick and I decided in the morning when we got up that it was a good day to visit the newly re-opened Monte Generoso, (1704 meters high - 5591 feet) here near Lugano. A hotel and restaurant had been built on top of this mountain back in 1867, and then in 1890, a steam, cog railway. Visits to the top were suspended in 2013 in order to rebuild a new visitor's center and restaurant, and it just reopened on April 8!

We took the train from Lugano to Capolago - Riva San Vitale where we switched to the narrow gauge  cog train. The trip to the top is 36 francs for one way (54 for round trip). As we have a 1/2 price yearly membership, it cost us 18 francs each to go up - as our plans were to hike down the back of the mountain.

The trip of 9 kilometers to the top took nearly 55 minutes! I think it took a little longer because they added an extra train for all the people wanting to go up at that time. The train first goes up the west side of the mountain, hugging the rocky, steep cliffs!

The sun was quite bright so you can't see the scenery in the distance and how high we are, but for sure you can see how the train track is hugging the edge of the mountain!

After the train makes its way up the steep, cliff side of the mountain, it goes through a few tunnels and emerges on the east, sloping side of the mountain. 

Here it comes - almost to the station! The train also pushes up supplies for the visitor's center.

Our train at the top of the Monte Generoso

The station and the visitor's center and restaurant. There is still some construction work to be done, but it all just opened 4 days ago.

 At the top of Monte Generoso, the picture above this one shows the new Fiore di Pietra (Stone Flower), two restaurants and a conference center/visitor center, designed by the Ticinese architect Mario Botta. 
The bottom picture is a path to one of the outcroppings of rock. The train tracks run along the left side.

This gives you a good idea of the drop off on this side of the mountain!

The path to a rock outcropping to see the views.

This picture also gives you an idea how the Fiore di Pietra and train station are just atop this ridge of the mountain.

The Fiore di Pietra by Mario Botta on Monte Generoso

Rick and I begin our hike down the back of Monte Generoso. The path will follow the ridge which separates Switzerland from Italy for a while. The sign on the right of Rick is a Swiss hiking sign, and on the left is an Italian hiking sign and indication of the "confine di stato" - Confines of the state - the Italian border.

From the top we see the tiny town of Erbonne, in Italy. We will be walking down to Scudellate, which is around the bend of the mountain from Scudellate. Although Erbonne is in Italy, up until recently it was cut off by roads from Italy, so residents where taken care of by Switzerland. There is now a road to Erbonne, up from Lake Como. In Erbonne there is a small museum related to the contraband which was brought back and forth across the border during the wars. You can read more about a hike Rick and I did from Scudellate to Erbonne by going to my blog page for May 24, 2015.

It's a steep descent down. As you can see, we have a long way to go. The hiking sign said it was 1 hour 30 minutes to Scudellate. We'll see...

I point to Erbonne from Monte Generoso.

Here is where we were looking down at Erbonne, and where we also stopped for lunch. There was really no other place to stop! Can you find Rick on this mountainside having his lunch? Also, look at the little building on top. It was a small stone shelter, like you'd find a British policeman standing in in London. This was a Swiss lookout point during the war.

A spectacular view. We were also fortunate that there was some cloud cover, as our hike was totally out in the open. It was a warm day, and full sun would have been difficult. It can be dangerous to do this hike in summer with the sun and heat. 

Here Rick gets a view of the Valle di Muggio. The first "big" town is Muggio, and the second is Cabbio. Later on, we meet a woman with her two children, maybe about 10 and 12 years old. They began a hike today at 9am from the town of Muggio and hiked all the way up to Monte Generoso and then back down to Scudellate! They finished their hike at 4:30 - and of course were exhausted! I just can't even imagine!

The walk was steep here, but this was actually the easiest part of the hike.

On the back slope of Monte Generoso, you can see old, stone settlements. The closest one is in complete ruins, the others may possibly still be used. It's sad to see the old way of life ending in this special valley.

We begin to approach another old, stone settlement. Part of it is in ruins but much remains standing, and obviously the animals are still using the stalls! You see how it sits on a narrow ridge, with more ridge past it. We now begin the scary, difficult part of our hike!

With slow, careful steps, we continue down. The red roofed homes closest to me is the town of Roncapiano. We are headed there, and you see how steep our descent will be. I don't think I could have done it without my hiking poles! Yikes!

Here is Roncapiano below. As you see, there is no other choice but to follow the frightening ridge.

Here is a good view of the ridge. Look closely and you'll see two people making there way along the ridge. It looks horizontal but was scary and took us a long time as we stepped carefully.

Passing through the old, stone settlement

Ahhh a few steps in this area that was not too difficult.

Now we are on this ridge, and it happens to be that it had been recently torn up to install a water pipeline along the ridge. You see pieces of a rope "net" along the side. Once a section is fixed back up, the rope net is laid on top - to hold the small rocks in place and let the grass grow back.

We come across some workers. He's standing near an access to the water pipe. The mountain falls off on either side. These guys have been working on this for months. They have to climb each day to go to work! It was tricky walking along the rope net, as it's hard to see where we were putting our feet.

As we make our way along, Scudellate comes into view in the distance on the left. We still need to first follow the trail to Roncapiano and then make our way by the road to Scudellate. The postal bus that we will take home makes the drive to the end of the valley and up that zig zag road to Scudellate a number of times each day!

Another area where they are working on the water pipe. This worker had to walk back up higher and he's going up by walking sideways, because it is SO steep!

Our zig zag path down to Roncapiano crosses the new pipe area several times. Scudellate is still far in the distance.

We are finally reaching Roncapiano! Yeah!

We take a little stroll through the streets of Roncapiano, and find the local sheep on the road. The baby under the mother in the foreground wants to nurse, and we also see sheep up on the roof next to the church!

Now, how did they climb to the roof you might ask?? This little town is on such a steep slope  that they walked from the meadow behind right on to the roof!

Not only were there sheep on the roads, but also goats. We also saw a special sight - there was an elderly man with a huge bale of hay on his back, climbing up the road. I didn't take a picture because I know some of them don't like that, but I really should have asked. After all, we did stop to speak to him for a bit. Although this town may be relaxing, it's full of hard work by the few elderly residents who remain. Rick peaked into a stall in town, to see a man shoveling out all the crap. The town is a mixture of homes and animal stalls. Poop everywhere!

Ahhh, we are almost to Scudellate!

We have an hour to wait for our bus back down the valley, so we sit outside and have a drink - our favorite after a hike - Panaché, a mixture of beer and a bubbly lemon drink. I sit on the balcony enjoying the view. Our hike has taken us 3 hours - exactly what we expected. We have learned that our time is exactly double what the hiking sign says, because of course we have to stop to enjoy the views and take pictures!

Inside the Osteria in Scudellate, there is a typical fireplace with seats on both sides to warm up. There were tables behind me so I couldn't back up enough to get both seats in the picture. They are the same on either side of the fireplace.

Our hostess at this Osteria tells me there is another good picture opportunity - across the hallway she runs a little store for the 20 year-around residents of Scudellate.

Looking up from where we began our hike - Monte Generoso - you see the Fiore di Pietra visitor center building at the top of the crest.

In the Valley di Muggio on our way home, there are beautiful farms with such green terraces! It really is a magical valley.

On our bus ride home, we had to switch from a small van bus to a larger bus here in the town of Muggio (this is the Valley Muggio). While waiting for the other bus, I captured where we walked down the moutain. We started at the building at the top of Monte Generoso that you see. Then we followed the ridge to the right, up that 2nd "bump" to the right of the Fiore di Pietra, and down the crest to Roncapiano in the center of the picture, and finished at Scudellate down and to the right of Roncapiano. Our trip home on Swiss public transportation went smoothly - small bus from Scudellate to big bus in Muggio, change of buses in Morbio Superiore taking us to the Mendrisio train station, train to Lugano, funicular from the train station down the Lugano center and #7 bus back to Pregassona! Woo Hoo! A great day and sore muscles!