Hikes in Musso

Very beautiful mountain hike, forest, meadow, rocks. Great views, varied landscape.

Arriving at the lake, the geography and visible space widen, but the road narrows. Many events and characters have passed along the Strada Regina, not counting the large transports carried along the lake. Don Guanella and his spirituality and solidarity, Aligi Sassu and his art, Mussolini with his escape and his end, the Rubini and the Falck families and the development of the Italian steel industry. Stories with a capital S and relationships that have “made the places,” epicenters of propagation of infinite stories with a lowercase s. Like a stone in a pond. Where there is a border, there is smuggling. And against the Ban there is the porter, the sfrusjn, who on his shoulder and in the backpacks carried goods illegally (from sfrosc) beyond the borders (tobacco, tires, salt, dice, rice, and contraceptives). --- Lullaby, sleep child Your father has a sack on his shoulder And he climbs up at night Pray to the moon not to let him be caught Pray to the star to watch where he goes Pray to the path to bring him home (Lullaby of the smuggler - Davide Van De Sfroos)

Long-distance hikes above the Lario The "Monti Lariani" are not peaks on Lake Como, but rather the mountain huts that once played an important role in the nomadic life of farmers, long before the Milanesi, in need of relaxation, converted them into weekend cottages. In the past, peasant life moved throughout the year between the valley (paese), the mountain pastures (monti) and the high alpine pastures, an arduous nomadic existence within a farming area that stretched from the lakeshore to above the forest line. There were no roads at that time, but there were paths, artfully laid out and branching out in many places. The "Via dei Monti Lariani" follows them for around 120 km, from Cernobbio at the south-western end of the lake up to Sorico, marked continuously (but not always reliably!) in red-white-red: five to seven daily stages, 4.15 to a maximum of 8.30 hours long. You can work up quite a sweat as you constantly ascend and descend along the western bank of the Lario, even if the "Via" does not touch any peaks. In total, around 5000 meters of ascent and descent are covered. The effort is sweetened by fascinating views, insights into the life of the ancients, the incomparable architecture of the Monti and lots of colorful flowers to the left and right of the path. Of course, you can also do the tour in the opposite direction, from north to south. Partial ascents are also possible, as many paths lead down to the lakeshore. Overnight stays are in mountain huts and small hotels. It is best to take a cab for the ascent to Monte Bisbino. This shortens the first day's stage considerably, which is also advantageous in terms of the journey to Lake Como. The walking time from Cernobbio is 7 hours.

Route based on the tracks from 064 to 076 actually traveled by the Va' Sentiero team

Total travel time h 8:55. Total km 35.6 positive elevation gain 1750 m Menaggio-Dongo h 6:16 Dongo-Menaggio along the lakeside walk and cycle path h 2:39 The numbers speak for themselves: the excursion, although technically very easy, requires many hours of daylight and adequate physical preparation. Suitable footwear proves useful especially on the descent from the Musso rock, where the terrain is at times rough and slippery.

15 November 2024

The tour leads up to small holiday homes and along scenic paths up to just before Dongo.

Sono stato al Bregagno altre volte, ma avevo il desiderio di non farlo circolarmente. Oggi ho soddisfatto la "voglia" di iniziare il percorso a Musso e terminarlo a Menaggio. Perciò, questa mattina, dopo avere parcheggiato lo scooter a Menaggio, ho preso l'autobus delle 5,30 per Musso. Alle 5,50 ho iniziato il percorso per il Bregagno, il Bregagnino, Sant'Amate, Breglia e, infine, Menaggio presso lo scooter parcheggiato. Bella giornata 🌤️🥾⛰️🏞️😀👋👋

Ebbene sì, l'ho fatta. Stavolta l'ho fatta grossa. Andiamo con ordine. Già altre due o tre volte ho raggiunto i 50 km o giù di lì. Per me era un traguardo e mai avrei pensato di andare oltre. Dopotutto pensavo tra me "ma chi me lo fa fare?". Me ne stavo bello beato e tranquillo sino a.... ecco, fin quando ho visto su Komoot un percorso di oltre i 60 km fatto da un appassionato. Al momento ero rimasto a "bocca aperta" per la meraviglia e per la viva ammirazione per chi aveva compiuto una camminata del genere. Col tempo si è insinuata l'idea di emulare la sua impresa. Ero incredulo. Mi dicevo: "no, non potrò mai farcela. È troppo per me. Sicuramente schiatto prima di raggiungere quella distanza". Avevo pensieri di questo tipo. Ma, dopo diversi mesi, eccomi qua a commentare ciò che non avrei mai pensato di fare.  Qualcuno potrebbe chiedermi: "come ti senti? adesso sarai soddisfatto!". Ceerto, che lo sono, ma ora mi sento a pezzi. Mi sento come uno straccio. Stracciato!

Giro del Lario