Over the Pizzo Ruscada into the "black valley" (The following description is translated and adapted from an article by Karl Wuest in
the NZZ-online of 10/13/01)
Olgia still sleeps. Suddenly the church bells of this Italian village "ring out" the silence
of night time with a wonderful melody. This is for us the first high point of a seldom-taken 10-hour hike, which begins in
the deepest Centovalli, across the Valle Vigezzo, over the Pizzo Ruscada, and then into the Onsernone in Ticino. In the morning
grayness, we depart from the border town of Camedo and start down the path. Unlike the the Bernese Oberland and many other
Swiss regions with their yellow signposts at every trail crossing, there are only here and there yellow or red/white markings
on stones or tree trunks...a detailed map is essential!
Immediately beyond the cemetery in Olgia, we proceed along
a meadow path up to the Alpe Caviano. Near the the hut highest up on the alp, we find a birch grove. At 1200 meters above
sea level, the path leads into a steep, dense beech grove. We leave the Monte da Cavallina on our right and soon refresh ourselves
at the brook on the Alpe Rovina.
Higher up, near the Brocchetta di Cortaccio, the stillness is broken by the bleating
of goats. A heavy fog lies like a gray towell over the landscape, which now is strewn with scree and rubble. The vegetation
also changes, becomes more "alpine." Larches replace the broad-leafed deciduous species, and clusters of juniper berry bushes,
bilberries, and alpine rhododendrons cover the ground.
After crossing a footbridge consisting of two apparently rotting
tree trunks, we approach the Alpe Ruscada, which, like most of the alps we've passed by, seems a doomed place. The stone buildings
are falling down, nettles grow up through the ruins...the culmination of an abandoned landscape.
300 more vertical meters
seperate us from the Pizzo Ruscada, which from the south is a forbidding, craggy cliff wall. The path going up to the peak
on the north side is almost gentle in comparison. From the peak, we would have a panoramic view of the Gridone massif and
the Valais Alps...if only the fog lifted!
After a short midday rest, we descend a "bone-crunching" 1100 meters to Isorno,
and then on to Camologno where the village fountain and the Ristorante Posta are like gifts from heaven.
The Onsernone
valley is not geared for mass tourism. Max Frisch, whose grave is in Berzona, called the Onsernone the "black valley." Narrow,
with raw and untillable stretches, the valley was reachable only on foot or by donkey until the middle of the 19th century.
We stay overnight in Russo, and dine our way through the delicious menu of the Osteria della Posta under the arcade
of the Belozza Palace. In the morning we go by post auto to Loco, where a carefully-maintained path leads back into the Centovalli.
The path begins at the eastern edge of the village near the church. We stroll through mediterranean, riotously-colorful gardens,
then enter the forest and experience a surprise: A chamois crossing the path.
About two hours later, around noon, we
reach Pila, with Lake Maggiore glistening in the distance.
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