Walking on the edge of military zone – Monte Camoghe / Ticino.

From Colla to Monte Camoghe – Ticino.

It was a cold November morning and pretty foggy. I hoped it’s just a morning fog. In Ticino, sky normally opens up by lunch time.

We started in village of Colla following yellow signs. Soon after the start, we passed by lovely holiday village, I Barche, and continued on the gravel road after. Loads of zig-zags and easy moderate incline with beautiful views at colourful valley led us to Alpe Pietrarossa (normally, you can buy fresh cheese here, but this time it was already closed for winter). Slowly, we got to the ridge between Monte Bar and Gazzirola and turn right following signs to Camoghe.

After the next yellow sign crossing, right at the beginning, there was a big information board, which we started to study. And then my eyes stopped on one picture with hand grenade. I only was able to ask: “Is this, what I think it is?” Basically, it illustrated, that if you find a hand grenade à

1. You should not touch it.

2. You should stick a pole next to it and make it visible with flag or something and

3. Call 117.

I kept thinking, what is the chance to find hand grenade when going off the trail. Do we need to have picknick directly on the trail or my snacks will explode? This kept my mind busy for some time.

You know, it was very foggy. The clouds were touching the ground and rolling from one hill to another. It was beautiful, mysterious but also a bit spooky. The trail was very narrow and in the fog it felt like there is nothing below us. I didn’t mind it until the point, when my friend asked: “Dasa, are you sure this is the correct trail? Is that normal, that there is an info about what to do when you find the hand grenade? Is it safe to have p-break off the trail? …”

I’m glad that soon after, we spotted chamoix and we forgot about the dangers around. I was super happy that we took south side of the mountain to go up, as on the north, there were already patches of snow and with the north face being very steep, it seemed like crampons were needed.

• 

On the peak, there is a small outdoor chapel with bell to ring.

We had a quick lunchbreak, trying to search for a gap in the clouds so we can experience a bit of the view. We checked the weather radar one more time, and decided to head back the same way. But hey, clouds dancing on the mountains looked awesome too!

How to get there:

We got up to village of Colla (between Signora and Cozzo, which is about 1 hour by bus from Lugano or 40 minutes by car). Started our way up following yellow signs. Soon after the start, we passed by lovely holiday village I Barche and continued on the gravel road after. Loads of zig-zags and easy moderate incline with beautiful views at colourful valley led us to Alpe Pietrarossa (normally, you can buy fresh cheese here, but this time it was already closed for winter). From here we follow the signs direction to Camoghe. We got to the ridge between Monte Bar and Gazzirola and turn right direction to Passo di Pozzaiolo. Right after it, below the incline to Gazzirola, there was another yellow marking and we took left continuing to Bocchetta di Revolte, always direction to Camoghe. We took the same way back.

Location: Tessin

Address: Colla

Car: Parking at the church (Chiesa dei Santi Pietro e Paolo a Colla) or on the main road in Colla (village between Signora and Cozzo)

Public Transport: Bus from Lugano to Colla

Trail: 16.6km (8.3km up / 8.3km down)

Elevation: 1390m

Highest Point: 2216 m above sea level

Difficulty: difficult

Time: 6hrs 45 mins (4hrs up / 2hrs 45 mins down)

Condition of the trail: narrow dirt path

Best to visit: May – November

Services: not available, bring enough snacks and water