As part of our few days in northern Italy, we spent a day hiking in the Alta Valle Imagna. This consisted of a loop starting and finishing in the pretty village of Brumano, taking in the impressive ridge between Pizzo Brumano and Monte Resegone, stopping to have lunch at the panoramic viewpoint above the Rifugio Azzoni, before winding our way back to the starting point. This hike was at times challenging but the views were certainly worth it. If you’re thinking of trying it out, make sure you have appropriate gear, including proper hiking boots, layers to adapt to multiple weather changes, and I’d also recommend poles given that there are steep sections. Please also be aware that there are parts on the ridge where you will have to scramble – I mean use your hands to help you climb up. To be honest, I wouldn’t recommend the ridge unless you’re an experienced hiker.
So here’s the route we did…
Brumano to Rifugio Resegone
We rented a car for our time in northern Italy and I’m not really sure how you would have gotten to the start point in Brumano without one. We parked next to the church and started the walk upwards. From the very beginning it goes steeply up the hillside as you wind your way through fields and past farmhouses. The Italian maps had this part as ‘Elementary’, which is the easiest category, but it didn’t take long before we were breathing heavily and sweating – even though it was the beginning of November. Whilst not at all technical, I wouldn’t class it as easy…
You then enter the forest, where you continue winding your way along the narrow pathways, keeping a keen eye out for the markers painted on trees and rocks. It may have been easier at other times of the year but on the 2nd of November there was a thick layer of leaves that coated the floor. This layer combined with the damp and hid the loose rocks to make your footing tricky. This wasn’t a particularly fun part of the walk and we were happy when it opened out and we could see the rifugio at the top of a field.
Due to it being off season, the rifugio itself was closed but given that this was less than an hour into our hike it didn’t really matter.
Rifugio Resegone to the ridge
Directly behind the rifugio, the trail heads back into the woods. It is more of the same, unfortunately, but at one point it does open up to give an amazing view down the Imagna Valley.
It was a relief when the trees thinned out and we started on the rockier terrain as we neared the ridge. Not five minutes after noticing the first droppings on the trail, we saw a silhouette of a chamois making a mockery of our struggles to get up the slope.
Along the ridge to Rifugio Azzoni
Prior to starting the hike we had been a bit worried about doing a ridge so late in the season. We had also been warned to not do it if it was raining. Despite the beautiful blue sky that we had started with, clouds had started to form as we made our way up the mountain. We even contemplated turning back once we reached the ridge but we are so glad we didn’t. The views on both sides of the mountains were stunning and were easily the best part of the hike. As well as the views, the walking itself was generally much nicer as well. For the most part, it wasn’t particularly steep and because it was dry and above the tree line, your footing was much more secure. You also weren’t particularly exposed in general, which was refreshing for a ridge walk. Repeatedly spotting chamois at various parts of the walk was another nice bonus.
The only tricky part was as you got closer to the rifugio. At a few points you did need to use your hands to help you climb up the rocks. It is certainly not extreme rock climbing – just a bit of a scramble but if you’re not secure with heights or this sort of activity then maybe re-think your walking plans. Any sort of experience doing this, however, would be sufficient because the points at which you were having to do it were not particularly exposed.
Lunch-break at Rifugio Azzoni
This sub-heading should maybe read ‘Lunch-break above Rifugio Azzoni’ because after finally arriving at the rifugio we carried on for a few minutes to get to the viewpoint on top of the slope. You can’t miss it – there is a huge cross to mark the point. The views here were fantastic! On one side you had the pretty Imagna Valley and on the other you had the edge of Lake Como enveloped by the sprawl of Lecco. It was a bit strange to have such a big town on one side when the other felt so deep into the countryside. Far beyond Lecco were also some snow-capped mountains peaking out above the haze, which we couldn’t identify but we’re guessing they were some of the Swiss giants. Finally, we spotted some wild goats on the rocks around the rifugio, which added to the atmosphere. Whilst it would have been nice to have the rifugio open, it was still a lovely spot to open up the sandwiches and take in the surroundings. Radka even brought up some left-over pizza to snack on – that’s got to get us some Italian brownie points surely?
Heading back to Brumano
There are multiple ways you could do this but the first step is obviously getting off the mountain. The trail started heading down right next to the rifugio. Just be careful at this point as it is quite steep with loose rocks underfoot. Given that we couldn’t bring our walking poles to Italy in our cabin bags, we had found some sticks in the forest at the beginning of the walk and they proved to be very useful at this stage.
After a while you get back into the forest but at this point at least, the paths were quite wide and not as steep, so it was a much more pleasant walk through the trees than it had been earlier. It is at this stage that you need to make some decisions. You can head back towards Refugio Resegone or take one of the other routes back to Brumano. We decided to try something different, as we hadn’t particularly liked the walk up to that refugio and it would have been quite slippy to walk down those pathways. We took the path towards Rifugio Grande Faggio. Part of this was fine but part was more of the unpleasant forest walking.
Just after this rifugio, we decided that we’d had enough of the narrow woodland pathways so we decided to just follow the road. This turned out to be a great decision. Not only could we stretch out our legs a bit and not have to worry about where exactly we were putting our feet, it was more open and provided really nice views down the valley. Despite it adding on a few kilometres, the fact that we were able to walk much quicker meant we probably didn’t even lose that much time-wise. It helped, however that we barely saw a car the whole way – it wouldn’t have been pleasant if it was at a busy time of the year. We followed the road all the way back to the church in Brumano to complete the loop.
Final thoughts
Overall we both really enjoyed this hike. The walking is very varied and includes sections going through fields, forests and over rocky crags. The views at various points of the hike are amazing. It was also nice to see so much wildlife up in the mountains. So if you have the opportunity and some nice weather then you should definitely give it a go.
As mentioned, however, this is not a straightforward hike. And linked to this, if you are wanting to incorporate the ridge into your hike, I’d definitely recommend doing it in the direction that is described. There were multiple points where I wouldn’t have wanted to go down if I had been heading in the opposite direction. This includes the scrambling on the ridge.
So I hope this will make you think about visiting this area of Italy, as it certainly is a beautiful place.
If you wish to view our route, then please see below:
https://www.relive.cc/view/vNOP44wV7YO
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Brit and Czech Abroad 