Rifugio Rosalba – loop tour between Sentiero delle Foppe and Sentiero dei Morti

When planning this trip it was very important to me to be able to travel with public transport instead of renting a car to keep costs low, especially as in Italy the train and bus fares are really low. To get to the start point of this you do have to travel a little and plan a little. We took a train from Bergamo, Italy to Lecco. From Lecco we took a bus to Ballabio and from there we took another bus to Resinelli. Keep in mind that the bus from Ballabio to Resinelli runs maybe once a day so you really need to plan your day accordingly. I knew that the hike from Resinelli would take maximum 3h and that's really pushing it. At the end of the trail we had made a booking at the refuge - Refugio Rosalba. Honestly, I didn't expect it to be this fantastic. It cost EUR 50 for the night with half board. The food was good and the sunset views incredible!! The trail is pretty easy. Once we got off the bus we stopped at the little cafe to refuel a little and had a wonderful wood fired pizza before heading on the trail. I had downloaded the route for offline use and used my Komoot app to navigate. The first hour is pretty straightforward as the route is pretty flat. After 2 miles you'll start getting incline and this is where the terrain gets harder. It is pretty much up and up from here on out. We took a lot of breaks in general as we kept stopping to take photos and videos for instagram! Feel free to follow me on my instagram @its.wild.out.there to see more visual content. There were parts on the route that had chains for safety and a little scrambling was done. But nothing too crazy. I even wore my Teva Walking Sandals. You should have seen the look people coming down gave me because of my footwear! Would I recommend doing this is sandals? I'm not sure. I wore them for comfort as I have done a lot of adventures with them, but I also had my trail shoes in my bag in case I needed them to change and for the days coming up too as the next two days were planned a lot more intense. The hardest for me was the last stretch to the top. It was just constant zigzags. But it was so worth it. Initially I added this refuge just to break up the hike as I wasn't super sure on how difficult the Day2 would be even with my research and it seemed like a good idea to break it up. And I'm so glad we did as this was one of the best sunsets I had seen and the people we met at the refuge seemed really cool too! We had relatively heavy bags for this too as the plan was to stay in the mountains for the net three days! I used the Montane Azote 32 bag and it was perfect to fit all my essentials and to take not just on the hike but also as free bag on the plane! Conclusion here is that you should definitely head over to stay at this refuge if you happen to be in Lake Como area. It;s stunning, easy to get to (well, if you like hiking) and only took us 2.5h to get up there. It's also probably cheaper than anywhere else in Lake Como ha!

The start was a bit tough, but then the tour turned out to be spectacular. Great rock formations, sometimes you feel like you are in the Dolomites 😊 the altitude meters are not right with Komoot. According to the travel guide, there are almost 800 ... Wonderful tour😊👍

Technical and with a spectacular view 😍 Among the many variations to go up to the Rosalba refuge, the two marked are the Foppe path (forest 🌳 with several passages where you need to use your hands, then a stony path out of the woods) and the path of the dead (even steeper and rockier) 🪨🪨 Both technically challenging, but feasible, they reunite on the final treaty. Beautiful refuge, in a strategic position with breathtaking views of the lakes, the Grigna stacks and the climbers who climb the wall nearby 🧗.

The path to the Rosalba refuge begins with a walk in a beautiful beech forest, which in autumn envelops us in a unique chromatic framework. In this section, the walk is not demanding: the path is flat with slight ups and downs until the panorama opens onto the pinnacles of the Grignetta. We begin to savor the absolute beauty of Queen Grigna. But let's not delude ourselves about the ease of the path, because from here it starts to get steep and becomes challenging from the junction for the Path of the Dead. We leave the wood that has accompanied us so far to face the last part of our journey towards the Rosalba refuge, among the grassy slopes and the spiers of the mountain that Leonardo Da Vinci called "pelada". A pinch of the Dolomites in Lecco. On your right the imposing Torre Cecilia watches over the path and the hikers. The refuge begins to glimpse, but although it seems nearby, you still have to walk to get to the destination. The last efforts to then abandon oneself to the contemplation of a stupendous panorama that from Lake Como pushes our gaze to the horizon, that horizon crowned by the chain of the Alps, where it is clearly possible to recognize the Gran Paradiso, the Monviso and Monte Rosa. And if you want to have lunch, the Rosalba Refuge offers excellent lunches. The path to Rosalba is not recommended for families with small children. The return is to be made along the same path. To reach the refuge from Piani Resinelli it is also possible to take the Direttissima from the Porta refuge or, passing through the Foppe path, choose the Sentiero dei Morti at the crossroads. https://www.eccolecco.it/sport-divertimento/artigianato-lecco/grignetta-rifugio-rosalba/

Path of the Dead clear, just a little ice when crossing the canal

From the Resinelli plains we went up to the Rosalba refuge along the CAI path n°9. Dry path with a little snow near the refuge at 1700 m above sea level. Afterwards, if you want to continue to the summit, you will need ice axes and crampons

To round off our stay at Lake Como, we did a shorter, supposedly easier tour. While it had fewer meters of elevation gain than yesterday, it was much steeper.

The difference in altitude is not much, but the path is pretty tough. For the more trained, there is the variant called "Sentiero dei Morti". For those even tougher, instead, the circular tour that passes by the Rifugio Carlo Porta. I recommend doing it on clear days ... the view changes completely 🌞🌞🌞