Hiking (mountain trail, in places narrow and exposed)
Alpine route (equipped or very exposed section, snow field, blocks)
R91
Fontana (Val Bovana) » Robiei
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7h10 |
19.7 km
|
1448 m
|
182 m
From Fontana, leave the village on the right side of the valley heading to the north west. Follow the Val Bavona valley floor past numerous groups of houses or hamlets to reach San Carlo. This is where the climb to Robiei, the stage destination, begins. It is also possible to use the aerial cable car.
Leave Fontana in the direction of San Carlo either by postal car or on foot. The latter option is recommended, as the route takes paths that were once used by the wandering shepherds who drove their herds from alp to alp and meadow to meadow. This type of alpine farming was called transhumance. It has left numerous hamlets behind with poetic names such as Mondada, Fontana, Alned, Sabbion, Ritort, Foroi, Roset, Fontanaleda, Faed, Bola, Sonlert or Gannarient – all groups of houses that politically belong to the community of Cavergno, but that form their own separate village units with their own individual church or chapel and village saints. Either take the cable car or walk along the mountain path from San Carlo to reach Robiei, where overnight accommodation is offered both in the hotel of the power station and in the SAC hut. The Robiei region takes you away from the world of mining to that of modern techniques and the generation of electricity for the people of the 20th century. The work on the Robiei dam lasted from 1950 to 1956 and was completed between 1962 and 1970 with the construction of the centres in of Robiei and Bavona. (ATSE)
Natural and cultural heritage
Robiei Blenio Kraftwerke AG (power station company) has been using the hydro-electric power of the Brenno river and its feeder streams since 1956. The power station, situated in the upper part of Val Bavona valley, and supplied by the Cavagnoli-Naret conservation reservoir, is equipped with four groups of “Francis” pump turbines: it uses an average slope of 338m. The water then flows into the Robiei regulating reservoir. (Schweizer Wanderwege)
Useful topographic maps
265T Nufenenpass ~ Swisstopo (1: 50'000)
Tessin Sopraceneri 3-259-00831-4 ~ Hallwag Kümmerly und Frey AG, Urtenen BE (1: 60'000)
Useful guidebooks
Tessin ~ Bergverlag Rudolf Rother GmbH (ISBN 3-7633-4078-5)
Wanderwelt Tessin / SAW und Geotechnisches Institut ~ Kümmerly und Frey AG (ISBN 3-259-03698-9)
20 Bergwanderungen RegionTessin / Luc Hagmann / Franz Auf der Maur ~ Werd Verlag TA Media AG, Zürich (ISBN 3-85932-347-4)
Websites relative to natural and cultural heritage
Favourites, criticisms ? Make your personal comments on this stage. For more general notes please use the comments section of the page Over to the Via Alpinists.
Toshio Yokoyama - 2016-10-03
At Sonlert we can find a good B&B near a bus stop. The staff are very kind and the rooms (CHF 45-70) are clean.
In San Carlo there is a cute little hotel, named Basodino CHF 70.
Taking the cable car from San Carlo saved lots of precious time, you can do San Carlo to Riale in one day.
John from bath - 2014-07-22
There's a special welcome for via alpiners at the Rifugio Basodino and the cakes are really special.
Elisabeth - 2014-03-20
Nouvelle erreur sur le topo : 50 mn pour faire 9 km ? Je suis déjà fière d'avoir mis 1h40 par le chemin de transhumance ! Ce n'est sûrement pas 9 km mais ce n'est pas 3 km non plus...
Automatic translation
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New error on the topo: 50 min to 9 km? I'm already proud to have been 1:40 in the transhumance trail! This is certainly not 9 km but not 3 km either ...
Mountain Girl - 2012-10-19
Albergo Robiei (the only lodging at Robiei), may be an ugly concrete block from the outside, but its rooms are clean & comfortable, with views that can't be beat. SFr 50 for a single, with breakfast. (Rif Basodino also wanted SFr 50 for a depressing little room.) An added bonus was the 'resident' fox who appeared at dusk, scavenging around the hotel for food.
Mountain Girl - 2012-10-19
It's roughly 5km / +122m from Fontana to San Carlo. A bus also covers this stretch, though the walk through this rustic valley that has rejected electrification is enjoyable.
Janek - 2011-07-21
The distance from Fontana to Foroglio is incorrect. Should be about 3km, which is manageable with the indicated 50 minutes. No way you could walk the shown 9 km in 50 minutes.
|
7h10 |
19.7 km
|
1448 m
|
182 m
Favourites, criticisms ? Make your personal comments on this stage. For more general notes please use the comments section of the page Over to the Via Alpinists.