2-day tour T4, Ibex Trail - Scalettahütte - Fuorcla da Lavaz

Day 1: We enjoy the morning freshness and distract ourselves from the monotony of the first four kilometers of access road in Val Cristallina with conversations about "God and the world." At the water intake in Val Uffiern, we switch to the hiking trail heading towards Lago Retico, and the landscape becomes increasingly interesting. We pass the hut Stavel dil Laiets, where sheep and goats graze, and shortly after, we master the ascent up to the Laiets. Shortly after, we reach Lago Retico, whose banks are scattered with polished rocks.  

On a grassy ridge, we continue uphill towards the rocky ridge of the Sasso Lanzone. We are on the Sentiero Stambecchi, the Ibex trail. Before reaching the ridge, the path becomes quite steep and is partially secured with chains. On the ridge, the deep view surprises us across the valley to Val Uffiern with Lago Uffiern. We step carefully over the ridge until it goes down sideways towards Passo Uffiern again. We can already see the Scalettahütte on the opposite valley side, but it is still several hundred meters down to the valley floor. Once down, we gather the last strength for the counter-ascent to the hut. After dinner, we are visited by ibexes, which dare to come almost onto the hut’s terrace.

Day 2: Behind the hut, we cross the rushing Brenno della Greina and follow it on a white/blue marked path to the Piano della Greina. The rocky path is still in the shade, and large boulders repeatedly block direct passage. We arrive at a signpost indicating right to the Arco Greina, a 15-meter-long natural stone arch. After a photo stop, we continue our route on the opposite bank of the stream. For a while, there is still fragrant earth, flowers, and grasses under and beside our shoes, but soon it becomes barren and rocky. At point 2496, the mountain range is reflected in a small lake; looking north, we see that we still need to hike over larger snowfields to reach the Fuorcla Sura da Lavaz.

At the top, a cool wind blows around our noses, but not much remains of the Gletscher da Lavaz. In July, firn still lies there, but once it has melted, one walks only on loose rocks. We follow the white/blue markings and make a detour to the emerald-green glacier lake. Back on the route, we reach the Rein da Vigluts, where another ascent of 350 vertical meters awaits us to the Medelserhütte. Step by step, we approach the hut, where we can take a break.

The last section of the tour is managed on the initially still rocky hut access path. At Alp Sura, it becomes more leisurely, and we can relax both body and soul a bit until we reach Curaglia.

Those who parked the car at the beginning of Val Cristallina take the postbus towards Lukmanier Pass to the stop at Pardatsch.

Bring binoculars. We hike through ibex territory.

Day 1: From the Pardatsch postbus stop in Val Medel, we follow the access road into Val Cristallina. At the end of the access road, a hiking sign points us uphill to Passo Cristallina and Lago Retico. There are no junctions along the way. On the southern side of the lake, we find the next signpost. Now we follow the markings eastwards. The Sentiero Stambecchi was marked white/blue until a few years ago. Now it has been crossed out in white/red and the path corresponds to a T3 on the trekking scale.  The path leads us up to the rocky ridge Sasso Lanzone and back down to Passo Uffiern. From there, it goes over meadows to Pian Geireth. As soon as we reach the valley floor, we follow the hut access path to the Scalettahütte.

Day 2: Behind the hut, after the stream, we find a signpost. A blue sign points us along the stream to a plain where the Greinarch is located to the right. Here we cross the stream heading north.  In the upper section, the path is increasingly less visible, which is why we always focus on the white/blue markings. This way we reach the Fuorcla sura da Lavaz. Continuing to follow the markings, we descend to about point 2200. Through a small valley, we now ascend towards the Medelserhütte. After the first ascent, there is a flatter section, followed again by a steep climb. From the hut, we follow the well-marked hut access path down to Curaglia.