Sentierone Trail, Switzerland
Apparently, the scene where James Bond bungy-jumped off the dam in the movie Goldeneye was filmed at the dam in Valle Verzasca, in the Italian speaking region of Ticino, Switzerland. So, when I found myself staying in Valle Verzasca a couple of days, I did consider trying it out. But thoughts of me splattered against the dam wall like a swatted fly and not being able to enjoy the rest of my vacation put a full stop to that possibility. Instead, I proposed to my travel companions, T1 and T2, a nice, leisurely, walk along the River Verzasca following the Sentierone Trail. The trail actually stretches about 25km from the Tenero, situated at the river mouth, all the way to Sonogno, the last village at the end of the valley.
Since there was no way we could do 25km over unfamiliar territory in one day, we decided to take the local postbus from Berzona where we stayed, all the way to Sonogno, and start the walk back from there. Then, when we’ve walked till we can’t walk anymore, we could always crawl our way back to the nearest bus stop and ride back to Berzona. Brilliant plan! Our target though, if our legs could carry us that far, was to end at Lavertezzo, about 14 km from Sonogno, where we would bus back to Berzona. There was supposed to be a beautiful double arch stone bridge at Lavertezzo to admire and I was looking forward to that.
Map of Sentierone Trail
Though it had been raining intermittently since our arrival in the valley, we were greeted by some sunshine on the day of our walk.
View of Valle Verzasca from Berzona
Timing was everything as the postbuses were not that frequent in view of the tourist season winding down at the end of September. We managed to catch the bus from Berzona without a hitch and soon found ourselves at Sonogno. It was a pretty little village with well maintained stone cottages typical of the Ticino region.
Sonogno
Several photos and a bakery stop later, we were on our way out from Sonogno. The yellow signs pointed the way to the next village along the trail as we traipsed along the fairly level path in the forest next to the river. The air was fresh and the sound of the river crashing noisily onto the rocks next to us was invigorating. The Verzasca river was definitely not the peaceful, slow, meandering type. The clear waters which reflected the sun in tinges of blue and emerald rushed by furiously over large boulders and rocks. These powerful natural forces probably made the valley the perfect spot for that James Bond dam. We took out time on the trail and enjoyed the views, stopping for photos at every little strange plant we came across...
While the sky looked a little cloudy, the sun blazed strongly. We hoped the weather would hold out for us to continue the walk as long as possible. We crossed the river once or twice as our path took us zig-zagging through the little stone villages along the way. We couldn’t resist taking loads of the photos of the quaint stone cottages and the lovely gardens...and stealing bites from the apple trees....
The valley, once deemed a harsh and wild land, was home to hardworking farmers and their sheep. But that was a long time ago. Though there were still sheep to be found, the valley was now more of a summer getaway and tourist destination. There were a lot of abandoned cottages scattered across the valley, sadly begging for attention...
But we found the perfect spot for our picnic lunch, which we gobbled down hungrily.
And we found the perfect spot for a pee stop too...
Though I have to admit, it was pretty stressful trying to let it all out while whirling your head around like a frantic owl, keeping a lookout for passers-by....
...TO BE CONTINUED...
1 comment:
Lovely article on trails in Switzerland... I wish i could that in the future.
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