My summer on Grignone

Italiano

My summer on Grignone lasted until the end of the season, September was a hot month. I kept my promise to stay on the paths and locations of the blog. I reached Pialeral, my summit this year, just a few days ago, on the 13th of the month. Crazy summer of reading, writing, reading, writing, late into the evening! Phrases and words that wake me up at dawn the following morning. Of those who have actually walked the mountains during the day in search of freedom and well-being. The photos were the source for describing the route of the trails. A second part was missing, where they are located, who manages them, possibly anything else significant, which I undertook to fill. I felt like I was an honest worker of the Sentiero Pasturo - Pialeral. It was possible thanks to the new Lenovo Intel Core i7 computer equipped with Windows 10 which worked perfectly and to the Vodafone mobile network, fighting for every gigabyte consumed, with some small interruptions and requests for clarification from the company. I give thanks to God for the gifts and protection, may his holy Name always be praised and blessed.

As expected my pace has been slow, my back is not right and there is pain in my face and teeth which needs to be investigated. Much has changed in the blog, starting from the name in the two languages, in English Grignone in slope of Pasturo and in Italian Il Grignone nel versante di Pasturo, which now has an introduction. Grignone is also Grigna Settentrionale, Northern Grigna, Grigna, Pasturo mountains. I defined what a trail is and removed the numbering from the routes because they are the work of the Club Alpino Italiano, which is no longer involved in their management. The number 33 of the Sentiero 33 Pasturo - Pialeral remains imprinted on me, of which numerous horizontal trail signs remain on the mountain, as well as that of the tram line 33 that I took near home in Milan. The only route added is the short Sentiero Brunino - Cornisella, which closes the Brunino ring.

The protagonist of my summer holiday was the vertical signage of the bikes, which I cross numerous times and mark routes in common with mine. The red trail sign has the name Pedalando nel Parco (Pedalling in the Park) of the Lombardy Region Parks System, on the directional sign there is the Valsassina, Valvarrone, Val d'Esino and Riviera Mountain Community logo. To go to Grigna from Barzio I pass in front of the head office at the bottom of the valley, near the Pioverna stream, in the Prato Buscante area. A world has opened up, I discover also that the Grigna Settentrionale has been a regional park since 2005! I find institutional and other information on the websites of the mountain community and Parco Grigna. More than a third of the over 5000 hectares of the Northern Grigna Regional Park is under special protection, including the Site of Community Importance IT2030001 Northern Grigna.

I didn't leave it out that the Grigna was the inspiration for Antonia Pozzi, the Milanese poet who stayed in Pasturo. The eighteenth-century villa was finally opened to the public, I visited the rooms, the study which remained as it was then, the garden, which can also be observed from the window where Antonia wrote. On the internal wall of the Church of the Alpini in Cornisella there is the emblematic verse of an internal conflict, Anima, sii come la montagna (Soul, be like the mountain), the first verse of the fourth stanza of the poem Examples. The nature, animals, birds, flowers, plants, rocks, remained outside of a specific topic.

At the the little church of Cornisella dedicated to Maria Regina Pacis I had the opportunity to participate in the mass and party held every year on the second Sunday of September organized by the local Pasturo local group of Alpini, on the anniversary of the inauguration of the Alpini chapel. I shot a wonderful video of over a minute of the flag raising. As a spectator who loves sport, I was present at the Alpe Cova finish line of the non-competitive running and cycling race Pasturo - Alpe Coa, on the fourth Sunday of July, and at the mass, among the people of Pasturo.

Like someone who committing all of himself to the goal he was focused on no longer has the strength or time for the rest, for the Grignone I neglected the mountains on the opposite side of the Pioverna valley, the mountains of Barzio, which I instead attended with continuity in the summer season seven years later. I will return to Valsassina on the feast of Sant'Ambrogio and sometimes in winter without writing any more posts, just as I will not do so next summer because are enough, and left over, the 16 articles from summer 2016.

Copyright © 2016 and 2023 Mauro Vezzoli

Site of Community Importance IT2030001 Northern Grigna

Northern Grigna (Grigna Settentrionale) is a Site of Community Importance (SCI), in Italian Sito di di Interesse Comunitario (SIC), of Natura 2000, encoded into IT2030001.
Natura 2000 is a network of Sites of Community Importance and Special Protection Areas, a European Union project that stretches for 28 union countries. The Council Directive 92/43/EEC of 21 May 1992 on the conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora aims to promote the maintenance of biodiversity, taking account of economic, social, cultural and regional requirements. It forms the cornerstone of Europe's nature conservation policy with the Birds Directive and establishes the EU wide Natura 2000 ecological network of protected areas, safeguarded against potentially damaging developments.

SIC IT2030001 "Grigna Settentrionale" was identified with D.G.R. n. VII/14106 of 12 September 2003; later, with D.G.R. n. VIII/1876 of 8 February 2006 borders with minor variations have been adjusted.
Its management was entrusted entirely first to Valsassina, Valvarrone, Val d'Esino and Riviera Mountain Community, with D.G.R. VII / 18453 of 30 July 2004, then by the Regional Law 2 March 2005, n. 11 institutive of the Regional Park of the Northern Grigna, to the administrator body of the protected area for the portion included within its borders, while for the remaining liability has been attributed to the Administration of Lecco Province. They have thus identified two areas, sufficiently distinct also geographically, one of 990 hectares located north of Cresta Piancaformia, the other of 630 hectares that lies to the south of the same.

1. Natura 2000, en.wikipedia.org
2. The Habitats Directive. EU Nature Law. Nature and biodiversity. Environment. ec.europa.eu

Sentiero Brunino - Cornisella

Italiano

The Sentiero Brunino - Cornisella is a flat trail that connects the two places of Grignone in Pasturo in a quarter of an hour's walk, at just over 1000 meters above sea level, going around a mountain peak. The path begins a little hidden at the first bend in the road that goes from the Agriturismo Brunino down to the Sacred Heart Chapel and Balisio.[^][^] It is not marked by the bodies that manage or have managed the mountain paths, Valsassina, Valvarrone, Val d'Esino and Riviera Mountain Community and Club Alpino Italiano. For the path from Brunino to the chapel, where the road comes from Pasturo, to Spinarolo and Cornisella, you should instead read Sentiero Cornisella - Brunino, described in the opposite direction. The two routes that start from different places in Brunino join together after about 5 minutes of walking.

From the first bend in the road to the intersection with the other Brunino path

From the center of Brunino, where the farmhouse and Cascina Margherita are located, at the first bend on the left of the road that goes down, on the right a path goes into the woods towards the west, an old yellow sign among the trees indicates it for three indications with terminology uncommon (or grammatical error): Cornicella (i.e. Cornisella) Pialleral (two l's instead of one) S. Calimero.[^]

The dirt and sufficiently wide path opens after a curve towards the Cold Water Valley, the trees thin out. Here you can see beautiful flowers, in summer daisies,[^] martagon lilies, and then cyclamens, crocuses. I don't even have time to reflect on the beauty of nature that enlivens the hiker's path, when the houses of Spinarolo are already in sight. At a dilapidated farmhouse, you cross the Sentiero Cornisella - Brunino, marked by a signpost of the Pedalling in the Park route on a metal pole like 3 for Brunino on the right downhill, which arrives at the opposite end of the locality, we from the agriturismo, bikes or those who follow it to the chapel of the Holy Family. Halfway up the same pole, a ZacUp signpost and a yellow Agriturismo Brunino cell. 339 67 18 395 sign point in the direction we came from.

From the crossroads to the abandoned farmhouse in Cornisella

At the abandoned farmhouse where the perpendicular path crossed, on the right the bike trail sign for Brunino, on the left nothing, where the Grigna Settentrionale rises in the background. We are expert enough not to be mistaken in believing that we go to Cornisella on the left. My description of the route becomes lighter because there is one in the opposite direction on the Sentiero Cornisella - Brunino. However, each route in the two directions offers a different experience.

On the flat you continue across a meadow, fenced in summer by a wire, where horses with white and brown piebald coats, or all brown, a beautiful mane and tail,[^] or cows graze. There is a house with swings in the garden and a giant electricity pylon on the hill. Going down a few meters, on the trunk of a tree Cornisella finally appears on a wooden arrow in our direction of travel, while at a crossroads you leave the path on the left that goes down to Balisio. A bike trail sign points where we come from, as does the ZacUp table. You go up along the white house, on the flat you pass in front of a yellow hut and the Baita Caterina where a dog barks at you and chases you. The gaze goes to the Church of the Alpini and to the Grigna Settentrionale on a dirt road with grass in the middle. A double hairpin bend with other indications leads us to the Cornisella intersection with the Pasturo - Alpe Cova road.

Conclusion

Even a short track, like the path to Spinarolo which branches off in Brunino at the first bend of the road to Balisio, unknown to the official signages, it's enough to excite for those who frequent the Northern Grigna Regional Park. At the path intersection with a bike trail sign near an abandoned farmhouse, turn left towards Cornisella. In the opposite direction, the route is a small part of the ZacUp mountain race.

References

1. Mauro Vezzoli (3 August 2004- ). "Sentiero Brunino - Cornisella". [Google Photos Album]. Retrieved 16 October 2023.
2. Mauro Vezzoli. "Sentiero Brunino - Cornisella". [Flickr Album]. Retrieved 16 October 2023.
3. Mauro Vezzoli (8 December 2015). "One of the most frequent excursions in recent years is undoubtedly the Barzio - Pasturo - Alpe Cova, which in the end takes about 3 hours. Returning to the town where I spend many days of the year, especially in summer, at the little Regina Pacis chapel I sometimes deviate for Brunino, making a circular tour, always in the same direction, clockwise. I then arrive in Brunino along the path that emerges near the road that goes up from Pasturo where there is a small chapel with some statues, I continue towards the farmhouse or refuge. Going down a few meters along the road to the Church of the Sacred Heart, among the plants stripped by the beginning of winter, a yellow sign Cornicella Pialleral Calimero and the path.". In Brunino, Segnaletica dei sentieri della Grigna, Sentiero Brunino - Cornisella. [Flickr photo]. Retrieved 16 October 2023.
4. Mauro Vezzoli (2 July 2015). "Path along the Acqua Fredda Valley between Spinarolo and Brunino with bunches of daisies. Being in nature, among plants and colorful flowers, is one of the reasons that lead you to visit the mountains.". In Escursioni sul Grignone, Escursioni sulle Grigne, Escursionismo in montagna, Escursionismo in Valsassina, Estate, Sentiero Brunino - Cornisella. [Google Photos photo]. Retrieved 16 October 2023.
5. Mauro Vezzoli (30 July 2015). "Three horses at Spinarolo in the Northern Grigna Regional Park.". In Sentiero Brunino - Cornisella, Sentiero Cornisella - Brunino, Spinarolo. [Flickr photo]. Retrieved 16 October 2023.

Antonia Pozzi

Italiano

Antonia Pozzi[^][^] was an Italian poet, born in Milan on February 13, 1912 and died suicide at 26 years old in the same city on December 3, 1938. At Pasturo she spent summers in the eighteenth-century family villa in Via Alessandro Manzoni, 1 at the foot of Mount Grigna. She is buried in the cemetery of Pasturo.

Short biography, poems and writings

Raised in a familiar and cultured environment, Antonia manifests at a young age her predilection for classical studies, literature, knowledge, written word and poetry. The love for her Greek and Latin high school professor, Antonio Maria Cervi, opposed to her father, and the renunciation of the dreamed life, not according to the heart but in the good (1933), leaves in her sensitive mind an unmistakable void and it causes pain.[^]

The theme of her poems,[^] autobiographical, is love, fragility and search for oneself. Words are dry and minimized. Nature is example, for good and for evil, where to find the strength to start again or die. The environment is often the mountain, with streams, plants and flowers, peaks, silences, darkness and sunrise.
In her writings,[^] diaries and letters, the Villa of Pasturo and the country, are a place of refuge and regained serenity.

Pasturo

Pasturo, in 2012, devoted a poetic journey, a permanent exhibition along the country's streets in 22 stages with panels of various sizes. They include a careful selection of poetry, diary passages or exceperts of letters, matched with photographs taken by Pozzi herself or by others, that portray her in "pasturesi moments". Each reference is tangible and verifiable with the image of a specific place, a house, a front door, a fountain, a wash house or a chapel.

Villa Pozzi

Villa Pozzi in Pasturo is occasionally open to the public, in summer 2016 it has been for two months, July and August. I myself had the pleasure of visiting it
The villa has remained as it was at the time of Antonia Pozzi. The first emotion was the corridor to the poet's rooms, which is accessed by a small balcony door on the first floor. The two studios have many objects and memories of the poet. From each one, a window looks at the garden of the villa, neither large, nor small, which really transmits serenity.

I admire Villa Pozzi from the outside when I go to Grigna, in recent years I start from Barzio. It comes after Via Roma and passed the Cariola torrent, that it borders; it is large and perfectly preserved, ancient, one understands that it is an important house. Towards the mountain, there is a gate that opens onto a large courtyard; high up on the yellow façade of the villa, a plaque, which recalls Antonia (in block letters):

In questa romita dimora
si svolse per un ventennio
la pensosa adolescenza
di
Antonia Pozzi
che animò di sogni e di canti
le montagne della Valsassina
Estate 1918 Autunno 1938

In this hermit dwelling
took place for twenty years
the thoughtful adolescence
of
Antonia Pozzi
which animated with dreams and songs
the mountains of Valsassina
Summer 1918 Autumn 1938

Looking up, sideways, stands the long balcony supported by columns.
Turning the corner of Via Alessandro Manzoni, in Via Cantellone, my climb begins along the wall of the villa. Returning to Pasturo, the mule track ends right where there is a small gate at the edge of the villa's garden, from which Pozzi set off into nature.

Exhibitions

Milan, at the Oberdan Space, from October 23, 2015 to January 6, 2016, has dedicated her a beautiful exhibition, titled Sopra il nudo cuore. Fotografie e film di Antonia Pozzi, in English Over a naked heart. Pictures and movies by Antonia Pozzi,[^][^] which I visited.

References

1. "Antonia Pozzi". antoniapozzi.it (in Italian). Retrieved 14 September 2017.
2. "Antonia Pozzi". [Search in Google Italia]. Google. Retrieved 14 September 2017.
3. "Biografia". antoniapozzi.it (in Italian). Retrieved 14 September 2017.
4. "Poesie". antoniapozzi.it (in Italian). Retrieved 14 September 2017.
5. "Scritti". antoniapozzi.it (in Italian). Retrieved 14 September 2017.
6. 10 December 2015. "Sopra il nudo cuore". antoniapozzi.it (in Italian). Retrieved 14 September 2017.
7. "Exhibition: ‘Over a Naked Heart’ Pictures and Movies by Antonia Pozzi". In Events. Where Milan. Retrieved 14 September 2017.

Pasturo

Italiano

Pasturo is an Italian town of just under 2000 inhabitants in the province of Lecco[^][^] in Valsassina on the slopes of the Northern Grigna, the starting point for many excursions. The eastern slope of the mountain is in its territory, also called monte di Pasturo or the Pasturo mountains. The town is located at an altitude of 641 metres, to the north not far away at 615 meters above sea level is Baiedo,[^] the only hamlet with a inhabited centre.
The name Pasturo, Pastür in the Valsassinese dialect, seems to indicate the fertility of the pastures, the plains and the mountains.[^] Cattle breeding and milk processing are still today one of the main activities. In 1920 the Emilio Mauri factory was built,[^] in 1960 the marketing of Carozzi began,[^] two realities of the dairy industry known throughout the national territory. For almost a hundred years, on the last weekend of September, the Valsassinesi Zootechnical Events have been held.[^]

In the center of the town there is the Church of Sant'Eusebio rebuilt at the end of the 1500s on a pre-existing one from the 1300s; the saint[^] is the patron saint of Pasturo, whose anniversary is on August 2nd. Great devotion is for the Madonna della Cintura, to whom a small sanctuary or church of San Giacomo apostolo is dedicated, a few meters from the parish church. The statue of the Madonna is solemnly carried in procession on the first Sunday of September. Anyone traveling along the Valsassina provincial road or entering the town cannot fail to notice the presence of billboards, panels, itineraries with photos, phrases, poems by Antonia Pozzi, who spent her holidays in Pasturo in the eighteenth-century family villa. The poetess and her parents are buried in the Pasturo cemetery.

In the valley flows the Pioverna torrent which flows to the north into Lake Como in Bellano. Beyond the stream, in a large flat area in the municipality of Barzio, the Sagra delle Sagre[^] is held for about ten days between August 15th, a rich display of typical products of the valley and beyond, culinary such as cheeses, and crafts, such as knives. The fair and gastronomic event attracts many visitors from all over Lombardy. Here is also the headquarters of the Valsassina, Valvarrone, Val d'Esino and Riviera Mountain Community.

A cultural reference is the quarterly newspaper Il Grinzone,[^] available online, which alongside current news, recalls some historical fact of the country, curiosities, descriptions of particular characters, excerpts from poems.

The country for me

Pasturo is an agricultural center not spoiled by tourism protected by the Grigna, where residents still speak to each other in dialect. I walked through the narrow, shady streets of the town that converge in Piazza Vittorio Veneto with the war memorial, in the Church of Sant'Eusebio I admired frescoes; I also visited the cemetery. Mainly, it is the starting point for the Grignone.

When I was leaving Milan, it was essentially the bus stop in front of the Albergo Grigna. Back and forth from Barzio, Pasturo is Via Roma, the Cariola torrent and Via Alessandro Manzoni, with Villa Pozzi and the fountain in which I quench my thirst with a vase of geraniums above it. The country is for me Via Cantellone, the two brown arrows Grigna Sett.le and Pialeral, the horizontal signpost 33 on the wall, the beginning of the Sentiero Pasturo - Pialeral. The mountain reflects the history, the Christian faith, the life and the economy of the village, through the surnames of the fallen of the Second World War in the church of the Alpini in Cornisella, Agostoni, Pigazzi, Platti, Ticozzi, Ticozzelli and all the other comrades, San Calimero, the Madonna della Cintura, the cows grazing, those who work hard by cutting and collecting hay in the meadows.

References

1. "Pasturo". Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. Retrieved 11 August 2023.
2. "Comune di Pasturo". comune.pasturo.lc.it. (in Italian). Retrieved 11 August 2023.
3. "Baiedo". Wikipedia: L'enciclopedia libera. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. (in Italian). Retrieved 11 August 2023.
4. (19 October 2021). "Cenni storici [Historical notes]". (in Italian). In Storia di Pasturo. Comune di Pasturo. Retrieved 11 August 2023.
5. "Mauri". mauri.it. Retrieved 11 August 2023.
6. "Formaggi Carozzi". carozzi.com. Retrieved 11 August 2023.
7. "L'Uomo [The Man]". In Il Territorio. Parco Grigna. (in Italian). Retrieved 11 August 2023.
8. "Eusebius of Vercelli". Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. Retrieved 11 August 2023.
9. "Sagra delle Sagre". sagradellesagre.it. (in Italian). Retrieved 11 August 2023.
10. "Il Grinzone". ilgrinzone.it. (in Italian). Retrieved 11 August 2023.

Valsassina

Italiano

Almost parallel to the famous branch of Lake Como, bounded by the majestic Grigne to the west and to the east by the Bergamo Pre-Alps, the verdant Valsassina opens up, which has an outlet to the north on the coast of the upper lake from Colico to Dorio and to the south between the slopes of the Grignetta and Monte due Mani. The real Valsassina starts from the hill of Balisio and spreads out in wide prairies interrupted by sweet hills shining with the green of the grasses punctuated by the lively colors of the flowers and by the darker patches of the trees. Everything is dominated by high mountains, among which the following stand out:

• The peaks of the Grigne group (rocks of marine origin) have undergone the action of atmospheric agents to such an extent that they present unexpected scenery; real towers rise high in the sky which, with numerous cavities and galleries inside, are a tempting destination for speleologists.
• The summit of Zuccone Campelli, opposite the Grigne, seems to close the basin. Formed by rocks of calcareous origin, it enlivens the panorama with its alternation of meadows and sudden spiers of various sizes. The basin full of pastures, chestnut and beech woods is currently home to many craft, industrial and tertiary activities and is crossed by the Pioverna stream whose sources rise just above the Balisio hill.
• The Pioverna river crosses the whole valley collecting the Cremeno - Troggia - Bobbia - Acquaduro - Freggerola tributary waters, forming a rich and sometimes picturesque water network to then channel itself into the deep fractures of the rocks and create particular effects which can be observed in the famous Bellano ravine or in the waterfall formed by the Troggia at Introbio.
• Pizzo dei Tre Signori behind the Zuccone Campelli (ancient border between the territories of the Duke of Milan, the Grisons and the Republic of Venice) is the border line with the Bergamo area. Contrasting the Grigne group with the red color of its rock (Verruccano Lombardo) we find La Nava di Baiedo which leads to the historic Rocca, a strategic point until a few decades ago as it allowed, given its position, to gaze from north to south with ease.

The conformation of the territory, defined by A. Stoppani as "one of the most beautiful morainic landscapes" demonstrates its geomorphological origins. After the settlement of the mountains, huge glaciers crept into the area occupied by the sea, continuing their erosive action, until due to telluric upheavals, the glaciers were replaced by a lake which gradually reabsorbed itself over the centuries. However, the valley remained characterized by the presence of morainic debris, a mass of stones that earned the denomination of Valsassina, i.e. the Valley of the Stones.[^][^]

References

1. "La Valsassina". altopianovalsassina.it. (in Italian). Retrieved 6 September 2016.
2. "La Valsassina". Altopiano Valsassina. (in Italian). Intenet Archive. Retrieved 16 August 2023.
3. "Valsassina". Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. Retrieved 16 August 2023.
4. "la valsassina". lavalsassina.com. (in Italian). Retrieved 16 August 2023.
5. "Discover Valsassina". Lake Como tourism. Retrieved 16 August 2023.
6. "Valsassina News". valsassinanews.com. (in Italian). Retrieved 16 August 2023.

Club Alpino Italiano

Italiano

Club alpino italiano (C.A.I) was founded in Turin on 23 October 1863 for Quintino Sella[^]'s initiative. It is an indipendent national association, that "has mountaineering, the knowledge and study of mountains, specifically those in Italy, and the protection of the environment in the forefront in all of its events".[^][^]

Club alpino italiano, in English Italian alpine club, usually is written in the form with the first letter of each word in capital letters, Club Alpino Italiano, in english Italian Alpine Club, while the acronym C.A.I. without the dot after each word, CAI.

On Grignone, the CAI traced the paths until several years ago, probably until, in 2005, the Regional Park of the Northern Grigna was established, whose management is entrusted to the Comunità Montana Valsassina, Valvarrone, Val d'Esino and Riviera. The old CAI signage are still present on the mountain, with some characteristic signposts with a yellow background and the now faded horizontal signs along the main routes.

I am one of the more than 300,000 members of the Italian Alpine Club, consecutively since 2004.[^] For free I receive the paper copy of the Montagne360 magazine, the magazine of the Club alpino italiano since 1882.[^] At the beginning of each new year, I renew my enrollment at Club Alpino Italiano's Sezione di Milano,[^] going to its recent home in Via Duccio da Boninsegna 21 and 23.

References

1. "Quintino Sella". Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. Retrieved 11 August 2017.
2. "Storia [History]" (in Italian). cai.it. Retrieved 23 May 2022.
3. "Titolo I Articolo 1: Costituzione e finalità [Title 1 Article 1: Constitution and purpose]". In Statuto [PDF file] (in Italian). cai.it. p. 4. Retrieved 23 May 2022.
4. Mauro Vezzoli (20 October 2017). "Annual validity stickers of my membership identification card of Club Alpino Italiano Sezione di Milano". In Timeline Photos. [Facebook photo]. Retrieved 20 October 2017.
5. "Montagne360" (in Italian). cai.it. Retrieved 23 May 2022.
6. "Club Alpino Italiano Sezione di Milano". caimilano.org (in Italian). Retrieved 20 October 2017.

Pedalling in the Park

Italiano

Hikers going to Grigna Settentrionale find numerous signs with the name Pedalando nel Parco, or "Pedalando nel Parco". What do Pedalling in the Park signs refer to? They are the indications of cycling itineraries for mountain bikes that the Valsassina, Valvarrone, Val d'Esino and Riviera Mountain Community has traced on the Grignone, presumably in 2014, to discover ancient itineraries of naturalistic, environmental and historical-cultural interest in the Northern Grigna Regional Park.[^] The Pedalling in the Northern Grigna Regional Park itinerary are five, of various difficulties, in a ring from the Mountain Community headquarters, two of which are entirely on the Pasturo side of the mountain.

Five itineraries

The Pedalling in the Northern Grigna Park itineray are designed for mountain bikes by the Valsassina mountain community exploit the network of roads, trails and mule tracks already present in Grigna, with a route partly common to the traditional hikers'routes, whose widespread vertical signs create curiosity and some confusion or perplexity in the latter. The surface is variable: long stretches on asphalt and concrete roads, because that's how the mountain is now, straight and with hairpin bends, alternating with dirt roads, mule tracks made of broken cobblestones, dirt paths with grass, more insidious stretches, with roots, rocks and small rocks, steps. Since we are in the mountains, there are climbs and descents, even steep ones, for an overall difference in altitude between 500 and 1000 meters, the altitude varies from 600 to 1500 meters, the mileage is between 12 and 25 km.

A common characteristic of the five routes is that they start where the Valsassina cyclepedestrian path begins — in Pratobuscante di Barzio, near a large car park and the pedestrian bridge over the Pioverna stream which divides the municipalities of Pasturo and Barzio (590 m above sea level) — and they are a circular tour, i.e. they end in the same starting point, where it is imagined that the two-wheel tourist left the car. Thus the Valsassina Mountain Community gets some free publicity and knowledge, because the headquarters are in a building in this locality on the valley floor, next to a furnace, which has become a museum.

In Valsassina Outdoor, for each of the five mountain bike tours Pedalando nel Parco regionale della Grigna Settentrionale, there is a description of the environment in which it takes place, the difficulty, the technical skills required, the detailed altimetry and a name, of which there is no trace on the mountain signs. They are called Bike tours, two of which are Gran bike tours due to their length:[^]

• MB9 it1 Gran Bike tour della Grigna Settentrionale,[^] 22,150 Km and about 1000 meters of climb
• MB10 it2 Bike tour dei maggenghi,[^] bike tour of fallow ground, 16,900 Km and less than 600 meters of elevation gain
• MB11 it3 Bike tour della dorsale,[^] bike tour of the dorsal, 12,600 Km and 500 meters of altitude difference uphill
• MB12 it4 Gran Bike tour della Fasana,[^] Fasana is the name of a vertical mountain wall, 25,800 Km and 400 meters of altitude difference
• MB13 it5 Bike tour dei castagni,[^] Bike tour of the chestnut trees, 20,200 Km and 600 meters of altitude difference

Itinerary 2 Bike tour dei maggenghi and the 3 Bike tour della dorsale are totally on the Northern Grigna side above Pasturo. A stretch of itinerary 3, from the church of the Alpini in Cornisella, coincides with the Cornisella - Brunino path.

The vertical signs

The trails for two-wheeled Pedalling in the Grigna Park are indicated in one direction only. Vertical signage signs are present at every crossroads and locality, compliant with the CAI guidelines. The signs of this mountain community project are unmistakable because at the top of the galvanized pole there is a table with the drawing of a cyclist with a backpack on his shoulder going uphill (the bike is inclined) and a logo, Lombardy Region Park System, the table background is red. What is interesting is that there are locality tables with altitude, which is rare in Grigna. It is paradoxical that the signage for bikes is uniform, while the main paths of the Grigna are not managed by a body, with improvised signs, lacking in some forks. Each Pedalando nel Parco waymark table consists of:[^]

• three aluminum lines. The indication is in the middle line if it is unique, if there are more than one the top one is the furthest destination, the other or the other two are intermediate. The format is the name of the place to reach, a dash, and only for the top line the number of the route, from 1 to 5; on the right, a colored circle representing the difficulty of this part of the route, green = easy, light blue = medium
• to the left of the three lines, a red border with the logo of the Comunità Montana Valsassina, Valvarrone, Val d'Esino and Riviera
• on the red arrow, the Grigna Settentrionale Regional Park logo

The desire to know pushed me to look in Cornisella at the tables on the opposite side, to discover that the manufacturer is the Mec.Tir company of Tirano.[^]

Conclusion

The mountain is a beautiful natural place for walking. The lower part of Monte Coden (as the Grigna was called until 1800) is well suited to bicycles due to the presence of roads, mule tracks and wide paths. I love cycling, I have fun and support the sport and the champions in front of the television, but I don't ride a bike. A few years ago the Mountain Community of Valsassina, Valvarrone, Val d'Esino and Riviera launched a mountain bike project by designing five routes with the name Pedalando nel Parco. This signage on the mountain is dense, recognizable by a red sign with a cyclist, which disorientates hikers who are not aware of the routes. Cyclists on the Pedalling in the Northern Grigna Regional Park trails are rare. Two-wheel lovers, more every year due to the spread of e-bikes, have fun on the Grignone while remaining on the Pasturo-Alpe Cova agricultural-silvo-pastoral road, an uphill concrete road with a difference in altitude of around 700 metres, generally to reach the Pialeral, and return to the valley along the same route.

References

1. "Due ruote nel parco [Two wheels in the park]". (in Italian). Parco Grigna. Retrieved 8 September 2023.
2. "Mountain Bike". (in Italian). Valsassina Outdoor. Retrieved 8 September 2023.
3. "MB9 it1 Gran Bike tour della Grigna Settentrionale". (in Italian). Valsassina Outdoor. Retrieved 8 September 2023.
4. "MB10 it2 Bike tour dei maggenghi". (in Italian). Valsassina Outdoor. Retrieved 8 September 2023.
5. "MB11 it3 Bike tour della dorsale". (in Italian). Valsassina Outdoor. Retrieved 8 September 2023.
6. "MB12 it4 Gran Bike tour della Fasana". (in Italian). Valsassina Outdoor. Retrieved 8 September 2023.
7. "MB13 it5 Bike tour dei castagni". (in Italian). Valsassina Outdoor. Retrieved 8 September 2023.
8. Mauro Vezzoli (11 June 2015). "Recent vertical signs Pedaling in the Park in Cornisella, in front of the CAI signs and the church. Cornisella 1050 meters locality table, Risciöl - 2 signpost table, Brunino - 3 signpost table. Two logos in each table, one Valsassina, Valvarrone, Val d'Esino and Riviera Mountain Comunity, the other Northern Grigna Regional Park.". In Cornisella, Escursioni sul Grignone, Escursioni sulle Grigne, Escursionismo in montagna, Escursionismo in Valsassina, Estate, Itinerario Pedalando nel Parco 2 Bike tour dei maggenghi, Itinerario Pedalando nel Parco 3 Bike tour della dorsale, Segnaletica dei sentieri del Grignone, Sentiero Pasturo - Pialeral, Sentiero Pasturo - Pialeral (da Pasturo a Cornisella). [Google Photos photo]. Retrieved 8 September 2023.
9. "Mec.tir snc - Segnaletica EU". segnaletica.eu. Retrieved 8 September 2023.