How to prepare an excursion

Italiano

Preparing an excursion consists in planning a route by evaluating all the elements necessary to travel it in relative safety, thus reducing the mountain risk. The many questions concerning it must be answered concern health and training, of oneself and any companions, what will the weather be like, choose shoes and clothing, what to pack, nutrition and hydration, up to why you are going [^] The season influences many factors of the preparation, some tracks can become more difficult or inaccessible for the snow in winter. The main itinerary of the Northern Grigna, the ascent to the Brioschi Refuge, is proof of this, because the summer route is impassable due to the risk of avalanches and you have to choose to tackle the steep winter route.

First approach

The paths of the first excursions arise spontaneously, usually they are the easy trails of the territory that you live in or those close to you in a natural environment, with a short travel time. Or you can walk on vacation, when you have more free time. The pleasure and benefit that has been experienced increases the desire to follow others, such as continuing beyond the end of the last walk, out of curiosity and discovering. Continuing the activity, more distant territories are also chosen, which have particular characteristics of attraction, due to their conformation, biodiversity, landscape, and to get in touch with another culture, a peasant and alpine world. One is prompted to visit a place by information, such as reading articles in magazines or the internet, television, videos, maps, advertising, photography, or by a famous person or friend who has talked about it, a trip, a idea, or you follow the group leader. The goal can become to reach a summit or simply share time with others in nature.

Planning

The choice of route planning depends on your physical condition and training. The elements of a route are length, profile and height difference, travel time, nature of the soil, signage, the presence of shelters, refreshment points and water sources, difficulties, such as exposed sections, equipped routes, Most of these features are found on a topographical map of the route area, sufficiently detailed, with a scale not greater than 1: 35000. The level lines of a map, lines drawn along a constant altitude, allow you to understand how steep the path is. The map should not be left at home because it is useful for having an overall view of the place and orienting oneself, one of the skills required to move in an isolated environment. The presence of snow or ice increases the difficulty, sometimes by a lot, as well as the weather conditions.

The next phase is about how to dress, what to pack, prepared with due calm, and which shoes to choose. Finally, the departure time must be chosen in order to return before dark.

During the excursion it is good to stay on the predetermined path, rejecting the temptation of variations that could complicate it, which is best reserved for another schedule. Furthermore, it is good to evaluate if you are respecting the set travel time. An essential thing is to leave said or even better written where you go to family, friends or acquaintances, even briefly describing the itinerary and how long it takes, especially when you go out alone. Instead, today I forgot to say where I was going, so Enrica believed that I was in Grigna, while I was in Piani di Bobbio.

References

1. How to prepare for a trek". Salomon. Retrieved 6 December 2021.

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

Grignone

Italiano

Grignone is the highest mountain of the Grigne's Group, or Grigne, measuring 2409 meters above sea level; it is located in the Prealps of Lecco, between Lake Como and Valsassina. «The Grignia is the highest mountain these towns have and it is bald», noted Leonardo dal Vinci in the Codex Atlanticus, these towns are in the western Lombardy plain. Grignone is the name with which, commonly, is called the Northern Grigna (in Italian Grigna Settentrionale).[^][^] A few meters below the summit, on which there is a cross, welcomes hikers the Rifugio Brioschi from every town and one can admire a fantastic panorama, from the Po Valley with Milan to the Alps. The joy of having walked in the mountains made me fall in love more with the nearby Grigne.

The Grigne Group consists of two main mountains, Grignone and Grignetta, or Grigna Meridionale, 2184 meters high; each of the two has numerous peaks, in Grignetta there are real spiers, the top has a pointed shape. And before proceeding, I thank my language that allows to measure the two mountains with terms of endearment, accretive one (Grignone), diminutive the other (Grignetta).

By writing, I remember and learn, reasons that push me to return, which becomes my third activity, in addition to sport and photography. To indicate the mountain, I privilege, as in the title, the popular name, Grignone, to the formal one, Northern Grigna. I do not neglect the shortest, Grigna, which comes from omitting the cardinal point, Northern, and because Grignone is the largest of the Group. In the first way, i.e. without the main direction, Grigna Meridionale or Southern Grigna and Grigna Settentrionale have the same name, Grigna, or, wanting to specify the nature of the place, Monte Grigna. But it is also not uncommon to call the whole mountain group Grigna or Monte Grigna. Many cities and towns in Lombardy have celebrated the mountainous relief with a street, by means of the odonym via Grigna or in a rarer extended form via Monte Grigna.

For Grignetta, I mention its wild character, which comes from the rocks and the spiers reaching out to the sky. Wonderful and attractive place, Grigna Meridionale is one of the favorite destinations and training ground for many rock climbers and mountaineers. The main route to the summit, which from Piani dei Resinelli follows the Cresta Cermenati, can be covered by trained hikers without great difficulty, if not for the slope.

Slope of Pasturo, slope of Mandello and slope of Cainallo

The Grignone's slope of Pasturo, in Valsassina, is a large east-facing slope that rises from the country of Pasturo from an altitude of about 650 meters. From the name of the town, this side of the Northern Grigna is also called the mountain of Pasturo or Monti di Pasturo. It adapts perfectly to hiking and more generally to activity in the mountains, with long paths and considerable differences in height, whose difficulty increases in winter. The shape of the mountain is a massif that extends in width without particular variations in the height of the top. Up to a quota of about 1800 meters, for centuries its fertile and fat meadows are grazing livestock, with the presence of numerous mountain huts.

The opposite side of Pasturo, facing west with Lake Como and the town of Mandello del Lario in the background, has a completely different shape. There are impressive rocks, such as the famous Sasso Cavallo, which was drawn in a sheet by Leonardo da Vinci. In this part of the Grigna there are two shelters, Rifugio Bietti at 1719 meters, in the basin of Releccio, and the smallest Rifugio Elisa, at 1515 meters, in Val Meria.

To the north-west, there is the basin of Moncodeno, of glacial origin and closed by the vertical walls of Pizzo della Pieve, where at 1816 meters is Rifugio Bogani. Monte Coden was the name of Grigna or Monte Grigna Settentrionale in the past centuries. Here, there is Via Ganda, which starts from above the Cainallo, in the area of Esino Lario, and climbs up to the top of the Northern Grigna, between Cresta Piancaformia and Cima del Palone, which is a path with lower difference in level compared to the ascent from the side of Pasturo.

The mountain is protected by regional laws through the Northern Grigna Regional Park, established in 2005 with the aim of preserving the environment and the animal and plant species. Grigna is a mountain much studied by naturalists for the diversity that has, and probably, due to its proximity to the densely inhabited plain.

Main trails on the slope of Pasturo

Almost every mountain has a more important path, and it is usually the path that goes to the summit or to the shelter closest to the summit, and which can be traveled without too much difficulty.
For Grignone in the slope of Pasturo, the most popular trail is easy to spot: it is the path that leads to Rifugio Luigi Brioschi, the refuge owned by the CAI of Milan. There are two main sections, in the middle of which there is the Pialeral locality at 1400 meters high, where there is also a shelter, Rifugio Antonietta al Pialeral. Pialeral can be reached from Pasturo and Colle di Balisio, the two paths join at Alpe Cova, just below Pialeral. The shortest path and with less difference in height (about 200 meters) is from Colle di Balisio, and therefore preferred by the majority of hikers, who leave the car a little further on, at the little church of the Sacred Heart; it follows the Valle dei Grassi Lunghi along Pioverna torrent. From Pialeral to Rifugio Brioschi there are two ways, summer and winter route. Colle di Balisio - Rifugio Brioschi requires at least three hours of walking, with a difference in height of more than 1500 meters.

Two other relevant trails are: Traversata Bassa, a long and comfortable walk through the woods, Piani dei Resinelli - Pialeral - Church of San Calimero, and Traversata Alta, equipped with chains, beautiful and panoramic, which joins the two peaks of the Grigne in about 2 hours and a half.

References

1. "Grigna settentrionale". Wikipedia: L'enciclopedia libera (in Italian). Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. Retrieved 6 April 2018.
2. "Grigna Settentrionale". lavalsassina.com. (in Italian). Retrieved 6 April 2018.