Friday 13th September : Weather: 20°C in Locarno to 5°C in Fusio: Overcast in Locarno, misty cold in Fusio
Fusio: 1k walk around village:
Ascent and Descent: Ascent 000m, Descent 000m,
Time: Bus at 1.20pm to 3.20pm to Fusio via Bignasco
Accommodation: Ostello Communale Fusio
Coffee Lago Maggiore Locarno
Shopping at Aldi for 4 days Fusio
Post Bus to Fusio, snow up high
Ostello Communale Fusio + 5°C
Snowing up and -7°C
Beautiful village of Fusio
Highlight today was catching the bus from Locarno to Fusio with wonderful views up the Valle Maggia. Then arrivng in ths ancient village of Fusio perched at the head of teh valley with it’s old stone buildings teetering on the edge of the gorge of the River Maggia.
Awake at 6,30 am to a bright sunny day. And early morning cup of tea - in the electric jug - then breakfast of Meusli and yoghurt at 8am. We pack, clean the wonderful apartment Pardo which was absolutely spotless and looked newly renovated, then leave at 10am. Down to the lake for a leisurely cup of coffee - with a slice of panettone - while watching the comings and goings on the lakeside footpath.
Then at 11.30am. we wander back to Aldi Suisse to buy 4 days worth of food to take to Ostello Fusio - beers, cheese, bread, tomatoes, meusli, yoghurt, tomatoes,onilons, lettuce, mayonnaise, and nuts - we’d run out of the macadamia nuts we brought from home. Then a short walk to Locarno Station from where our 315 bus leaves from at 1.20pm. We know it’s going to be 7°C at least when we get to Fusio at 1270 metres, so we dress up in long pants and jumpers before getting on the bus.
The 315 bus arrives. It’s a double haul bus, with lots of hikers getting on. It leaves on time - exactly - at 1.20pm and heads out of Locarno, past Ponte Brolla where we were yesterday, then winds its way up the spectacular valle Maggia. We pass many small hamlets of stone villages, as well as a few bigger places like Cevio, and arrive at Brignasco an hour later. The serious hikers then pile on to a small Post Bus, with the hatch back boot for 4 back packes, stuffed with 10.
It’s not cold in Bignasco at 15°C, but the altitude is only 400 metres and we have almost 1,000 metres yet to climb to Fusio. We take off immediately and the road quickly turns into a winding zig zag switch back steep uphill. Up and up, though not a steep as teh post bus to Griesalp. We can see the high alps in the distance and it’s misty with a fresh coating of snow on top. We’re glad we’re not there. Valle Maggia is such a beautiful valley dotted with tiny hamlets with many desertted stone huts in various states of ruin.
At 3.30 pm the bus turns into Fusio with its colledtion of ancient houses built on a narrow ridge. The end of the line for the post bus. There’s only two others as well as us left on the bus now, as the other hikers have hopped off along the way to start their adventure somewhere else in Valle Maggia. It’s freezing cold as we expected but we can see the Communale Fusio less than 100 metres away. We’ve been given instructions to get in via a lock box, and we’re the only ones in this place with holds 35 people - probably packed at the height of summer. We dump our gear in one of the dorms, choosing the smallest of the rooms, stack our food in a steel cabinet - we had read one review about mice - then put on another layer of jumpers and go for a stroll around the village.
The grocery store turns out to be a garage with a self serve fridge, much like the press button self serves in hospital corridors, with a selection of honey, eggs and cheese. We’re glad we stocked up from Aldi. We see the signs to all teh walking places we intend to visit - Sambuco Lake and Mognola Lake -the walk up through the old part of town with about 12 houses/guest rooms and see a small bar with a fire blazing - we’ll be there tomorrow.
Back to the Ostello and we have a warm shower - warm but not warming when you step out into 5°C air. Then cook some dinner - a hot pot of tomato soup and rice that Ian has been carrying for weeks, with lettuce, tomato, onion and bread and butter. Ian has a beer and I have a red wine from a 1 litre box from Locarno. A few red wines is enough to warm your insides. Quickly we wash up then jump into bed with two doonas each. We could have more as it looks like we’re the only ones here for the night. It’s so quiet and this was such a good decision to come to Fusio for 4 days. We can tolerate 5°C but not -7°C.
To put this in perspective, we’ve just been watching the finishers of the Tor des Geants, a 330km Ultra Trail race beginning and ending in Courmayeur. The winning time was just under 72 hours - 3 days. When we walked this exaact route 2 years ago it took us 3 weeks. The weather in 2022 was beautiful, but this year they experienced severe weather with snow, just like here at the northern end of the Maggia Valley.