Golden larches

November 2nd

Itinerary:  Müstair village (1250 m) – Piz Terza / Urtirolaspitze (2909 m)  – Fuorcla Starlex (2634 m) – Val d’Avigna at 1530 m

Distance: 19,3 km
Time: 8 hours 30 minutes (plus 1 hour for the stops)
Vertical distance: 1850 m uphill; 1570 m downhill

A beautiful sunny day.  The good weather of the last few days had removed much of the snow on the south-facing slopes up to about 2600 m.  On the north-facing slopes it’s a different story …

I left directly from the hotel at 7.40 a.m. and followed well marked paths to the summit of Piz Terza.  The larches were beautiful (see photos) and the forest paths very pleasant, soft underfoot due to millions of fallen larch needles.  The last 45 minutes or so were on snow and would have been more tedious if weren’t for tracks left by a party of 4 or 5 the day before.  Summit at midday.  Beautiful 360° view.

The ridge to the north required snowshoes.  A series of rock steps covered in snow forced me down on the Swiss side and I reached the frontier again at the Fuorcla Starlex.  The descent from here was uneventful but a communication problem meant I had to walk a few kilometres more down the road in the Val d’Avigna than I had intended.  Finally, Sally found me and drove me back to the hotel.

Night: Hotel Chavalatsch, Müstair

Photos:

Larches in autumn; early morning sunlight