Sfazù - Rifugio Viola (Refuge Viola)

General Notes:

Altitude Difference: 862 m

Time: 3h

Phisical Effort: Normal

Difficulty: E

Description:

Sfazu is a small Swiss town along the state road of the Bernina pass that from Poschiavo goes up towards the pass,there is no real village but the only building we find is a small yellow restaurant/bar to the right of the state road,after about 20m from the accommodation we will find on the left a large parking lot,free of charge,where you can leave your car.

The path starts near the restaurant where a dirt road comes off on its left.

We will start to walk this dirt road that in the first 5' will enter a beautiful wood of larch and fir trees before entering Val di campo, once you enter Val di Campo the landscape becomes wonderful, the dirt road that we will continue to follow goes up with slight slopes between pastures and beautiful meadows where cattle graze.

After about one hour of walking always following the dirt road, we will reach a junction near a beautiful wooden bridge with signs that indicate us to the right Rügiul, we will continue straight and in about 10' we will reach the Saoseo refuge, after passing another wooden bridge.

During the summer period July/August the Postal service,the Swiss buses,provide a small bus/shuttle that leads in a short time to the refuge thus avoiding 1h and 15' of walking,allowing us to preserve our strength.Once we reach the refuge we will pass it keeping to the right where we will find signs indicating the Viola pass and the Viola and Saoseo lakes,from this moment the dirt road leaves room for a path that always with slight slopes goes into the thick larch and mughus forest.

During the climb we will find some signs that indicate the possibility of reaching Lake Saoseo,but we will continue straight ignoring all the signs and the various signs,after about 20' our path will reconnect with the path used by the MTB to reach the Rifugio Viola,this last path comes off just before the Rifugio Saoseo but we must avoid taking it as we will lengthen the path by about 20'.

Following the path we will come to a second junction where the two signs indicate us on the left Plan de la Genzana, Passo Viola and on the right Passo Viola,Lago Viola,Lago Saoseo,we will continue straight.

In about 5' we will reach a beautiful mountain pasture,with a wooden hut, just above the viola lake.

After the latter begins a fairly hard and steep stretch of path that will allow us to enter more and more towards the Viola pass,the climb has multiple hairpin bends and to jump the multiple streams that descend from the valley, metal structures have been created that favor the passage of MTB, this track we are following is designed especially for Mountain bike lovers,and over the years has been modified.

We arrive after a last quite hard stretch, in a beautiful flat stretch right at the foot of the Viola pass,continuing to follow the path we will find at about half the floor a red sign for MTB,where if we are on foot,I recommend turning right following a small track.

Following this track that follows the old path we will find ourselves after about 100m at the foot of a rocky "spur" that we will have to go up following the path,following this short alternative we will be able to better admire the Val di Campo and the Viola and Saoseo lakes,also the path is not dangerous at all.

We reach the Viola pass, a state border that is indicated by the presence of multiple rocks that indicate the border.

From the pass we will face a short descent on a sort of dirt road,the path is extremely wide,which will lead us to the refuge.