Grignone

Italiano

Grignone is the highest mountain of the Grigne's Group, or Grigne, measuring 2409 meters above sea level and 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 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).
The joy of having walked in the mountains made me fall in love more with the nearby Grigne, writing I remember and learn, reasons that prompt me to return, in a third role, in addition to sportsman and photographer. 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 Settentrionele 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 and is the path that leads to Rifugio Luigi Brioschi. 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.