Bivacco Zamboni, from Passo San Marco

Access

From Morbegno or Bergamo, the San Marco Pass can be reached. Park by the roadside at the last/first bend on the Valtellina side.

Introduction

Brief excursion along the 'Sentiero delle Orobie Occidentali' trail to visit the recent bivouac, built by ERSAF (regional forestry authority) by restoring the ruins of the Alpe Azzaredo summit hut. Limited views towards the pre-Alps and the Bergamo plain.

Description

0h00' From the bend in the provincial road at Passo San Marco 1992m, the signs - very precise - of path begin; follow it up and down, cutting across the slopes of Pizzo delle Segade and its anticima. With a short ups and downs, you reach the ridge at a post 2040m and continue along the edge of the ridge, ever thinner, until descending to the narrow gap of Bocchetta d'Orta 2020m. From here, proceed on the Bergamo side. A very steep and exposed serpentine makes you lose a few dozen metres in altitude before starting the long up-and-down traverse to the bivouac. The path - meagre, but always well marked and signposted - crosses steep pastures, following the numerous gullies and their ribs, until it reaches an area of alpine pastures: you come across an isolated hut, a drystone wall supporting a small aqueduct, a casera with a stud farm and finally, beyond the Porta pass, the Azzaredo basin. In a position dominating a large wetland area, on a beautiful paved terrace, stands the small building of the Bivacco Zamboni, about 2000m. 

The accommodation is modest: table and benches, a sideboard, lighting with a solar panel and a board for three people; no possibility of heating.
Return along the outward route.

Exposed stretches: long traverses