Monte Re di Castello

Access

You can reach ISOLA DI CEVO from the Tonale e della Mendola state road (SS N° 42):

* if you are coming from the valley (from Bergamo or Brescia) go up to Cedegolo and then turn right (the fork is immediately after the bottleneck in the centre of Cedegolo) onto the provincial road N° 6 for Fresine. After about 7 km uphill and then, after the cemetery of the hamlet of Fresine, take the little flat road to the right and in just over a km you will reach the hamlet of Isola: there are certainly no parking problems!
* If you are coming from the upper Valcamonica (Aprica or Tonale / Ponte di Legno), descend to the village of Cedegolo and then take provincial road 6.

Introduction

Round excursion (Isola - Arno - Passo di Campo - Re di Castello - Pozza d'Arno - Arno - Isola) for the entire part over 180 m; it shares the first (and last) uphill (downhill) stretch to Lake Arno, where the mule track climbs (and descends) a steep wooded ridge for a difference in altitude of over 90 m. There is a transition from mixed coniferous forest, predominantly deciduous, to the final part almost completely covered with mountain shrubs.

Description

Starting from the small square in front of the church in Isola, the path climbs up, initially skirting part of the fence of the former hydroelectric power station, then decisively taking the slope, passing near two supports of a high-voltage power line; it then reaches the locality known as "Il Plà", where there is a farmstead surrounded by a meadow carved out of the surrounding stony ground. The path continues by crossing a small bridge over the site of the former penstock and the inclined plane of the power station; it then approaches the Rio Piz stream and passes near some supports of the former Isola-Arno cable car; it continues zigzagging until it crosses the site of the former penstock again (put lonc). After a few hairpin bends, you reach the Garzuné locality (about 140m), where a plateau can be glimpsed that was once the site of an alpine hut, now completely ruined. We continue along the winding path, then move to our right and follow a long stretch of path carved into the rock of Monte Zucchello, until we reach the flat road, (formerly the site of the Decoville track), Vertice Q - Arno. Buildings related to the former Isola power station are visible on our left (watchman's house, electric cabin, cable car and inclined plane etc.); we continue to the right. We walk along a stretch of road characterised by the presence of a number of tunnels and avalanche barriers in the artificial tunnel, until, on our left, path no. 20A starts out, which, after a few minutes, instead of heading towards the dam, continues its ascent at the steepest gradient until it reaches the high path of "Traversera" [20]. In this last stretch, from the fork to the Arno Lake, and for about 20 minutes of walking, the path is hardly practicable as it is completely overgrown by vegetation (green alder mainly); from the flat road to the Traversera path, it takes about 45 minutes of walking. An alternative is to reach the dam at Lake Arno and immediately after the guard house (climbing the steps to the house) take the path marked [20A] (it joins the previously mentioned path when the latter is free and well identified). A second alternative is to reach Lake Arno, walk along the flat road alongside the lake as far as the Campellio power station, then turn left, pass above the power station and head, following the line of maximum slope, towards the power station's loading basin (at the side of the sloping plane). Initially without a path, then on a path that zig-zags up to the basin, then turn left and climb again until you reach the old and demolished alpine barracks: just above, you join the "Traversera" path. All that remains now is to walk along the old Traversera path, which was the most frequented means of communication in past centuries for the direct connections of the upper Camonica valley with the Giudicarie valleys; it winds its way up modest ups and downs and gains altitude little by little, until it reaches Passo di Campo 2288m. During this route, the view of the Arno basin is complete and stupendous: you can see Mount Colombé and its steep green slopes; you can completely dominate both Lake Arno and the Arno pond; you are facing the beautiful Mount Frisozzo and its left-hand Coster of polished granite; you can admire the whole of Mount Re di Castello with its snowfield that extends to the right until the month of July and reaches the Dernal Pass (Maria and Franco refuge). At the Campo pass, you can see numerous trenches, tunnels dug into the limestone, passages and connections, barbed wire trench remnants, etc., which bear witness to the military activity that took place here during the Great War and, above all, you can see how many sacrifices the protagonists of these exploits had to make. At the Campo pass, we turn right and follow the path [1] of the Alta via dell'Adamello, which passes at the foot of the Sega d'Arno, to the beginning of the large moraine, then leave the Segnavia [1] path, which heads towards the Dernal pass (to the right) and climb up towards Monte Re di Castello (2890m). Near the summit, there are still numerous testimonies of the military activity carried out during the Great War; in particular, there are the foundations of a 'barrack' immediately below the summit, which was still almost intact until the 1960s. This excursion should be carried out in June, when the snow cover is still substantial and the route takes place on snow that usually "carries" (you do not sink into the snow) until early afternoon, especially if the previous night was clear. In the final part, it is best to ascend into the glacier between the two peaks and then walk along the last part near the watershed (the actual peak is the one on the left, with the cross); this last part of the route is not very easy and involves knowing how to behave in the presence of snow, even icy snow, on steep slopes. From the summit, one then heads towards the Dernal pass (Franco and Maria hut), descending diagonally to the left, and in less than an hour one reaches the hut; the time required depends a great deal on the snow conditions and thus on the time of day. If you choose to undertake the excursion in a season when the snow cover is almost completely exhausted, you should take note that the route from the Campo pass to the Re di Castello and from there to the Dernal pass is mainly on large moraine, some of which is also rough, so you need both the expertise and the caution necessary for such situations. From the hut, initially descend along path [1] of the Alta via dell'Adamello on the orographic left of the Ghilarda valley and then, at the small lake, turn left and head towards the Pozza d'Arno (path [89]); the path is signposted; the time required to reach the Pozza d'Arno is about one and a half hours, in another half to three quarters of an hour you reach the dam of the Lago d'Arno. From here we return to the path [88] already travelled uphill.