Monte Salmurano, from Pescegallo

Introduction

Description

From the car park (1454m), take the snowy little road to the left of the Albergo Mezzaluna; follow it briefly until after the bridge, then turn right onto the ungroomed slope of a former downhill run. Climb carefully up the sometimes icy sections to Casera Pescegallo (1595m). Behind the buildings, a little to the left, you reach a pastoral road and follow it to the end: Casera Pescegallo Lago 1778m. From here, in view of the artificial reservoir of Lago Pescegallo, which you do not reach, follow a series of bumps and valleys in a southerly direction until you reach the northernmost foothills of Monte Ponteranica. Here the slope drops slightly and an easy traverse on the hillside leads to the wide basin below the destination. In the last stretch (the only one that can be delicate) the slope increases, and with a series of zigzag changes of direction, we reach the summit crest. Monte Salmurano (locally Munt de sura) 2269m. The panorama is grandiose in every direction: to the north, all the Rhaetian Alps (Pizzo Badile, Cengalo, Monte Disgrazia, Bernina...), to the east, all the Orobian Alps of Bergamo, to the south, the Orobian Pre-Alps, the Grigne, Resegone...), to the west, the head of Val Gerola and the Pizzo dei Tre Signori group. The descent is made along the same route as the ascent; or, depending on conditions and ability, you can devise - always with passing traces - combinations that are steeper (up to OSA) or more direct or more "adventurous".