Lugano is almost surrounded by mountains, but some are more prominent than others. Just to the south of the city is Monte San Salvatore, dominating the views in that direction. Even in the half-light of a city at night, it can be seen clearly from almost all parts of Lugano. And that was to be the first destination on this, the final stage of the Trans Swiss Trail.
We started early in the morning, Matthias and I. The clocks had gone back from summer time to winter time during the night, and we used the extra hour to get on our way at eight o’clock. It was a damp morning, with rain, not so much falling, as simply condensing out of the air. Our first task was to find the trail. As we noted the day before, the waymarking did not run through Lugano. Coming into the city, the waymarks stopped at the suburb of Comano. Now, as we left the city, we would have to get to the Paradiso district to pick up the waymarks again. That meant a short walk along the lakeside promenade.
Once we reached the Paradiso district, we left the lake shore, and we were soon into the ascent. There is a funicular railway that runs to the summit of Monte San Salvatore, but even if we had wanted to use it, it looked like it had stopped running for winter. Instead, we followed a track initially, curving around and upwards. Then our route ran beside the funicular railway for a short while, before returning to a forest track that zig-zagged upwards through the trees. It is a steep ascent. There were viewing points, that on a good day, I am sure would have provided magnificent vistas over the lake, but we were into the clouds, so there was nothing to see except the grey mist all around.
We came to the top of the mountain, which has a railway station, and what looks like a hotel. I imagine that in summer this place is crowded, but on a damp day at the end of October, there was no one else there. We did not stay long, but immediately began the descent southwards. The descent is steep at first, until it reaches the village of Ciona. After that, the route levels out for just over one kilometre as it goes to Carona, another mountain village.
In Carona, we had a decision to make. The guide for the Trans Swiss Trail has the route going south from Carona to reach the lake shore at Morcote. The guide treats the distance from Lugano to Morcote as one stage, and from Morcote to Mendrisio as a second stage. Between those two stages, one has to cross the lake. But we had set out to do the two stages in one. For us, this presented logistical difficulties in that there were no boats running during the day, and we would have to get a busses and a train for a lengthy journey to bring us around the shore. And the times of those busses and trains also presented difficulties. For these reasons, instead of continuing on from Carona to Morcote, we decided to go to the lake shore at Melide, and take the transport around to the other side of the lake from there. As if to validate that decision, we came across another salamander on the way down. They are visible when on the trail, though once among the leaves on the forest floor, I expect that their mottled colours make them harder to see.
From Brusino Arsizio, we took up the trail again- Once again, we were into the forest, and going uphill. At one point the waymarking and the phone app that I used for a guide became ambiguous, and we were unsure which way to go. We followed what seemed like the most logical route, inadvertently transferring from the Trans Swiss Trail (Swiss national route number 2) to the Via Gottardo (Swiss national route number 7). They are closely aligned for much of the way from the Gotthard Pass onwards, but diverge slightly at times. This was one of those times. While the Trans Swiss Trail goes a little bit higher, the Via Gottardo is longer, so our transition onto that route did not lessen the effort involved. It brought us on a convoluted way through the woods until we eventually reached the village of Meride, not to be confused with the similarly named Melide that we passed through earlier.
From Meride, we continued on, going through Tremona and Rancate. We could see Mendrisio in the distance, and once we came to the edge of the town, we made straight for the railway station and journey’s end. From Mendrisio, it was a train journey back to Basel.
And so, I have finished the Trans Swiss Trail. It has been an interesting journey. I will take a little time to digest and assimilate the experiences involved, and then it will be time to start another route.
The total step count for the day was 47,412.
Walkingman 