Work on the construction of the dam at Truzzo was completed in 1928. After four years of a combination of din and dustclouds Valle del Drogo resumed its peaceful existence following a period dominated by the sound of pickaxe and dynamite at work. Back at home the workers talked of a valley of scaffolding and cement mixers, but in this high-arched position just a little upstream from Chiavenna they had left a remarkable testimony to their years’ work And so it remains today, as if time itself has stood still, resisting storm and driving rain.
This fantastic paved trail links San Bernardo, the last village in Valle del Drogo, all the way to the Truzzo dam. Previously a simple path leading to the dam construction site - at least that was the origin of it - in reality it takes the form of an extensive ribbon of a path stretching along the valley sides twisting over and over again on the steeper tracts and taking on wood and meadow in a series of sweeps.
To create the pathway, an undertaking involving dovetailing thousands of rocks and stones, was bordering on the creation of a magnificent and enormous artwork. It’s a demanding walk too, largely uphill and taking more than three hours, but it’s difficult too to describe adequately the reward that lies in wait : the view of the Lago del Truzzo, an extraordinary stretch of water cradled by Pizzo Quadro and overlooking Valchiavenna and the harsh peaks of Val Bregaglia. Take the main road up the Spluga valley and come off at San Giacomo Filippo heading along a narrow asphalt road to the left which takes on the hillside in a
series of around twenty turns up to the village of Olmo neatly positioned on a beautiful green shoulder.
Continue along the road moving leisurely downhill to reach the bottom of Valle del Drogo, then take the bridge over the stream and park up at the San Bernardo hydro-electric station, at around 1100 metres. Head off along the mule-track which immediately wanders in and out of woodland not far from the stream: we might consider now the origin of the place-name of the valley: “drogo” indicates a gorge, a river-bed deeply
wedg d between the rocks, and suggests too that the valley, particularly the stretch that we climbed steeply in the car, is inaccessible and rough, dug deeply by the many streams of coursing water. We’re still climbing and as we move along we become aware -and it comes as something of a surprise too - of a wide and welcoming valley. Just as the woodland becomes more sparse the paving is intercepted by the mule-track coming from Scanabecco: our route takes us through the houses of San Antonio, dotted about the fields along this stretch of a splendid green valley bottom. It’s a refreshingly lively place during the summer months.
Further on in the Caurga area we’re obliged to say a definite ‘cheerio’ to the gentle slopes that the valley up to now has invited us to follow. We’re despatched more seriously upwards following the signs for Carlo Emilio refuge heading off to the right climbing through a series of turns. Our efforts are rewarded shortly with splendid panoramas and the way opens up albeit little by little into the valley. We go past a little waterfall with its fine, delicate spray by the side of the path, then into a wood of conifers within which the trail attacks the slopes really rather aggressively. At around a height of 1750 metres we emerge from the woodland and our eyes can run once again the length of the Bregaglia peaks, whilst we enjoy perhaps the most spectacular stretch of path beneath our feet: the inter-linking stones creating an almost mosaic-style effect.
It’s a ‘pavement’ proved capable of withstanding, over decades, both the force of the weather and the passage on man and animal. And to add a little colour along the way in June and July rhododendron punctuates the walk in all its glory.
Alpe Truzzo
