A hike to the headwaters of the Rivers Rhine, Reuss, Ticino and Rhone.

Four Headwaters Trailthrough the St Gotthard Massif

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Four Headwaters Trail through the St Gottard Massif

A hike to the headwaters of the Rivers Rhine, Reuss, Ticino and Rhone.

Edited byFour Headwaters Trail through the St Gotthard Massif Foundation

Rep

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All rights reserved© 2012 Four Headwaters Trail Foundation, Altdorf

CONTENT MAP AND TR AIL DESCRIPTIONS

Josef Arnold-Luzzani, Schattdorf

DESIGN AND L AYOUT

Armin Furrer, Furrer Graphic Design, Lucerne

EDITORIAL AND PRODUCTION

Edith Jörg, pr-work jörg, Lucerne

TR ANSL ATION

Tim Neville, www.timneville.net

PRODUCTION AND DISTRIBUTION

Gamma Druck + Verlag AG, Medien-Atelier, Altdorf

1st edition 2012Printed in Switzerland ISBN: 978-3-906200-49-1

5 Four Headwaters Trail through the St Gotthard Massif

7 Off to the headwaters!

8 From the Oberalp Pass to the Source of the Rhine Stage 1: Oberalp Pass – Lake Toma (Source of the Rhine) – Maighel Pass – Vermigel Hut

14 From the Vermigel Hut to the Gotthard Pass Stage 2: Vermigel Hut – Sella Pass – Piz Giübin – Lake Sella – Gotthard Pass

20 From the Gotthard Pass to the Source of the Reuss Stage 3: Gotthard Pass – Lake Lucendro – Source of the Reuss – Lucendro Pass – Piansecco Hut

26 From the Piansecco Hut to the headwaters of the Ticino Stage 4: Piansecco Hut – Headwaters of the Ticino – Nufenen Pass – Obergesteln

32 From the Upper Goms to the Source of the Rhone Stage 5: Obergesteln – Gletsch – Furka Pass – Rhone Glacier (source of the Rhone) – Hotel Belvédère 38 Rivers and Paths Shape Development The Gotthard Region – A cultural overview

52 Rich Diversity of Plants and Animals A natural history journey in five stages

60 How Mountains Grow and Recede A five-stage hike through geological history

70 Reservoirs of Water Power Harnessing water in the St Gotthard Massif

76 Practical Information

79 Appendix, bibliography and credits

80 Acknowledgements

Table of Contents

4 5

The Rhine, Reuss, Ticino and Rhone rivers all begin in the Gotthard region and that gave Paul Dubacher from Seed-orf the idea for the Four Headwaters Trail. He’s something of a specialist when it comes to hiking trails and was instrumental, for example, in forming routes like the “Swiss Path” around Lake Lucerne and the “Railway Trails” of the Gotthard region.

In 2009 Dubacher got to work once again. That same year the Four Head-waters Trail Foundation was founded with well-known people from the four cantons that make up the Gotthard re-gion (see page 78). The inauguration followed in 2012.

For more information please visit www.four-headwaters-trail.ch.

Mountain hiking in five stages The Four Headwaters Trail is a family-friendly trek of about 85 km through the alpine country where the Rhine, Reuss, Ticino and Rhone rivers begin. It is broken up into five segments, each of which with starting and end points that are serviced by public transport.

Hiking through portions of cantons Uri, Graubünden, Ticino and Valais takes you through unique landscapes

and highlights the central role that wa-ter has played for man, animals and plants.

Things to know about the GotthardThe hiking guidebook to the Four Headwaters Trail includes trail descrip-tions as well as fascinating background information on the region’s cultural his-tory, flora and fauna, geological phe-nomena, climate change and the har-nessing of water for hydropower.

In this way a hiker can make sense of and learn more about the area. The best bits of background information will become apparent: How have hu-mans throughout the ages impacted the Gotthard region; why mountains are never at ease; which plants are worth a closer look; and how important is it to turn the region’s water into power.

Four Headwaters Trail through the St Gottard Massif

Paul Dubacher, founder and project leader of the Four Headwaters Trail

6 7

Water and springs have a magical pow-er of attraction. Springing discretely from the depths and flowing eventually into the sea, water lends itself to a cross-cultural metaphor for the fate of us all: The lively, happy-go-lucky brook of youth matures into the wide ship-bearing current of adulthood before fading away into the infinity of the sea.

Water as a creative powerSprings are a reflection of the times: In moments of uncertainty the call to re-turn to our roots and where it all began rings loudly. In times of heady opti-mism it’s easy to forget origins and tra-dition. Springs are places of power, pu-rity and life. They were even the places where children came from, according to some old folk tales.

Water has the two faces of Janus: It can destroy with a flood and spawn life with a refreshing rain. Water shortages spark wars or create laws founded in peace. The Code of Hammurabi (1850 BC) includes stipulations over water rights.

Hiking lends wings to thoughts Glaciers have held stores of water for millennia and have become a symbol for security, hope and confidence. By contrast their disappearance triggers a fear of the future, but fear and hardship also foster human ingenuity. From that has sprung an environmentally friendly and sustainable art of engineering.

Water is a magical power: People have harnessed its force with mills and turned it into electricity. Water is a splendid artist: Its power has formed marvelous, often bizarre and savage landscapes, as well as fields that nour-ish people, plants and animals.

When you head to the four headwa-ters of the Gotthard massif, maybe keep this thoughts in mind. Over hills and down the dales, let yourself sepa-rate real everyday problems from those that are imagined. He who wanders sifts through his thoughts to find gold nuggets of insight here and there. Your body isn’t just the better for it. Your mind is, too. Now off to the source!Josef Arnold-Luzzani, Schattdorf

Off to the headwaters!

INFORMATION ABOUT STAGE 1

EFFORT Distance: 14.5 km/Time: 5 hrs. 20 min./Ascent: 1100m/Descent: 1100 m DIFFICULT Y Continuous, mostly hiking on marked trails (SAC rating T1/T2). START AND FINISH Start at the Oberalp Pass. Finish at the Vermigel Hut. ROUTE Oberalp Pass (2044 m) – Lake Toma (2345 m) – Maighel Valley – Maighel Pass (2421 m) – Alp Portgeren – Vermigel Hut (2042 m)PROVIS IONS Maighel and Vermigel SAC huts (during hiking season).ACCOMMODATIONS STAGE 1 Vermigel Hut, reservations recommended, Tel. 041-887-17-73 or 062-534-00-35, vermigel@sac-zofingen.ch. Maighel Hut (about halfway through first stage): Reservations: 081-949-15-51, info@maighelshuette.ch.GET TING THERE Train to the Oberalp Pass from Andermatt (Uri) or Disentis Sedrun (Graubünden). RETURN FOR DAY HIKES Walk to Andermatt from the Vermigel Hut (2.5 hrs.). Train and bus connections available in Andermatt.MAPS Switzerland National Map: 1:50,000 No. 5001 “Gotthard” (good for all five stages). See page 10 for map excerpts of stage 1 (reduced 15 percent).INFORMATION www.four-headwaters-trail.ch;Tourist Info Uri: www.uri.info;Andermatt-Urserntal Tourismus GmbH:www.andermatt.ch;Graubünden Tourism:www.graubuenden.ch;Leventina Tourism: www.leventinaturismo.ch; Tessin Tourism: www.ticino.ch; Train and bus connections: www.sbb.ch

A worthy goal – the idyllic Lake Toma.

stage 1

The first stage leads from the Oberalp Pass, past the source of the Rhine at Lake Toma and concludes at the Vermigel Hut. The Maighel Pass marks the highest point of this section of the hike where the idyllic Lake Portgeren invites visitors to linger.

The Matterhorn-Gotthard Railway (MGB) runs to the top of the 2044-meter-high Oberalp Pass from canton Graubünden from the east or from Andermatt in the Ursern Valley from the west. It’s possible to reach the pass on foot from Göschenen, Andermatt, Sedrun or Tschamut (see map overview, page 1). Get your bearings at the yellow hiking sign and head out on the trail toward Lake Toma.

Those who prefer a longer, more sporty variation to reach the lake can follow the signs to the Pazolastock (2740 m). After a short, sloping section along the pass road 1 a path climbs gently across the flanks of the Pazolas-tock. The imposing wall of the dammed Curnera reservoir is visible for a short while to the south. At a fork in the trail at Trutg (2056 m) 2 a path winds up-wards along a gravel road to the Maighel Hut 6 . The hut, at 2310 meters, is run by the Swiss Alpine Club (SAC) and offers room and board. But to com-plete this section of the hike continue to climb southwesterly for about 300 meters up some switchbacks through steep pastures that become increasingly

The young Rhine flows toward Tschamut.

The source of the Rhine at Lake Toma.

Lake Urlaun in the Maighel Valley.

The Vermigel Hut, the first day’s goal.

THE STAGE IN FOUR SECTIONS

9

From the Oberalp Pass to the Source of the Rhine

8

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S TA G E 1 > Distance 14.5 km > Time 5 hrs. 20 min. > Ascent 1100 m > Descent 1100 m

2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 121km 16 17 18 19 20 212 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 151km 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 151km

2500 m

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Stage 1

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2042 mVermigel

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Stage 2

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2375 mSummer-matten

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Source ofthe Rhone

Headwaters of the Ticino

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Source of the Gotthard-Reuss

Source ofthe Rhine

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2256 mLake Sella

Source ofthe Rhone

Headwaters ofthe Ticino

Source of theGotthard-Reuss

Source ofthe Rhine

5 hrs. 20 min. 14.4 km >

5 hrs. 15 min. 12.8 km > 7 hrs. 30 min. 20.6 km > 7 hrs. 19.8 km >

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FROM THE OBERALP PASS TO THE SOURCE OF THE RHINE stage 1

littered with large boulders and natural stone steps. Up here the invasive nois-es of civilization – namely motorcycle traffi c on the nearby pass road – fade into silence.

After this fi rst, steep ascent the bril-liant waters of a mountain lake tucked in a basin at the foot of the Badus begin to gleam: The Lai da Tuma or Lake To-ma (2345 m), the source of the Rhine 3 . The lake’s Rhaeto-Romansh name re-calls the lake’s features: it’s located be-hind a Tuma or hill – so Lake Hill, if you will.

Those who have the time, strength and will can opt to do an additional loop either along the lake or over the summit on the right to the Badus Hut (2503 m) at the foot of the Pazolastock. A refreshing plunge from a protruding boulder at the back of the lake into the chilly pool is only recommended for the hardiest of hikers.

After taking in a pleasant panoramic view of the upper Surselva and Calmot, behind which loom the Oberalpstock, Tödi and other imposing peaks, two small steps is all you need to cross the young Anterior Rhine which rumbles

through a narrow, steep trough down toward Tschamut through the Plaun Verdastch. (To read more on the name “Tschamut” and early settlements in the valley please see page 42.) Be careful crossing the stream: snow can last well into summer here.

Following a newly built path that re-places the rough descent to the dusty road leading to the Maighel Hut, the trail leads to a sunny saddle (2358 m) 4 above Lake Urlaun. The path then in-

THE “REAL” SOURCE OF THE RHINE

The source of a river is generally considered to be the highest or farthest point (along the river) from its mouth. In the high mountains many nameless streams from various direc-tions all converge in a small lake, which is why the word “headwaters” is often used. Lake Toma was dubbed the source of the Rhine by Placidus A. Spescha (1752-1833), a Benedictine father and a naturalist who made the fi rst ascent of the Badus. If you go by the point farthest from the Rhine’s outlet, the Medelser Rhine would actually be the river’s source since it fl ows through both the Cadlimo and Medel valleys and is a good 5 km longer than the Toma Rhine.

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tersects the access road just mentioned (2263 m) 5 . A few meters beyond the intersection a trail branches off to the right toward Lolen Pass (Pass Tagliola, 2399 m), and a bit further to the south, a spur trail heads toward the manmade Curnera reservoir.

Stay on the access road that soon ends with a well-beaten, often mucky path that leads into the wide, flat area of the Maighel Valley and its many tad-pole-choked ponds. The valley boasts the typical flora and fauna of a wetland with cottongrass, sedges and yellow-or-ange blossoming saxifrage. The moors are green in summer and spring, yel-low and brown in autumn. In a few

places peat has formed over the centu-ries. (For more on the flora and fauna see page 53).

At the “Piogn Crap” (roughly trans-lated as “Bridge by the Rock”), behold a magnificent masterpiece of nature: a several-meter-deep gorge, narrow at the top, carved by centuries of water flow-ing down from the Maighel Glacier and the Bornengo Pass. It is so narrow at the top that one is almost lured into leaping over it. Later the trail crosses the terminal moraine that the eastern Maighel Glacier left behind after its last advance around 1850.

Soon the trail arrives at another fork at Plaunca Portgera (2374 m) and climbs to the right up to the Maighel Pass (2421 m) 7 , where the idyllic Lake Portgeren twinkles. North American lake trout, brown trout as well as rain-bow trout make this a popular place for anglers. The view spreads to the north with the Portgerenstock, to the south-west over the slopes of the Alp Wilden-matten and up to the Piz Giübin near the Sella Pass. The Maighel Pass marks the end of canton Graubünden and the Rhaeto-Romansh-speaking regions.

Traditionally five dialects of Rhaeto-Romansh are spoken and written in canton Graubünden of southeast Swit-zerland: Sursilvan (in the Anterior Rhine region), Sutsilvan (in portions of the Hinter Rhine region), Surmiran (in the Upper Engadine and Al bula val-leys), Puter (in the Upper Engadine) and Vallader (in the Lower Engadine). In order to create consistency out of the truly different dialects for bureau-cratic matters, a standard dialect called “Rumantsch Grishun” or “Romansh of

THE WAY OF THE RHINE

After a long, 1,230-km journey the Rhine flows into the North Sea near Rotterdam, Europe’s largest port. Along the way, many tributaries transform the feisty little stream at Lake Toma into a wide river that has become the most heavily used waterway in Europe. At Reichenau/Tamis the Anterior and Hinter Rhine join together to form the so-called Al-pine Rhine, which flows into Lake Constance. From there it becomes the High Rhine until Basel, with the Aare River flowing into it at Koblenz. After Basel, the river is known as the Upper Rhine, which runs to Bingen, Ger-many, and is joined by the Neckar and Main rivers along the way. From there the river be-comes the Middle Rhine until Bonn, a stretch joined by the Lahn and Mosel rivers that flows around the mythical Loreley cliff near St Goarshausen. Finally the wide and placid Lower Rhine begins after Bonn, flowing through the north German lowlands and forming the Rhine-Meuse Delta at the Ger-man-Dutch border. It then eases through a large natural region to spill into the North Sea near Rotterdam.

FROM THE OBERALP PASS TO THE SOURCE OF THE RHINE stage 1

Graubünden” was developed and has been used as the official dialect since 2001. On the way from the Oberalp Pass to the Maighel Pass, one can learn a few words of Sursilvan: plaunca (slope or flank), piogn (catwalk-like bridges often running along the sides of cliffs), trutg (mountain path), crap (rock or crag).

The route then zig-zags along a path (that’s also an official mountain bike trail) over alpine meadows, past ponds and down to a bridge over the Unteralp Reuss river (1978 m). A short but steep climb brings you to the goal for the day, the Vermigel Hut (2042 m) 8 . which can sleep 40 people. DAY HIK ING This section can be done as a day hike by wandering down through

the tranquil Unteralp Valley for a good 2.5 hours to reach Andermatt. Watch for chamois on the eastern slopes of the Gafallengrat and the Gurschenstöckli, particularly during mornings and eve-nings. On the right you’ll probably see marmots with their shrill whistles. To avoid bike and vehicular traffic, you can cross the Unteralp Reuss near Heu-plangg and wander through lonely meadows, passing a rest area, to reach the center of Andermatt directly. Save a little energy for a visit to the Mariahilf Chapel above the village. After a hard winter in 1720 the priest is said to have attached a picture of the Virgin Mary to a tree. The townspeople started to put their faith in this small wayside shrine and in 1724 build a chapel there.

Scheuchzers cottongrass, a common wetland plant.

Lake Toma, or Lai da Tuma in Rhaeto-Romansh, at the base of Piz Badus, means “lake behind the hill.”

Shy marmots are always around.

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