Carlo Emilio Refuge, from Olmo

Introduction

We climb up to the Truzzo dam, below the Quadro lace.

Description

Following the signs, we enter the Drogo valley, which in the woods, does not take us to the desert of the Tartars (Buzzati frequented the Chiavenna valley, perhaps this is where he got the name for his lieutenant) but to Sant'Antonio (1200m), and at a fork in the road, left for the Lendine pass (Swiss border) and right for the Truzzo and the refuge. The mule track, well paved, now passes with comfortable hairpin bends through a wood full of gorse, continues along a comfortable and wide ledge that passes under a waterfall where some metal ropes facilitate the passage in case of ice, reaches the Curt de Lavazz where "Lavazz" is the alpine rhubarb. In one of the huts you come across, on summer Sundays and in August, they feed and sell local products. You start climbing again with hairpin bends to arrive near the service houses of the dam, where another path known as the 'camoscera' arrives from the higher part of San Bernardo. A few steps lead to the dam, 2090m. It still takes more than half an hour to reach the refuge. Go along it, cross a slope that borders a basin overlooking the lake, go past two large mounds (beautiful view of the Caürgh, a word that means "crevice embedded in the rock", and of the two towers with the evocative names of Ometto and Aquila Verde) and you come in sight of the Black Lake, from where you can see the hut, which you can reach by following the signs on the eastern shore of the lake. Estimated time 3h30'. The refuge, belonging to the CAI of Como, is always closed, for the keys you must ask somewhere. Photo gallery