VAL ROSEG

August 2017

The whole summer had been a build up to this hike for me, it was always in the back of my mind. I had stumbled across this valley on the internet in the winter and had been itching to finally go hiking here ever since. On this beautiful summer day in mid-august, the time had finally come to see this place with my own eyes. It’s safe to say that it did not disappoint.

We had dropped the car off at the end point of the hike in Pontresina and taken the bus to the Corvatsch cable car, which would deliver us to the starting point at the Murtèl middle station. The sun was beaming down as we put the first couple kilometers behind us on the way over to Fuorcla Surlej, where you get a first teaser of the views the Val Roseg valley has to offer. From here on out, you turn right and begin hiking along the side of the valley for a few hours, the goal being the Coaz Hut that sits under the glaciers at the end of the valley. All along the way you are accompanied by glaciers and peaks around you as well as the huge lake down below.

We reached the hut in time for lunch and kept on following the trail afterwards, now descending down towards the lake. We passed the halfway mark of this 24km / 15mi hike and made it down to the lake shore after a while. Just as the sun started getting a little lower and making for some nicer light, we reached probably the most photogenic part of this area. There’s just something about the way this landscape has come together, the shapes and curves it has produced, that make it look so beautiful in photos. I could have stayed here for hours and was already making plans to camp here the next summer, which I did end up doing.

It was, however, still quite a long way to go and we continued on, now following the wide valley all the way down until it would spit us out in Pontresina. It started getting darker and there was one more opportunity to take some nice photos as the trail converges with the glacial river and the glorious peaks with their glaciers perfectly align in the background. I just couldn’t get enough of this place.