Via Alta Vallemaggia

There are at least four highlights worth mentioning between Cimalmotto and Ribia: the tranquil secluded setting of Alpe di Sfii (where an excellent cheese is produced among the larch trees); the indescribable colour of Lake Sfii (which Plinio Grossi expresses as “a blue so bright that it may not be just water but instead a mysterious infusion of gentianella”); the bowl-shaped, steep-sided rocky mountain basin formed by Cima di Cregnell and Rosso di Ribia (described by Giuseppe Brenna as “wild and impenetrable” and interrupted by a “mysterious dip”, curiously named “Cata della Quarantèria”). Then there is the unexpected gentle arena of Ribia: a sunny, secluded amphitheatre situated at a lofty 1,000 metres above the Onsernone Valley floor.