Julier Pass adventure

Last summer, we visited Engadin for the first time. We wanted to explore this part of Graubünden for a long time, but we thought that it was too far away for a one day trip. Graubünden is the largest canton of Switzerland with some parts that are not easily accessible by car.

On the way back, we drove through Julier Pass and enjoyed some breathtaking views. My husband loved it too, and kept talking about coming back for a hiking trip. Last weekend, we didn't have any plans, and when he suggested on Saturday to go there on Sunday I couldn't find and excuse to say no. I prepared some snacks, we packed our backpack and were ready to go. It turns out that when we leave home at 6 am we still have enough time for hiking before sunset 🙂

Julier Pass is one of 70 mountain passes in Switzerland. It's 16 km long and it connects Silvaplana in the south with Bivio in the north. There is about 500 meters in elevation gain from Bivio to the highest point of the road. The road is like a long snake, and it's not for you if you're getting car sick. It was built between 1935 and 1940, and it serves as the most important northern access to Engadin.

The highest point of the road is at 2284 m, and in summer there are some hiking trails available, but in winter there are no maintained trails around that area due to avalanche risk. There is still a parking area, so you can stop and enjoy the views. As we have visited the side of Silvaplana last year, we decided to stay on the side of Bivio this time. Julier Pass

On Saturday evening, I looked for the trails and picked one that I thought would be nice and not so challenging. We woke up early and managed to arrive in Bivio in less than 3 hours. There is not so much traffic on Sunday morning.

When we arrived at the start of out trail we realized that it would not lead us in the direction that we wanted to go, so we started walking on another trail without knowing where it goes. We could turn around anytime if we didn't like it 🙂 At the end we walked more than 10 kilometers with elevation gain of 280 meters and we loved it!

At the beginning of our hike, we were lucky to be accompanied by these two dogs. They had a lot of fun and were enjoying the snow so much. Their owners were a bit older so they didn't keep us with us for long but we enjoyed our short walk together.

It was sunny and much warmer than we expected. I was lucky to think about the sun protection in the morning. My husband wasn't that lucky and I forgot to remind him. At least, he protected his head with a hat, but his nose and cheeks got a little sunburn.

Here we can see Piz Neir (2906 m), also know as 'Black mountain'. It's a mountain in Albula Alps. On the other side of the mountain is the Albula Pass which we took last time on the way to St. Moritz in Engadin.

There was not so much snow in Switzerland this winter season. In January, some ski resorts had to close which is detrimental to economy. Luckily, there was some snowfall a few weeks later and they could reopen again. The resorts are still open, but often there is snow only on the slopes while surroundings don't have any.

Soon we realized that the trail that we took was what they call 'a multiuse trail', meaning that there is a ski slope and cross-country skiing trail as well, so we had to be careful not to get hit. Luckily, there were not so many people skiing. It was still early in the morning.

In the back, there is Piz Surparé (3078 m). Did I mention that I always hike with a map? 🙂 I've been learning to read a map for some time already as we tend to hike off the trails. Smartphones do have limited batteries, so it's always good to have a map ready just in case.

We walked deeper and deeper in the mountains and soon we couldn't see the village anymore. It was still warm but windy, and the windy was cold, so we had to put our jackets back on.

In the back (on the right), we can see Piz Plata (3392 m).

I wonder if this house serves as a mountain restaurant in summer, but now it was just a random house far from the village.

Me looking in the direction of Septimerpass thinking about how far we will still go. I was getting hungry already.

I tried to look for both Roccabella and Tgavretga online, but couldn't find how far was either of them, so we simply continued in that direction.

Piz d'Emmat Dadora (2851 m) looked so close. It seemed like just a few meters away before climbing to the top. Of course, this was only an illusion.

There was just a little bit of snow in some places while in other places there was quite a lot.

Looking back in the direction of Piz Neir which was getting farther away...

Here we can see part of the ski slopes again...

Piz d'Emmat Dadora was really not as close to us as we thought...

I wonder how these people get to their houses comfortably. It's far away from the village and there are no roads. Do they have to hike up every time? No idea.

We found a bench in the windiest spot, but considering that we were hungry it was the best bench ever. My husband had the best idea of making coffee in our moka pot. Honestly, I didn't believe it was possible but he convinced me otherwise. He dug a hole in the snow to break the wind, placed his pocket stove with solid fuel tablets in the hole and managed to start a fire! I let him enjoy himself while snacking on our battered cauliflower.

Soon enough we were enjoying our espressos 🙂 Magic!

Must have been a cup of coffee with the best view ever!

Once we finished our lunch, we packed our stuff and continued hiking. We decided to cross the small bridge and walk to the left. We hoped that there would be a trail that would lead us back to the village.

This dog was so funny. Its owners were standing about 50 meters away and trying to recall it. It didn't care so much and kept enjoying the water. I didn't understand what was so cool on being in ice cold water. After some time it jumped out and followed its owners like nothing happened.

On the other side of the bridge looking at the ski slopes on the left...

The trail was still maintained here...

We could see that it didn't snow here for some time. The snow was icy and hard...

Here we are looking in the direction of Julier Pass. Silvaplana is behind the mountains.

Doesn't look like a lot of elevation but the trail was long and challenging.

It was slippery at some places and we even saw long ice patches that made it difficult to cross.

Somewhere around here we started to hike off the trail. It was not our brightest idea as the snow was more than knee deep and it was challenging to make a path without snow shoes, but we don't mind a little adventure.

Luckily, after a while we found another trail, so we didn't have to wade in the snow anymore. This trail led us down to the road from where we could walk back to the village.

In the valley, we crossed a creek called Gelgia, and enjoyed the views of Piz Polaschin (3013 m) before heading back to the car. It was still 3 kilometers to go.

On the other side, there is Oberhalbstein Alps mountain range with Piz Platta being its highest peak.

From now on it's only down the hill...

We reached the car in about 30 minutes. It was late afternoon and we couldn't waste any time as we wanted to avoid evening traffic.

We came home tired, but happy. We had a great time and we will be coming back more often as we know now that we can also manage in only one day.

Thank you for reading,

Cheers,
Martina