Desktop wallpapers: mountain: Val Masino

This is a lateral valley of the Valtellina Valley, in the Sondrio province.
It can be reached exiting route 38 once reaching Ardenno and following route 404 towards north.
Multiple lateral valleys detach themselves from the main Masino Valley floor, named the Preda Rossa, the Mello, the Dei Bagni and Porcellizzo Valleys.

There are not any possible passages into Switzerland if not by foot only, towards north, and these are walkable only during the warmer seasons. For this reason it has never been a valley heavily loaded by traffic of any sort.
The main villages are Cataeggio, Filorera and Bagni di Masino. These are of course much smaller than towns but extremely picturesque.

Many are the peaks which crown this valley, among which the Disgrazia, the Sissone, the Pizzi del Ferro, the Cengalo and the Badile peaks. Here one can find quite a few mountain huts within three hours' walking from the valley. One of the paths to mention is the Roma Path, which allows walkers to cover the valley's mountain crown going along the top and reaching all the main huts, which are named Omio, Gianetti, Allievi and Ponti, beside crossing some bivouacs also.
Every year, a marathon is run along this particular path, the Kima Trophy: this race covers 48km and has a 3000mt level difference in its various parts.
The winner usually requires six hours to accomplish the whole run, which indicates that it is a race in which very few athletes may succeed in (click to see the race map).

The pictures in this section are mainly dedicated to the Mello Valley, possibly the most characteristic valley in the whole area.
This valley, crossed lengthwise by the Mello stream, is located between two mountain ridges all the way from the west to the east. Spectacularly green during the summer, it literally transforms itself in the winter, from the end of October to February, as the sun hardly touches it with its rays.
Amidst snow, ice and complete silence, the landscape becomes enchanting and touches deeply those who are able to appreciate it.