The Cow Trail

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Following the granite stairway. swissinfo.ch

This rare steep section of the cow trail required building switchbacking steps. swissinfo.ch

A modern day cow that likely did not use the entire cow trail that I followed. swissinfo.ch

An alpage along the cow trail. swissinfo.ch

If you look closely you can see the cow trail cut through the forest on the right and wrap the entire back of the valley. swissinfo.ch

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A few weeks ago I crossed a pass north of Val Bregaglia and couldn't believe what I saw.

Here were massive steps built up a rocky section of hillside. They looked fit to carry Cesar’s army. Then they dissolved into a cowpath. Surely anything made to such a scale would have a road on each end. It made no sense to me that a huge staircase would exist on its own.

I asked the first hiker I saw. He said: “Oh, that’s a cow trail.” It seems that when cows are migrated seasonally they crossed that pass, and the obstacle was just that short section.

Well, today I followed the cow trail of all cow trails, or at least the longest I’ve ever seen. A veritable cow road built of massive slabs of granite that a king would be proud to have leading to his castle.

It’s hard to imagine the work that went into this trail, but the pasturage must have been worth it. I hope. All I saw were a few cows who I doubt even used this long route, though there were the occasional cowpies to step over.