Inn River, S-chanf, Maloja Region, Graubünden, Switzerland.
Inn River, S-chanf, Maloja Region, Graubünden, Switzerland.

This was a beautiful autumn day hike from S-chanf into the Swiss National Park up the Trupchun valley with Helen and Jessica.

S-chanf encompasses a string of villages lying along the Inn river with a total population of ~700. The S-chanf station is at an elevation of 1660m. Many of the locals speak Romansch, the fourth official language of Switzerland, although it is only spoken by 0.5% of the population nationally.

We started our hike from the train station in S-chanf at about 11:30am, walking through the outskirts of the village and over the Inn (En) river into the Trupchun valley. This valley follows the Ova da Trupchun up to the Alp Trupchun (2040m) and eventually up to a saddle on the border between Switzerland and Italy.

Walking east up the Trupchun valley.
Walking east up the Trupchun valley.
Helen, a couple of hours in to the walk
Helen, a couple of hours in to the walk
 

At Alp Trupchun (2040m) we came across a crowd of people who had started the walk earlier in the day. This seemed to be the turnaround point for most people, since it was already about 1:50pm when we arrived and the trail entered snow soon after this point.

Alp Trupchun (2040m), Maloja Region, Graubünden, Switzerland. The Italian border is on the snow-covered ridgeline in the distance.
Alp Trupchun (2040m), Maloja Region, Graubünden, Switzerland. The Italian border is on the snow-covered ridgeline in the distance.

Of course we forged ahead.

Looking back down the valley to Alp Trupchun, Maloja Region, Graubünden, Switzerland.
Looking back down the valley to Alp Trupchun, Maloja Region, Graubünden, Switzerland.

I told Helen and Jessica I wanted to walk to Italy. Jessica was also game, but Helen knew that it was going to be too far and too snowy given the time of day and our level of preparation. So we continued to see how far we would get before common sense prevailed :)

Looking back down the valley to Alp Trupchun #2, Maloja Region, Graubünden, Switzerland.
Looking back down the valley to Alp Trupchun #2, Maloja Region, Graubünden, Switzerland.

Jessica was still forging ahead towards Italy almost an hour after we had left Alp Trupchun behind us.

Jessica forging ahead towards Italy.
Jessica forging ahead towards Italy.
Chamois looking down at us. Seeing this chamois and later an ibex was enough to persuade me that we could turn around.
Chamois looking down at us. Seeing this chamois and later an ibex was enough to persuade me that we could turn around.
Helen keeping a watchful eye on me so I don't try to make a dash for Italy.
Helen keeping a watchful eye on me so I don't try to make a dash for Italy.
 

Luckily it was not long after that we spotted a chamois and then an ibex high up to our left as we traversed towards the saddle. I desperately wanted to reach Italy, but it was not to be and after communing with the wildlife for a few minutes we were sufficiently satisfied and Helen was able to coax me around to begin the return walk down the valley :)

We arrived back in S-chanf around 5:25pm, with the sun casting a late afternoon glow on the reformist church.

The reformist church in S-chanf in the afternoon sun of autumn.
The reformist church in S-chanf in the afternoon sun of autumn.