Testin (CH) - 1 421 meters
Nr 102
This little mountain is just like the one before, nothing else but a secondary peak (peaks which don't have their own chapter but are highlighted in the description of specific paths).
As it's not more than 10 minutes away from the Testa and also there is nothing special and unique about it (sadly), the comments about it are very similar.
The walk connecting these two mountains is basically a flat forrest on the ridge between two valleys and when we arrived there, even if it was a sunny day, the wind was freezing and we had to put on our jackets quickly.
The Testa is listed in the explanation of Path 309 up to Salmone at page 310 of the 1st Book of the CAS Guides about the Ticino-Region (Dal Gridone al Passo del San Gottardo) and was the second of today's 3 peaks hike (Testa - Testin - Salmone).
To reach this secondary peak we had a big climb from the Village of Verscio to the Testa behind us; we started at 280 meters above sea level and went directly for a 1100 meter walk up which consisted of only steep path and stairs and in one and a half hours we were up here.. if you've already hiked a bit you surely realise that this is quite a good time considering that we weren't running and had backpacks on our shoulders.
Thankfully the views you are getting up here from the Locarno region are so beautiful that sometimes..you just have to stop and this helps to catch some breath.
The Testin itself has poorer views than the smaller one before (funnily the name implies that the Testin should be smaller.. this often happens with the given summit names , I wonder why..) and it's more like the end of the ridge which gets you closer to the final ascent to Salmone.
Last thing: I would definitely recommend to do this hike if you're in for lower mountains, be aware that it's physically demanding due to the high climb + in summer it might be super warm around here; this is actually a positive thing (somehow) because there is a super cool river near here where you can jump in to cool down.
Level: T2
With Katrin
ROUTE:
