Monte Croce di Muggio (or Monte Muggio) is a true natural pyramid: bounded by the Valvarrone (N), the Valle di Casargo (E), the Valsassina (S) and Lake Como (W), it rises with fine views over the surrounding peaks.
The tarmac road leading to Alpe Giumello, though a little narrow and winding, saves us many hundreds of metres of ascent. Having left the car in the large car park (m1538), we set off westwards, past the pink building of Capanna Vittoria and the Lilliputian cottages of Alpe Giumello, then through a dense little fir wood, beyond which the first wide view of Lake Como opens up.
We leave the dirt road and climb along the edge of the woods until we meet a wider, easier path. A few hairpins take us up the meadows, then a long traverse to the north-west brings us to a saddle overlooking the Valvarrone: on the left you climb a small knoll, the fore-summit of the Croce di Muggio, while on the right, along a grassy ridge, you gain the broad summit shoulder of Monte Croce di Muggio (m1800, 40 minutes). The views open wide over the Valsassina, with the Grigna and the Resegone, over the Pian delle Betulle, the Legnone and the Pizzo Alto, the peaks around Chiavenna, the Berlinghera and the Sasso Canale.
From the summit we descend the eastern grassy ridge towards the Piano di Giumello. From there, in less than ten minutes, we are back at Alpe Giumello (m1538, 30 minutes).
