Daloo and Lagunch are two enchanting rural villages near Chiavenna. Resting on two grassy balconies where three valleys meet (the Val Bregaglia, the Valle Spluga and the Chiavenna plain), they enjoy views of considerable beauty. And when a mule track of excellent workmanship climbs up to them, the hiker has the chance to bond even more strongly with the rural world of the mountains.
By car we leave the SS36 Spluga road at San Giacomo Filippo, taking a narrow, unsigned tarmac road that (coming from Chiavenna) we find on the right about fifty metres after the oldest part of the town. With a few rather steep stretches and some tight hairpins, we reach the farmhouses of Uggia (700 m), where there is a small car park.
The path starts among the wooden huts; a little higher up it crosses the road again, and beyond it the route becomes picturesque: we walk on a track made of a mosaic of stones, which climbs in irregular hairpins, zigzagging between beeches and birches. After climbing a particularly steep slope, on which the mule track cuts a tight hairpin, the woods thin out; the track climbs onto a grassy shoulder, winding uphill among birch trees, and finally reaches the meadows of Dalò (or Daloo, in the original form, m1075, 1 hour).
We turn right, continuing on the path, to the centre of Dalò, with its picturesque little white church. Behind it, beyond the bright green meadows, the Dolomite-like bulk of Pizzo di Prata forms the backdrop. Going to the far edge of these meadows, up the slopes behind the church, we come to the large iron cross of Dalò (m1108, 10 minutes): the view opens over the Valchiavenna and the lower Val Bregaglia; below us, the town of Chiavenna.
Right behind us, well signposted, begins the path to Lagunc (m1352, 40 minutes), another splendid hamlet, gathered elegantly around a small lake, which we reach along a fine route through the woods, now coniferous. The care taken over the gardens will surprise you, as will the tables and sunshades: a real oasis of relaxation at altitude, in the middle of surroundings that are still in their natural state. Set a little above the houses, a white chapel on the edge of a precipice keeps watch over the views of the peaks of the Val Bregaglia. Behind it, a small grassy clearing with two tables; a sign reminds us that Lagunc is the finishing point of the "Vertical Kilometre", a race that involves climbing and descending from Chiavenna (352 m, at Loreto) to Lagunc (1352 m).
For the return we retrace the outward route: we plunge back into the dark fir wood, which we leave only near Dalò (m1075, 30 minutes). Past the many houses of the village, which has recently been going through a phase of heavy building, we rejoin the mule track to return to the car (m700, 45 minutes).
