Gema - Source of the Frascesca

From the town of Teglio, follow the signs for Prato Valentino until you reach the locality of Gema Bassa. On the main hairpin bend, at a farm, a nice dirt road grafts on the right, the starting point of the route, where it is possible to park. From the wide pasture on your right there is a beautiful view of the eastern part of Valtellina and in particular of the town of Tirano. Leaving the Gema meadows, you enter a beautiful mixed forest of chestnut, cherry and birch trees; to the side of the road accompanies an undergrowth of small strawberries. Upstream, at the first pasture you come across, it is possible to see the head of the Rio valley, behind which the Swiss border runs, and, further to the right, you can see Mount Cancano towering above a wide slope covered with spruce and larch forests. Continuing on, after passing a wetland characterized by an alder forest, near two small stone buildings there is a fine view of the Orobic slope and the Mortirolo Pass. When you reach the crossing of a small stream of continue straight on at the foot of green pastures, leaving the uphill dirt road on the left. You thus come to a green metal parapet from which you can see Mount Cancano in all its majesty; from this point you enter, for a short distance, a beautiful forest of pure beech and the path begins to be accompanied by the gurgling of the Rio stream. After a short while you reach the Frascesca spring. After a few more meters downhill you can see a vein of limestone rock, distinguished by its whitish color, which in ancient times was worked in the nearby furnace.