Tgapeala Cotschna (2712 m) - bike & hike from Alvaneu Dorf

Tgapeala Cotschna is a peak above the village called Alvaneu Dorf. Until now it had only been been described twice here on hikr.org, and in both cases it was a ski tour.

I started my hike just above the village Alvaneu Dorf at elevation 1250 m. There is a small parking lot at the end of the road. To drive further up, a special permit is required. I brought my mountain bike along, but I mostly walked the bike up on the unpaved forest road (T1). The average slope is approx. 12 %. After 8.5 km distance and 1000 m elevation gain I reached the end of that forest road at Alp da la Creusch.

From Alp da la Creusch, I headed more or less straight up towards Tgapeala Cotschna P.2701. At the beginning T2, then T3, and just before the summit T3+. Next, I hiked along the ridge to the main summit. This was a little bit more difficult due to some snow, but still not more than a T3.

The view from the summit was magnificent. Even though Tgapeala Cotschna is not a very prominent peak, it offers spectacular views to the surrounding mountains, such as Pizza Naira, Aroser Rothorn, Erzhorn, Guggernell, and Piz Mulain!

According to the summit book, Tgapeala Cotschna is visited about 25-30 times a year (often by locals). So this mountain is actually much more popular than I would have thought. Today there were two hikers with a dog up there, but they left the summit before I made it up there.

For the descent, I headed straight down the ridge from the main summit (T3), and back to Alp da la Creusch. During the descent with the mountain bike, I took a longer but less steep road between P.1586 and P.1431.

All in all a wonderful golden October hike!

Please see attached GPS track for more details on the route.

Equipment:
- Hiking sticks