Piz Piot (3052 m) and Piz Mäder (3000 m) - bike & hike from Bivio

Piz Piot (3052 m) and Piz Mäder (3000 m) are two mountain peaks which are quite far south of Bivio, but a day trip from Bivio is manageable when doing a bike & hike. There were already about 20 tour reports for Piz Piot, but this is the first one which does not start from Juf in Avers.

Start of the hike at 8:30 in Bivio. The weather was perfect with blue skies, but with a cold breeze from the north. As usual here, I brought my mountain bike along. Going uphill, I partially biked, and partially walked the bike. The road to the Septimer pass is paved for 1.5 km, the rest is unpaved but in good shape. At the the Septimer pass, I parked the bike, and continued on the white-red-white marked trail in southerly direction for about 600 meters. Next, I followed an unmarked trail which goes in direction Val Turba. There is an elevation loss of 50-60 m associated with this, but it still seems the easiest way to get into Val Turba.

In Val Turba, I continued off trails towards P.2870 between Piz Turba and Piz Mäder. The last part of the ascent is rather steep and there is still a snowfield remaining (T4-). After P.2870, I descended by snow surfing towards the unnamed lake at elevation 2689 m. From the lake, I proceeded up on the NE ridge to the summit of Piz Piot (max T3+). On the way up I met another hiker who had started from Casaccia, and who was already on the way down from Piz Piot.

The view from the summit of Piz Piot was magnificent in all directions! And it was very quiet up there. I spent nearly an hour at the summit, and I don't think I ever heard any human made noises during that time. Surprisingly, the only mobile phone reception I had from the summit was from an Italian provider (exactly like I experienced it on Piz Turba 2 weeks ago). Just as I was about to start my descent, another hiker reached the summit.

Generally I hiked the same way back, except that I took a detour to Piz Mäder. This mountain is by itself well worth a tour, but it seems that people hardly ever go there. For the ascent to Piz Mäder, I chose the west ridge, or you could say the north edge of the west flank (T3+).

For the descent from Piz Mäder; I surfed down a scree couloir on the east side (T4).

After I got back to the Septimer pass, it was a quick bike ride back down to Bivio.

Overall, it was rather windy and a bit chilly throughout the hike. I don't know how many times I put on my fleece jacket because it was too cold without, but 15 min later it was too warm wearing it...

Equipment:
- Gaiters
- Hiking sticks
- Ice axe (not used)

Total tour distance: 26 km, thereof:
Hiking and biking uphill: 7 km
Hiking: 12 km
Biking downhill: 7 km

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