Piz della Palù (3177 m) - hike from Lago di Lei

Piz della Palù (3177 m) is the second highest peak around Lago di Lei, only surpassed by the neighboring peak Piz Timun. It lies exactly on the border between Italy and Switzerland. The easiest way to hike there is via the east ridge, so it is best to start at Lago di Lei.

Route and difficulties: I crossed the dam, and hiked past Alpe della Palù. Initially, the general direction was straight towards the summit. I tried to stay on somewhat grassy areas as long as possible. At elevation 2750 m I started traversing towards the east ridge. Until here the difficulty was T3. On the ridge itself, some areas were quite easy to hike, but there is also a lot of big rocks (mostly stable though). The ascent on the east ridge I would rate T4-. The hands are sometimes needed. For the descent I tried to stay on remaining snowfields if they were not too steep, and surf down on the snow.

Weather: Overall the weather was great today. When I started the hike at 7:30 AM, there was some fog lingering around the lake and up to Alpe della Palù. Later during the ascent between elevation 2100 m and 2700 m it became quite hot in the sunshine, and I was struggling a bit. On the east ridge above elevation 2800 m it was quite windy, and that made it a lot more pleasant to hike uphill. But at the summit the wind was stronger and it was a lot colder. I needed to put on a sweater and a windproof jacket, a winter hat, and gloves! When I got back down to the dam, it was pretty hot again even if I was only wearing a T-shirt.

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

Remarks:
- Please see the attached GPS track for more details on the route.
- I did not meet any other hikers on this tour, except for the usual tourists and fishermen down at the hydropower dam.
- The total time given for this hike includes a total of one hour breaks.