Elevation gain: 1.902 m (ca 500 m by funicular)
Elevation loss: 1.827 m

You set off from Como in Piazza Cavour and follow the lakefront road until you arrive at the Funicular (222 m; 0.6 km) and take it to reach Brunate (688 m; 1.7 km). From there walk along Via Roma and Via Nidirino. After passing the sports facility, leave the asphalt road (parking lot) and take the trail on the right, leading to the woods (619 m, 2.3 km). The first stretch is narrow and cuts along the hillside of a quite steep slope. Climb down until reaching a fork with a signpost, where you merge into the mule track on the left, which starts out as a pronounced slope and then turns into steps that lead to Capovico (282 m, 4.2 km). The path continues, alternating alleys and paved road until Sopravilla (285 m, 4.8 km) and Sorto (265 m, 5.2 km); you keep following the path as a set of stairs leads into the narrow streets of Cazzanore (258 m, 5.8 km). After a little while, the trail overlaps a short section of the S.P. 583. After leaving behind the few houses of Parlasca, take the street on the left in order to avoid the tunnel of the provincial road and then take Via Rasina on the right; after passing the small Chapel “del Tuè”, walk down to Torno (228 m, 7.6 km). Once in the village, reach a three-way split, turn right and after passing an arch, follow Via al Pozzo until the sign for the Strada Regia, where you take Via per Molina, the first on the right. From there keep walking until reaching the provincial road, nearby a stone bridge. Follow it for about 300 m and then turn on the paved ramp that climbs steeply towards the mountain. An ancient stone bridge (354 m, 9.8 km) allows you to pass over the deep Pliniana valley. The trail leads into the woods and along the hillside, to the Chapel dedicated to San Rocco. A set of steps take you to the borders of the little community of Molina, on Via XX Settembre (426 m, 10.9 km). You reach Piazza Sant’Antonio and from there take Via Bargiola and keep walking on Via Fontana Vecchia. The path that crosses Molini Valley is cobblestone: you reach the meadows of Brema and thanks to some large rocks, ford the valley’s stream.
The next stretch takes you through farmed terraces, then you leave behind the Chapel of the Madonna del Rosario and enter the small community of Lemna (539 m, 9 km). Walk through the village on Via Cappelletta and then, following Via di Mezzo, you reach the Church of San Giorgio. The path continues on asphalt road (Via Bernardo Silo) and then on the provincial road that leads to Palanzo.
Right at the threshold of the small town, a set of steps on the right take you to the path that climbs to the older houses, the colonnade and to piazza della chiesa di Sant’Ambrogio (597 m, 15.3 km).
Leave the village by walking through Via Pisciola and, after the chapel dedicated to the Madonna di Loreto, follow the mule track that steeply climbs down to the lake towards Pognana Lario (310 m, 17.3 km). Cut across the village on Via Quarzano and then on Via Careno until you reach Quarzano (299 m, 18.5 km); then, after taking a fairly steep ramp, you access the path that climbs to the Careno Mountains (680 m, 20.3 km). On Via dei Monti, you walk past the mountain cabins and, at the switchback (529 m, 21.1 km), you take the path on the right to Nesso.