I am planning on spending a few days trekking in/around the Val Darengo near Lake Como in late April early May. I have a few questions:

1. Map. I have a Global Map hiking map of Lake Como area but the Val Darengo area is not included. Is there a hiking map by Kompass or others that includes this area?
2. Emergency Contact. I will be carrying a InReach satellite device which of course is text only. Is there an organization - police/civic or otherwise one could contact in case of emergency in the above mentioned area. Again, this would be via text only - not phone.
3. Are there similar valley hiking areas/paths (and of similar length/difficulty) close by that may be worth exploring additionally?
4. Are there some mountaineering/hiking stores close to the town of Como?

Any help would be very much appreciated.

brandtb wrote:I am planning on spending a few days trekking in/around the Val Darengo near Lake Como in late April early May. I have a few questions:

1. Map. I have a Global Map hiking map of Lake Como area but the Val Darengo area is not included. Is there a hiking map by Kompass or others that includes this area?
2. Emergency Contact. I will be carrying a InReach satellite device which of course is text only. Is there an organization - police/civic or otherwise one could contact in case of emergency in the above mentioned area. Again, this would be via text only - not phone.
3. Are there similar valley hiking areas/paths (and of similar length/difficulty) close by that may be worth exploring additionally?
4. Are there some mountaineering/hiking stores close to the town of Como?

Any help would be very much appreciated.

ad 1): I've been using Kompass Map WK 92, Valchiavenna, Val Bregaglia and WK 91 Lago di Como, Lago di Lugano. Both are scaled 1:50000 and have Val Darengo in one of their corners. I'd suggest Swisstopo maps, however can't say which are the ones for the area. But they are generally much better than the Kompass ones.
ad 2): don't have any
ad 3): I'd suggest Trekking Valle Spluga to the north of Lago di Como (also on Kompass WK 92 . For orientation you find a map here (also descriptions in Italian): http://www.paesidivaltellina.it/trekkingvs/index.htm
ad 4): The answer is "yes". Certainly in Como, definitely in Lecco on the other side of the lake and also in Chiavenna (where I stayed last September)

Thanks Gangolf. Just got WK 92..and images of Spluga look great. Appreciated.