[1] The rest of his life was spent in serving various cures in his native valley, though he suffered much at the hands of his brother monks, who could not understand his scientific tastes.

In addition he had the dreadful experience of learning, soon after his departure, that his monastery, with all its most precious archives, including his own original collection, had been burnt by order of a French general so as to punish the peasants who dared to resist his advance.

[1] Despite all these disadvantages, Spescha achieved an extraordinary amount of success in his mountain explorations around his native valley.

It is true that Spescha failed to attain the very highest summit, the Tödi, although in 1788 he ascended the Stockgron (11,214 ft), close to it, and only 673 ft lower, while in 1824, sitting on the depression (close to the Stockgron and 863 ft lower than the Todi), now called the "Porta da Spescha", he had the satisfaction of seeing the two local chamois hunters that he had sent forward actually attain the loftiest point.

Oddly enough, he does not seem to have visited any of the higher peaks of the Medel group, but only its outliers, here again the dread of glaciers probably holding him back.