A Peak and a Pass

After a comfy night, a filling breakfast, and another stroll around the interesting medieval town with huge slabs of Bagoss cheese on display, we headed on towards Lago di Ledro, which at 650 metres held hope for an acceptably not too hot night in the tent.

Bagolino is not a tourist hot spot. It doesn't feature in the Rough Guide to Italy. Perhaps we should attribute this to the richness of Italy's heritage rather than the inadequacy of the Rough Guide. There was one other guest at our hotel; the other hotel looked empty, but the place was vibrant with people going about their daily business. Just the sort of town it's nice to visit.

Our route took us back down to Lago d'Idro then up the Valle d'Ampola. A right turn led steeply up past hordes of road and (mainly) mountain bikers to a car park at 1690 metres a little beyond the small settlement of Tremalzo.

It was hot, but not unbearable. A stroll of little more than 1km took us to the 1973 metre summit of Monte Tremalzo, past meadows lush with orchids and a plethora of other Alpine species, many different from yesterday's sightings due to the higher elevation.

One particular plant had us puzzled - a small white 'orchid' or so we thought. We encountered just two people on the walk - and they chose this moment to pass by - a Gertalian couple armed with a weighty tome - 'Flora Helvetica'. They repeated Gillian's explanation about some of this area, dominated by Monte Baldo, having been above the glaciers in the last ice age, as a result of which some ancient species survived that period. One of those species is 'Monte Baldo - Segge' or Monte Baldo Sedge (Charetsch baldens), a grass rather than an orchid. Very pretty! Not in our reference book.

Having gained a peak, albeit with limited views due to the ever present heat haze, we returned the same way, enjoyed a lunch break during which a serenading acrobatic lark entertained us from the top of a tree, and then wandered 1.5km in the other direction to Passo del Dil, for more hazy views.

Our stats for the day: 5km, 500 metres ascent, 3 hours. Very relaxing for us, but not for the mountain bikers, who were slogging relentlessly upwards and on into the mountains. I can't say I wasn't jealous though!

Down at the acceptably warm but not too hot 'Camping Azzurro' by Lago di Ledro (back amongst lots of tourists) Sue heard English voices in the supermarket, but as I type those voices are silent. Surprised Germans sit bemused in their TV equipped motor homes and Italian children gasp "non è possibile" as Germany quash Argentina in the football World Cup.

We will enjoy a beer - 'happy hour' has just commenced - before heading to the lake shore for an alfresco dinner - salad, I suspect.

Today's image shows Sue in a typical pose with an orchid - scrutiny of the flower book will take place later, but don't expect a long list like yesterday's. We are saving that, in a different format, for when we next see Gillian.

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