16 km, 200 metres ascent, in 5.7 hours including breaks.
Weather: blue sky with frost that didn't clear in the shade until the afternoon.
Cumulative statistics for the full eight day round trip from Chiesa are as follows:
102 km with 6750 metres ascent.
These figures may be amended when I've downloaded the data from my Garmin Forerunner 310XT which was used throughout the trek.
What a beautiful day on which to conclude a gorgeous mountain walk.
We appreciated the ambience of Rifugio Cristina's fine location before heading off across the frosty alp. There was very little climbing today, the belvedere path leading gently down to the tree line that we were last below on the walk up from Chiareggio several days ago.
It was shorts and t-shirt weather, if a bit chilly in the frosty shade.
The views to Monte Disgrazia and to the Bernina massif were immaculate. The recent rain seems to have cleared the atmosphere and there was no discernable haze to cloud our views. The morning remained cloudless, with wafts of high cloud appearing in the afternoon. (I nearly said 'after lunch' but we didn't really have any as all the shops seem to be shut on Monday afternoon.)
Luckily we'd had a good rifugio breakfast. That and the flask of tea and some biscuits fuelled us sufficiently to see us happily meandering back to the hotel from which we set off eight days ago. They spotted us arriving and the doors opened to welcome us in as the day's only guests.
Then it was a quick sort out for the trip home, beer o'clock, and an excellent meal at the ever friendly Restaurant Malenco, just around the corner, where the waitress spent a year on Jersey (40 years ago) and likes to practice her English. It's a great place in which to finish a trip like this one. We had a pizzocheri for you Gillian, and raised our glasses in appreciation of your encouragement to us to visit this area.
We will come here again.
Today's pictures:
Pizzo Scalino and Sue
Bernina peaks from Alpe Acquanera
A spring/shrine equipped with a ladle
Looking towards the Bernina massif from Alpe Cavaglia
Close up from the same place
Looking down to Caspoggia, with Monte Disgrazia
Chiesa (2)
Pizzo Scalino and Sue
Bernina peaks from Alpe Acquanera
A spring/shrine equipped with a ladle
Looking towards the Bernina massif from Alpe Cavaglia
Close up from the same place
Looking down to Caspoggia, with Monte Disgrazia
Chiesa (2)
3 comments:
Lovely trip, enjoyed that. Looking forward to see what you get up to next...
Happy Beer o'clock! What is a pizzocheri?
Thanks Louise, you'll have to wait a couple of months for the next trip - to a location where blogging may be extremely difficult.
Jenny, pizzocheri was explained earlier in the week. We'll try to recreate it for you sometime!
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