Saturday 19 July 2008 - An Italian Border Route (IBR) - Day 25 - Inversion

Cloud inversion from Colle Giulian, with Monte Viso

Plan: Day 26 - Bobbio Pellice to Ghigo di Prali - 18 km, 1900 metres ascent, 7 hours.

Actual: Bus from Torre Pellice to Bobbio Pellice, then a lift to Villanova for GTA stage 19 to Ghigo di Prali, 1455 metres:
14 km, 1300 metres ascent, 6.8 hours including 1.2 hours breaks.

Best bit: Views to Monte Viso at lunch time, over a sea of cloud.

The highlight of the day was the magnificent view towards Monte Viso from our lunch spot at Colle Giulian, 2451 metres. Here's the message we sent at the time. We had spent nearly 3 hours in fairly thick cloud, so it had been a great relief to find the sun beaming down from a blue sky shortly before we reached the col.

Saturday morning: we expected to see a rush of people to the hills on this first day of the Italian holidays. But it took 30 minutes to get a lift out of Bobbio Pellice, then we saw nobody until we were approaching the col. It was a silent ascent past huge mulleins - no birds, cattle, humans or water - just the click of our sticks and the gentle thud of our boots in the 20 metres of world that was visible to us.

We had met a few people descending into the mist, and we joined two Italians and a shepherd on the col with the view. It really was superb.

Notchy's News Service joined us at lunch time, so we now know all about the City supporters' failed attempt to get their trawler to the Faroes, and the terrible twins of Fanny Mae and Freddie Mac.

Notchy is almost as up to date with world events as the cockatoo at Rif Jervis!

Nick's 'Courmayeur Hotel Information Service' also joined us at lunch time, so we had a very bleepy time. Thanks for this service, Nick, we didn't realise that you were about to go to Shanghai, but you know what they say about busy people. (Seems like you are trying to compensate for our current lack of carbon footprint.)

The descent to Ghigo was steep but uneventful albeit back to the usual array of floral colour, with an increase in activity as we approached the village confirming that the Italian holidays have indeed started.

After our experience with the full refuge at Rif Baillif-Viso the other day, we thought the Posto Tappa here may be full. So we got Sara to book us in. On arrival we were immediately recognised and led to our dormitory. The beds are good and the water hot. We are the only people staying in the Posto Tappa, and the first English people they can recall having visited them. Here's our message about the Posta Tappa.

Any other sales of Gillian Price's GTA book appear to have been to armchair readers!

We've heard about the excellence of Posto Tappa meals. We were not disappointed.

We started with two types of pasta - pasta with artichokes, and penne with mushrooms. Then part-cured pork with relish, accompanied by salad and chips and a dish of turkey in a creamy sauce. For dessert, pannacotta/chocolate mousse. Behind us was a shelf of Barolo wines dating back to 1971, and another with a huge selection of grappa.

PS Our 'Year of Constant Summer' continues - but for how long?

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Inversion

Here's Sue preparing lunch earlier today at Colle Giulian - 2451 metres. Monte Viso is above the cloud in this view south.

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Friday 18 July 2008 - An Italian Border Route (IBR) - Day 24 - The Wonderful Sara

Two chefs commune

Plan: (Day 25) Rest Day

Actual: A busy day of planning and provisioning - in the sun, of course.

Best bit: Sara's smile after all her efforts on our behalf.

Cumulative to date (planned in brackets):
354 km (341), 25550 metres ascent (25100), 133 hours (roughly!) walking (141).
No of summits visited: 7 (that may stay the same for a while)
No of cols or passes visited: 52
Highest point: Point Joanne - 3054 metres
No of native English speakers met/seen from a distance: an American coach party.
Serious applications of waterproofs: 0

Messages:

Nothing much to say, you'll probably be delighted to hear - we've received only very few comments over the past few days, but thanks AS and Roman for continuing to show an interest, and the visitor numbers seem to indicate a few other victims for my ramblings.

Today we sought to resolve a couple of problems whilst in this pleasant town - Torre Pellice. We were woken early, as the weekly market was setting up outside our window, so that helped to get us under way.

Breakfast was excellent and set us up well for an arduous day.

Camping gas is a rare commodity hereabouts, even in quite large towns like this one. Another train journey looked on the cards when the hardware shop could only produce canisters of the piercing type. Eventually Sara was able to point us to a sports shop (usually a waste of time) where a man shook his head glumly. But on production of our stove....'Ah, maybe' (in Italian of course). He led us to a locked garage.
Wow!
We now have three and a half canisters of Coleman Fuel. The weight is off our minds and onto our backs! Given the necessary increase in the use of refuges and hotels, they may last the whole trip. They'll certainly see us to Courmayeur, where we know gas is available.

The above-mentioned Sara is the lady in Tourist Information who has worked for over two hours on our behalf today. She has been exceedingly helpful, making about a dozen forward bookings for us.

The problem is that whilst we have a tent, wild camping, even outside Rifugios, is strictly illegal - and rigorously enforced - in the Gran Paradiso National Park. We now have selected bookings up to that point, which we can mix with camp sites and wild camps. But in Gran Paradiso the Rifugios we wanted were fully booked. This has obliged us to change our route rather than force the issue and, as Alpine Club members, demand (floor) space in the already full Rifugios (not a pleasant experience anyway).

So, we have a pretty clear idea of where we will be up to day 47, after when wild camping returns as an option. Instead of Rifugios in Gran Paradiso we will be using mainly the sparse camp sites, meaning a significant route adjustment. One of these camp sites has even had to be pre-booked - Sara telephoned every one in the district.

But it's still a fine route, and all we need now is a nice place to stay in Courmayeur on 6 and 7 August. Any offers? Nick, any chance of a bit of research on our behalf?

I little more forward booking will be desirable, but that's for another day.

All this, of course, commits us to our 'day ahead' timetable, so we will have to walk in the rain when it finally arrives.

Torre Pellice is a lovely town, and we've really enjoyed our stay here, albeit much of the day has been spent dealing with 'admin' tasks.

Tonight the bar across the road is vibrant, a brass band can be heard up the road, and opera singers (who we watched for a while) are in full flow down the road in Via Repubblica.

We are in Beckwith House, named after a British General born in Nova Scotia, John Charles Beckwith (1789-1862), a benefactor of the Valdesi area. His tomb is just up the road. The area is also known for having taken a stand against Nazi/Fascism. An interesting place. We are very rare English visitors, likewise the American party, who are cheese hating vegetarians, and mostly quite thin, as you might expect from such a diet. The chef has been challenged by this, but the good man gave us lots more cheese tonight, and managed to force down us five helpings of his excellent pizza before we finally refused more.

We are bloated.

Star of the evening was the aged Italian lady who sat next to us at dinner. She must be about 85. On hearing us talking about Gran Paradiso she started to relate tales from her youth. Her first glacier experience was on holiday with her father. He had borrowed some rope used for tethering cows from their hotelier. There were no ice axes or crampons. She held up her white handkerchief to illustrate the steepness of the snow (vertical, it seems). 'I was very scared' she said.

A grand old lady.

Anyone wishing to view our summary and detailed itineraries, or our kit lists, should use the link to the GTA web page from the home page of http://www.topwalks.com/

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Thursday 17 July 2008 - An Italian Border Route (IBR) - Day 23 - Some Good Decisions

Here we are, on Colle Seilliere

Plan: Day 24 - Refuge Baillif-Viso to Bobbio Pellice - 23 km, 600 metres ascent, 6.5 hours.

Actual: As planned, then bus to Torre Pellice, and the hotel Foresteria Valdese di Torre Pellice, 545 metres:
21 km, 500 metres ascent / 2300 metres descent, 8 hours including 1.7 hours breaks.

Best bit: View of Mont Blanc / the selection of cheeses at dinner.

It was, as predicted, a gloriously quiet night. We woke to blue sky with high cloud, and cloud in the valley.

After an efficient breakfast in the refuge we waved off our mountain biking friends and set off up the path to Colle Seilliere - 2854 metres. A backpacking Dutch couple had set up camp at a path junction. As we chatted with them others passed on their way to Passo delle Traversette as they circumnavigated Monte Viso. We had already pointed some people this way after they had stumbled upon our tent. They had left the refuge in completely the wrong direction. Perhaps they hadn't noticed the signs.

We headed on up to our col, completely alone. It is not on the Tour of Monte Viso.

From the col, stretched across the horizon in a line about 100 miles away were the distinctive bulge of Mont Blanc, the Matterhorn (looking like Schiehallion on an inconsequential day) and Monte Rosa. They will surely get closer in days to come whilst Monte Viso will slide into history.
We had 'phone reception, and sent this message home; we were ready to gloat!

Border Stone 46/1 - erected in 1992 - graced Colle Seilliere. This is perhaps the last border stone we will see for a while, or even on this trip, as our route now heads north well inside Italy, by-passing Sestriere and the vast areas of ski pistes that serve the needs of nearby Turin.

Two Germans arrived on the col from the north, as we studied the lovely purple saxifrage that graces such places.

As we descended we noticed from the Nature Reserve signs that we have moved from Cuneo Province to Turin Province. Both cities enjoy wide views of the mountains that top valleys that flow towards the cities like the spokes of a wheel. They must be brilliant homes for outdoors enthusiasts.

Alpenrose returned with a vengeance as we strolled into the cloud filled Pellice valley.

Lago Lungo housed small trout, swimming alongside which were 'black fish with legs' - about 9-12 inches long. These were rare salamanders, Salamandra Lanzai. What a treat!

At 2100 metres we entered the pink world of the mountain houseleek, and passed the wreckage and memorial to a USAF plane crash in 1957.

On we went by campers (rising very late in a lovely meadow) and past busy ants and nodding harebells, to reach a wide plateau at 1800 metres. Huge beds and massive chutes of rubble indicated that it is not always so benign just here. (Perhaps there is a huge pipe, and the water is being stolen by the residents of Turin.)

Hamlets accessible only by 4WD advertised local cheese and honey (miele) and showed off proudly their roofing skills using massive chunks of local slate.

Big dogs are used to protect the sheep around here, as in the Vanoise and elsewhere. They lazed next to the dozy flocks today, not a wolf in sight. Cuckoos and skylarks flitted away when they saw us.

The wide plateau was overlooked by a large Tyrolean house with a sundial. This turned out to be Rifugio Jervis, doing a good lunch time trade with walkers from the valley for whom this was their high point, albeit 400 metres below the ceiling of today's thin veil of cloud, and over 1000 metres below the wonderful views to Mont Blanc.

We passed by, pausing briefly to chat to a caged cockatoo (in Notchy's silence he passed on some world news - 'no change' he said) before heading down into a steep sided valley with huge waterfalls for our own luxurious alfresco lunch.

From Rif Jervis we were back on the GTA route for the hour or so down a lovely old mule track, full of small blue butterflies, to Villanova. On the opposite side of the valley were huge caves under massive overhanging boulders.

Villanova has just a Posto Tappa and a few ruined buildings and we prefer more interesting places for our rest days. So we continued on down the Pellice valley. We missed a path, but it was probably an unsigned jungle traverse that we escaped from, and as compensation we had a huge raspberry tree all to ourselves along the quiet lane.

A path eventually arrived, contouring stubbornly above Bobbio Pellice before suddenly dropping into the town. All the way down the valley information boards had punctuated our progress, giving graphic details of the flora and fauna, as well as roof building, cheese and honey making, and lots more. They were great.

A quick look around Bobbio revealed - well, not a great deal - and almost certainly no supplier of camping gas.

A bus stood in the square.

Decision time.

We hopped on for the 10 km ride to Torre Pellice down the valley.

A Good Decision.

Tourist Information, closed in Bobbio, was open and helpful.

Next decision - camp site or hotel.

We opted for the Foresteria Valdese, a Hotel recommended by Tourist Info.

Another Good Decision.

We have a nice room and enjoyed dinner with an elderly French couple and an Italian lady. The local red wine went down very well, and as we are on holiday tomorrow there is no pressure to write this.

There is a coach party from the US, on a 'Reformation Tour' staying here. The first native English speakers we have seen for over three weeks. Hello Beverley, hello Cindy, hello All!

Highlight of the evening was the cheese course, with local cheeses not even available in Turin on the platter, which was trolleyed around by an enthusiastic rotund chef who wanted everyone to try everything. He likes people like us with good appetites. We will eat here again tomorrow!

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Mont Blanc

It may be 100 miles away but you should be able to see Mont Blanc, the Matterhorn and Monte Rosa. This was from Colle Seilliere, 2854 metres, on Thursday morning.

Where would you prefer to be!?

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Wednesday 16 July 2008 - An Italian Border Route (IBR) - Day 22 - A 3000 Metre Day

At Point Joanne - 3054 metres

Plan: Day 23 - Val di Fiutrusa to Refuge Baillif-Viso - 24 km, 1600 metres ascent, 9 hours.

Actual: Colletto della Battagliola to Camp by Ref Baillif-Viso, 2507 metres, via Pontechianale and Vallone Soustra:
22 km, 1700 metres ascent, 9.8 hours including 2.5 hours breaks.

Best bit: Views from a 3000 metre summit.
New high points: Passo della Losetta - 2872 metres, then Point Joanne - 3054 metres.

Another lovely sunny morning, with cloud coming this afternoon when the cool air blown in from the north met the hot air from the Italian plains.

We have just enjoyed a good meal in this French refuge that has 65 places. We are camped outside as the refuge is full!

After three weeks in empty hills and near empty refuges, this is a bit of a shock. But there is a walk called 'Tour of Monte Viso'. People like to be guided round it in large groups. To be fair, though, there is a mixture of people here (no other native English speakers of course), including a number of adventurous mountain bikers. We met one this afternoon. He was carrying his bike over a rock field on the way to a 2800 metre pass.

I'm sure the tent will be quieter than the refuge, it is actually our preference tonight.

At the meal, we sat next to Marie-Claire, an English teacher, and her husband Jean-Paul, He is the chief National Park warden at Cauterets, near Lourdes. He knows all the isards in that area by the names he has given them. His work is his passion. It was lovely to meet and enjoy the evening with them.

After crossing the highest point on the entire GTA route yesterday, we reverted to our IBR today and finally broke the 3000 metre mark on Point Joanne which, fittingly, is on the border - though we couldn't find a border stone.
On a bearing of 20 degrees, far to the north, were the snow clad mountains of our final destination in the Monte Rosa area. It'll take us 5 more weeks to reach them.

This morning the sun was on the tent by 7am, after the cuckoos and the barking deer had already roused us, and we were up and away soon afterwards. Our tent was after all straddling a footpath. We need not have worried. Pontechianale was still asleep when we arrived there from a pleasant woodland descent, accompanied by birds in urgent conversation. But a café provided coffee and ablutions, and provisions were easily obtained.

The walk up to Chianale, another lovely old picture postcard village, was a delight. We met two nuns carefully picking things from the undergrowth. 'Infusions' they said. Could it be camomile they were collecting?

The Tour de France comes this way on Saturday or Sunday, so the short stretch of road we walked up, after rejoining our planned route, was freshly tarmaced.

Then it was a long 1000 metre ascent up the lovely Vallone Soustra. We were going well, and after a picnic in the sunshine reached the high col - Passo della Losetta - that briefly gained the 'high point of trip' accolade.

Monte Viso, rather shy until now, reappeared in all its glory, but came and went in the cloud as we ascended Point Joanne. A lone young ibex was on the summit looking for its mother. From there, this refuge looked very close.

Back on the col, after a false start to the edge of a cliff (the map shows the path that way), we headed briefly down the Vallanta valley before turning along a vertiginous belvedere path to reach the Passo di Vallanta, today's gateway to France.

There were quite a few folk around, including a couple with a fit and nimble mongrel, and a good path over rocks and through snow fields led us slowly down to the refuge after another long but fulfilling day.

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Tuesday 15 July 2008 - An Italian Border Route (IBR) - Day 21 - Medieval Italian Villages

There were many sundials - this one in Chiazale, at 2.47 pm, perhaps requires re-calibration!

Plan: Day 22 - Rif Campo Base to Val di Fiutrusa - 18 km, 1800 metres ascent, 8.5 hours.

Actual: Alternative route based on GTA, via Rif Melezé to promontory 200 metres beyond Colletto della Battagliola, 2230 metres:
25 km, 1900 metres ascent, 11 hours including 2.5 hours breaks.

Best bit: Colle di Bellino/Medieval Village/Wild Camp.

New high point: Colle di Bellino - 2804 metres.

As it happens, our planned route to Val di Fiutrusa was well signed and would have presented no difficulties.

But due to the failure of Campo Base to provide suitable provisions, we were obliged to take the scenic route via the fine col, just beyond which we are camping. The nearby spring mentioned in our GTA guide is just about dribbling, so it did take 20 minutes with a grooved tent peg and a mug to collect tonight's water supply.

Campo Base, last night, provided perhaps our poorest meal yet, though adequate. The chef was fine, but one of his helpers was particularly dim, allowing food to go cold before she got round to serving it. This morose young lady, defined by her 'builder's bum' just didn't want to be there.

But Stephanie and Ulrike, both from Germany, made up for any defects with the food. We enjoyed a most pleasant evening with them. Ulrike has a phobia for large parties of Germans. She has a method of avoiding them; she starts on a Sunday evening and goes in the opposite direction to the German guide books. Good thinking Ulrike, and thank you for so generously providing the chocolate, muesli bars and croissant that the grocery department of Campo Base failed so miserably on. We are most grateful to you. None of said items made it to Colle di Bellino.
On Colle di Bellino

Stephanie, we hope you had a more relaxing day after your energetic day out on Colle dell'Infernetto.
Could you let us have the name of your guide book, please - we know a few people that the gourmet tour would really appeal to (ourselves included).

As you may gather from the photos, it has been another cloudless day here. We got to a new high point with wonderful clear views.

Then we descended to ancient villages which resembled in some ways the villages in the Kali Gandaki valley on the Annapurna Circuit. They had many sundials - though we didn't count all 32 of them - there being an obsession with the sun around here.

One of the villages, Pleyne, had a small shop. Once we had managed to retrieve the lady of the shop from her other job - collecting hay - she was able to sell us from her minute store the excellent soup, risotto, tuna, mushrooms, chocolate and tea that we have just enjoyed and that Campo Base was so unable to provide. It was almost worth using this alternative route (which I have to admit is probably better than my original plan) just to meet this lovely old lady and her 'one tooth' husband. [Here they are.]

And after a final, well graded ascent to a col with 'the finest' views of Monte Viso, we found the little spring and the small promontory on which to spent the night. [Here it is.] Cuckoos are still awake, and a deer with a baby has spent 30 minutes staring at us and barking, but seems to have gone away now. We can see the small village of Castello, 700 metres below, and we've watched the sun's rays slowly slide up to the far horizon - the plains of Italy to the east, above which there is now a glorious pink glow.

It has been warm and windless here, so cooking outside was most enjoyable, especially as a swarm of flies took temporary possession of the tent!

Today also featured:
• The usual plethora of flowers, including field gentians for the first time.
• An amusing exchange of texts with Dave Oliver, during which he claimed to have caught an 11 pound carp.
• Another idyllic location for lunch.
• Very few people out walking, as usual.

All in all, another Brilliant Day.

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Monte Viso (2)

As you can see, we are now much closer.

'We worked hard for this' says Sue...

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Monte Viso

It has reappeared at last. Here is Sue at our highest point yet - Colle di Bellino - 2804 metres. Fabulous panoramic views.

11 am - we haven't seen anyone else yet today (Tuesday).

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Monday 14 July 2008 - An Italian Border Route (IBR) - Day 20 - The Chef's Cupboard

Chiappera and Rocca Provenzale

Plan: (Day 21) Rest Day

Actual: Rest Day

Best bit: Wandering around the pretty village of Chiappera, five minutes down the road.

Cumulative to date (planned in brackets):
286 km (276), 21450 metres ascent (21100), 111 hours (roughly!) walking (117).
No of summits visited: still 6 (they are harder now!)
No of cols or passes visited: 47
Highest point: Colle del Sautron - 2687 metres
No of native English speakers met/seen from a distance: still 0 - apart from the Welsh car in the Monti Liguri area.
Serious applications of waterproofs: 0

Messages:

To Merlijn in Amsterdam:
Congratulations, you are the first person encountered en route to have commented on the blog. We did enjoy our brief time with you and Milka at Malinvern and we hope you appreciated the wonderful weather we brought with us!

To Gayle and Mick:
Congratulations on getting to John O'Groats and commiserations on your having to return to the 'day jobs'.
We're sure you'll enjoy the C2C in September.
How about applying for next year's TGO Challenge?
And Gayle, you must be a glutton for punishment trying to catch up with these ramblings!

To Notchy:
Thank you for the updates on world affairs. Will you still be able to send them from the trawler you have hired to watch City, or was that someone else and you will be watching City's European debut from the sidelines of the Field Kitchen?

To Roman (Lighthiker)
Thanks for your messages. My own Alpine experiences regarding Italians largely echo your own. I would add that they have a penchant for travelling, and walking, in coach loads, which can be a little tedious for others when their route is of the Via Ferrata nature. Also, the coach loads sometimes meld into groups of huge numbers. Some of our readers will recall an episode on Piz Boë when we lost track of each other in the crowd (who were all singing) and had difficulty negotiating our way to the summit.
But, as you say, the huts are full of other nations (I hesitate to say 'Germans'!).
We will soon have to make some advance bookings, I fear, but we do have the lovely green tent as back-up, and we are Alpine Club members...
We are using the Italian IGC 1:50000 maps, which actually show the paths surprisingly accurately. Even with our 'Jungle Experience' I'm sure there was a path, it was just so overgrown and infested with animal tracks that we missed the correct route.
But our ongoing route over Passo di Fiutrusa raises concern on two counts:
• The 2858 metre pass has a steep 700 metre drop to the north.
• Our catering arrangements for the crossing/possible retreat are logistically flawed.
So we may well instead follow the GTA route, which I did plan as a valid alternative.

Actually all alternatives are valid!

The GTA book by Gillian Price says 'groceries' are available here. It fails to mention that those groceries are basically items from the chef's store cupboard. So we could set off with a few catering packs suitable for a major expedition such as this, but as there is no sign of the mule whose droppings we followed over the Colle del Sautron yesterday, my food porter may object. And as the GTA route has a shop, supposedly, in Pleyne, and passes through the fleshpots of Pontechianale, we may choose that option.

The chef is a delightful chap, and quite happy to sell groceries from his cupboards. The flaw in Gillian Price's assertion that groceries are available here is her failure to mention that your menu should exclude muesli, chocolate, GORP, packet soup, etc (ie backpacking food).

Anyway, that's not really a problem, we've had a nice day here in lovely sunny weather. The pretty village down the road, Chiappera, has lots of children and chickens, and a lovely little church with a bulbous Tyrolean tower and outside frescos. Also a bar that sells very acceptable ice cream.

We have been very lazy ('recovering', says Sue) today, but we hope the chef has been busy, as we will be testing his skills tonight.

Anyone wishing to view our summary and detailed itineraries, or our kit lists, should use the link to the GTA web page from the home page of http://www.topwalks.com/

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Sunday 13 July 2008 - An Italian Border Route (IBR) - Day 19 - First Edelweiss

One of many Border Posts that we have passed - this one is particularly elaborate

Plan: Day 19 - Col di Puriac to Lac de l'Orrenaye - 15 km, 1000 metres ascent, 5.5 hours; Day 20 - Lac de l'Orrenaye to Rif Campo Base - 14 km, 800 metres ascent, 6 hours.

Actual: Route as planned to camping ground at Rif Campo Base, 1680 metres:
28 km, 1500 metres ascent, 11 hours including 2.5 hours breaks.

Best bit: The Wonderfully Clear Views.

As you might have guessed, we have enjoyed the multitude of wild flowers on this trip. But until today that icon of alpine flowers, the edelweiss, was missing from our list. Today it appeared - small blooms were sprouting as we passed through France, then larger specimens as we re-entered Italy. I'm sure they will now keep us company to the end of the trip.

We seem to have lost the ibex and chamois for the time being, but the noisy marmots are ever present.
So we didn't mind, last night, when the heavens opened and doused the shrieks that infested our otherwise excellent camping place. The tent needed a good wash. The soup - a consommé made from stock cubes, dried veg and chopped frankfurters, was excellent. Added butter (we have lots) improved the tortellini as the rain battered the tent.

Today dawned bright and fresh. My trouser legs were employed for the first time, and we set off at 8am in fleeces.

The 700 metre descent down a lovely valley then past the ruined village of Le Grange to Argentera was very much like the descent from a Lake District fell, except that there you don't get chirruping choughs and shrieking marmots.

We spent a while in the sleepy village. There was cake and chocolate to be eaten, cyclists on a time trial to watch, and a village square next to the church dedicated to someone who had lived for just 14 years in the mid C19. I even cleaned my new boots here since the morning's wet grass had nicely prepared them for the cleaning fluid for the first time.

This morning's good paths were not waymarked with paint. This means they are ignored by the modern signs that have been erected that seem to deny the existence of routes unless they have been 'painted'. So we often rely on old wooden signs to start us off on these little used paths. Such a sign pointed us up past La Tinetta towards the Roburent Lakes. We had plenty of time - it was planned to be a short day.

Up steeply through random terracing we went, rounding the rocky outcrop of Le Tinetta as a man far below got bored with the cyclists and trained his camera on us.

A Cameron in the Alps?

It was a lovely route through a mass of rock roses and cypress spurge, into superb rock scenery. A large 'tooth' towered above us.

After seeing just one person all morning, it came as something of a surprise to find hordes of people up at the lakes, picnicking in the sun. So that's what we did, for a leisurely hour, whilst Notchy's News Service (we had only turned the phone on to take a photo) brought us news of doom and gloom and Mark Cavendish.

Sunday Lunch in the Alps.

It was just a short way up to Border Post number 65 and our entry into France over Colle di Roburent - 2496 metres.

Just below, our planned wild camp, Lac de l'Orrenaye, littered with picnickers, glittered in the sunshine. It was 2pm.

Plan A - camp now.
Plan B - go flower hunting then camp.
Plan C - it's a lovely day for a walk.

It was indeed a lovely day for a walk. The westerly breeze would soon have cooled us had we stopped.

We left the picnicking hordes as we passed the path down to their French car park and headed on up to Col de la Gipière. The path was now on a French GR route, and therefore waymarked. We passed a couple, puzzling over their map.

Three people approached us as we passed snow finches and wheatears. They doffed their caps. Sue was impressed!

Then we short-cut the Rochouse gully and turned up the well graded path to Col de Sautron. A lone woman descending just about managed a greeting, then we were on our own for the rest of the walk to Rif Campo Base.

Col de Sautron, with border stone number 60, erected in 1823 (so apparently not part of the 1947 border change), is marked as 2687 metres on our map, another landmark, our highest point yet.

From there it was a gentle 1000 metre descent to camp, through 'Dolomitic' limestone scenery with little water or flat ground to camp on. Any wild camping here should be planned for the French side of the col.

Some spots of rain induced the donning of our pillows (waterproofs). That did the trick! The rain ceased immediately.

A short stretch of tarmac led finally to Campo Base at 7pm. The beers were welcome, before we adjourned to the tent to cook the food we'd carried all the way from Pietraporzio.

So, after this magnificent day's walk in perfect conditions we are a day ahead of schedule. I'm sure we'll find that handy in the days to come.

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Sunday Lunch in the Alps

At Lago di Roburent, looking back into Italy, and listening to the phone bleeping as Notchy's News Service provides bulletins. We like the ones about Mark Cavendish best.

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Saturday 12 July 2008 - An Italian Border Route (IBR) - Day 18 - A Jungle Adventure

The Path to Col di Puriac

Plan: Pietraporzio to Col di Puriac - 14 km, 1400 metres ascent, 5.5 hours

Actual: Route sort of as planned to wild camp in meadow at 2350 metres on the Italian side of Col di Puriac:
15 km, 1500 metres ascent, 7.7 hours including 1.3 hours breaks.

Best bit: Lunch on a bench in the charming village of Ferrere.

We had no idea how much our stay at Camping Centrosentieri was going to cost. Everything since our arrival had gone on a tab. (I've stopped noting costs on these pages as it was pretty meaningless.) The important thing was they took credit cards - cash is low and it's a week before we can get any more. In the event €70 for 2 night's camping, 2 night's meals, and lots of beer and coffee seemed pretty good value.

This really was a friendly place. As we left a lady walking her dog engaged us in conversation. This gave Sue the chance to practise some phrases that Christina had taught her last night.

This section of our journey takes us to Rif Campo Base. Gillian Price's GTA route does this in two days, but our philosophy of following the border will take three days. First we had to double back up to Ferrere. We passed close by this high village two days ago. We could retrace Thursday's 1000 metre descent (hard), we could walk up the road then a track (easy), or we could retrace up to Murenz and take a contouring path marked by a dashed line on our map (adventurous).

Today we were adventurous. We are shying away from dotted paths for safety reasons. Dashed paths should be ok though, or so we thought. We should have been alerted by the lack of signposts, but we carried on anyway along a lane to the start of our contouring path. Encouraged by a splash of yellow paint on a tree we continued enthusiastically into a jungle of nettles, rose bushes and pine trees. There was a sort of path so we continued, vigorously setting aside the thorny trees that blocked our way. The further we got the harder it became.

Animal tracks.

That was what we were on. Our freshly laundered clothes were soon thick with sweat and vegetation. Our throats were parched. We found a river bed. It was empty. So, in a move of genius, we walked (well, sort of stumbled) down the steep gully. After a while we were able to peer out from the confines of this gully to see that the thicket was not quite as thick here, so we exited the gully and floundered through more forest to the safe haven of an alpine meadow and the hamlet of Prinardo.

It had taken two and a half hours; it would have been an easy hour along the road.

There was a fountain, so we washed ourselves down and lubricated our throats. 'Buongiorno' we said to a man in the house next to the fountain; but there was no acknowledgement of our presence from this, the first grumpy person we have seen.

It was back to normal in the bar just up the road in Primavera, where the service was great and we decided we didn't smell too bad after all.

That was our Jungle Experience.

'It'll take you two hours to get to Ferrere' they said, but we were quicker. The nun would probably have taken just one hour! On the way we were joined by another victim for Sue's linguistic skills - an old chap with an old dog. He couldn't help us identify the soaring birds, light brown with a very light coloured underside, osprey size. Could they have been ospreys? They were a pleasure to watch, both on the wing and perched in the tops of trees.

The path to Ferrere was another unsigned one, but it was obvious enough until the cow zone, just below the village. We battled muddily through this to reach the isolated but vibrant little settlement that, being on a 'contraband route' probably has a rich history.
In front of the small church was a bench, with nearby fountain and waste bin to serve all our modest needs.

So we enjoyed lunch here whilst the church congregation sung. A man outside the next door house offered us chairs and a table, but we were comfy on our bench - he understood that, he was just being friendly.

Then it was an easy ascent up to Col di Puriac (2506 metres) and the view into the Mercantour region of France, from where a brisk westerly wind was emanating.

So we went back into Italy and descended past fighting marmots to this lovely meadow, with fine views north to the 3000 metre mountains we will pass by tomorrow.

It was a 3.30 finish, so we have a very leisurely evening ahead, in our home from home.

Cloudy with sunny spells today. T-shirts and shorts again, but some massive claps of thunder as dinner is prepared. Showers are forecast tomorrow. Will we actually get a chance to wear our pillows?

Despite it being Saturday we saw just two other walkers today (not on the jungle path!) and some birds that I think were yellowhammers, and some like large robins, flocking like snow finches - redpolls?

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Friday 11 July 2008 - An Italian Border Route (IBR) - Day 17 - A Lavender Day

Pietraporzio

Plan: Rest Day

Actual: Rest Day

Best bit: The friendly shop.

Cumulative to date (planned in brackets):
243 km (233), 18450 metres ascent (17900), 96 hours (roughly!) walking (100).
No of summits visited: 6
No of cols or passes visited: 43
Highest point: Cima d'Orgials - 2647 metres
No of native English speakers met/seen from a distance: 0
Amount of walking time in shorts and t-shirts: Approx 95 hours

Messages:

Firstly to Notchy, who woke up last night to the fact that we had received no News since leaving the UK!
Viva Espagne, and 'The Beautiful Game', to use your words, Notchy.
The two couples from the Czech Republic with whom we shared the restaurant were most impressed as we received your flood of text messages and were able to show our wonderful command of current world affairs.
We hope your 'field kitchen' is standing up to the English weather and that you are able to keep your chef, to whom we send our best wishes, motivated.

To the telepathic blogger, Alan Sloman:
OI! You don't have exclusive rights to Capital Letters, you know!

OUCH! I felt that!

Anyway, mine were borrowed from Darren!

To Hazel at Home:
You've gone very quiet. Have you left home? Night Bird, have you gone with her?

To our house sitters:
Thank you for your efforts! Judging by JJ's reports from Timperley, when it's not raining you are probably mowing the lawn!

To Gayle and Mick:
I dreamt you got to John O'Groats. If so, well done. What next?

To Tom Rivell:
Thanks for your message. Enjoy Italy yourself, it sounds as if the weather further north is also good. Hope to see you in the UK in August.

To the Williams family:
Great to hear from you. We hope you have a wonderful time in Chamonix. Say hello to John and Janet Howarth, or Mark Seaton (Alpine Guide) if you bump into them. We think you may be back home before we reach Courmayeur on 8 August, but if not....

To Nick:
Thanks for the ongoing translation service. We are glad we didn't attempt the Via Ferrata that was just a dotted line on our map, even if our rationale (avoiding possibly difficult snow slope) was perhaps awry.

Finally, to JJ in Timperley:
Please accept our apologies re 16 July. We will be proceeding along our route after another rest day which we hope will be as relaxing as this one!

This was a genuine rest day, though we did rise 250 metres above the village in an attempt at a 3 km circuit to Pontebernado and back before Sue rebelled.

The ice creams back in Pietraporzio were lovely.

The people are as well. At the camp site, Christina - from the Seychelles, so she speaks perfect English - has been most friendly and helpful. But the ladies in the village panetteria (shop) are real stars. Imagine the reception a couple of smelly hikers from Italy, with only a smattering of English between them, might get in some parts of Blighty, when entering a small village shop. Yesterday the ladies sold us breakfast for today. This morning they provided us with an excellent lunch. This afternoon they gave us lavender to ease our muscles and tried their very best, with great patience, many suggestions, and a long queue of customers, to meet our requirements for the next three days. Our breakfast will be cake (no muesli here, and the cake worked last time); our GORP will be Ritter bars; our soup will be veggie stock with frankfurters and some dried veg from our initial supplies; our main courses will be tortellini with proscuitto.

The ladies deserve an award for their friendliness and patience. They even sent us away with large chocolates from behind the counter. They were great.

The village is very small. Most of its roofs are of corrugated iron. The church is in the very centre and has lovely frescos. The village bar displays the weather forecast outside. We were surprised how quickly the earlier picture transmitted; then we noticed a massive dish on the camp site office's roof, and another on the hillside above us.

The last three days have to be the best three days of Alpine weather I have ever experienced. Judging from the hut book at Rif Malinvern very few English come this way - we found evidence of two such people in the last 7 years.

A few more comments to end for the time being:

• The sky was constantly blue.
• We had fun with a nun.
• Fabulous views, especially when Monte Viso and Les Ecrins came into view.
• At one point I thought I'd discovered an extra supply of cheese; sadly my socks were found to be empty.
• We discovered ourselves to be on several different routes at the same time - GTA, Via Alpina, Sentiero Balcone - the list goes on, but nobody else was on that path!

Your comments and messages are of course a pleasure to receive, and are most welcome.

Anyone wishing to view our summary and detailed itineraries, or our kit lists, should use the link to the GTA web page from the home page of http://www.topwalks.com/

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Happy Days

Here's Wednesday's view from Passo di Rostagno before our descent to 'Rivendell'. The snowy outline of Les Ecrins is visible, about 100 km away.

Back to Wednesday's Report

Thursday 10 July 2008 - An Italian Border Route (IBR) - Day 16 - A Long Way Round

Black Vanilla Orchid (Nigritella nigra)

Plan: Rif E Zanotti to Pietraporzio - 20 km, 1600 metres ascent, 9 hours

Actual: Route as planned to small camp site at Pietraporzio:
18 km, 1350 metres ascent, 10.3 hours including 2 hours breaks.

Best bit: The miniature rock gardens throughout the route.

Today we could have reached this camp site in about 3 hours. We had already taken a long way round compared with Gillian Price's version of the GTA route, and we can understand why some may shy away from yesterday's steep gradients.

But we persevered, following GTA signs all day on little walked paths, to arrive here tired but deeply satisfied at 6 o'clock after a 10 hour day, largely cloudless again for the third day running.

We rose around 7 to enjoy tea and cake for breakfast at 'Rivendell'. A dipper - rare in these parts but not the first we have seen - flitted up and down the stream as we packed up to leave by 8.
For the second night running we had enjoyed an idyllic camp site with not a single passer by.

After 5 minutes our path by-passed Rif E Zanotti, which as predicted seemed shut. It looked a nice place, but clearly the CAI has no guardian for this rarely visited place. Such Rifugios are available to stay in, but only by prior arrangement and collection of a key. They may also get winter usage from ski-tourers.

A man emerged from another small building 200 metres below and headed up the direct path to Zanotti. We found his building locked but steamed up!

From there we took an old military path, in one place passing through a finely constructed tunnel, up to Passo di Scolettas (2223 metres) where an extension to a (locked) private refuge effectively provides a conning tower with views down both valleys leading to this low pass.

Today's paths were back to the 'well graded' genre, probably for military purposes rather than for the King's hunting aspirations.

As we descended into the Pontebernado valley we met three women ascending.
Greetings exchanged - 'Buongiorno' - but no other information. They were probably 'hutting' the GTA by a German variant of the route. They were the only walkers we encountered today.

By 10am we were down in the valley, near Rifugio A Talarico. Unable to walk past this enticing establishment we took up a fine position at a picnic bench under some trees and enjoyed caffé lattés and the rest of our breakfast cake. Three fat ladies strolled aimlessly up and down a 100 metre flat stretch of the valley.

The Rifugio is now known as 'Zio John' and its guardian (John) is developing it as a centre for people interested in ecology and natural history. A very welcoming place.

We left 'Zio John' to ascend gently up 750 metres, past orange lilies and yellow foxgloves, then a lovely winding section through shrubby beeches. It was sunny, windless and 28C, but we passed a number of springs, the flowers were wonderful and the humidity low.

We were surprised to come across a dead chamois on the path. It looked healthy apart from a cut on its neck. Hurt in a fight? There was a large fat lizard nearby.

A building by a spring had an area that had been enclosed next to it. Now full of umbellifers and cranesbills, we wondered as to its purpose.

The path up to Colle di Stau, past clucking wheatears and flitting snow finches, was so finely graded we hardly noticed the climb.

Chocolate helped too! We stopped to see the cloud that has been sitting over the plains of Italy, whilst we have been in the sun these past three days, welling up over eastern hills.

Toadflax, daisies and birdsfoot trefoil welcomed us to the top of the pass, from which we descended to a grassy lip 30 metres lower for lunch. Usually it's the wind on an Alpine pass at 2500 metres that dictates a short descent for lunch. Today it was the flies, congregated at the highest point they could reach. Our spot, with a light breeze, was fly free. And our four day old bread was still fresher than we've had at some Rifugios.

The view was superb, dominated by high mountains on the border to our north.

These mountains ahead looked quite shaley, and on our descent we encountered some steepish shaley scree, with barbed wire from WW2. Perhaps there will be more of this scree to come. Fine, as long as it doesn't have a crust of snow!

The pink version of the black vanilla orchid reappeared here, to Sue's delight, and we enjoyed lovely bird song as we descended through woodland to the Rio Forneris at 1890 metres. Here the GTA was signed to our destination, and to Colle di Puriac further on along our planned route, but not up the narrow path from which we had arrived. A bit of a puzzle, as we had been following GTA markings all day!

We had a great view as the river plunged down 600 metres to the valley below, but our own path wound upwards for 400 metres through pleasant woodland to Becco Rosso. It was hot and steep. Even the plants were glistening with sweat. The high village of Ferrere looked serene in the distance.

We commenced the 1000 metre descent to Pontebernado with trepidation. It had been a long day already! But the military path had been well engineered. A 'pill box' distracted us. Its cool rooms led well into the hillside and its gun positions pointed east towards Italy. There were several of these 'boxes', and newly signed paths with still blank information boards led to more relics of war.

The gravelly path was beautifully lined with mountain houseleeks - sadly impossible not to tread on them!
It was like a rockery garden.

'It was like a rockery garden all day' said Sue, 'it makes up for my hanging baskets having to spend the summer in the shed!'

Orange and white butterflies floated past, then lower down they had black wings with white spots and a fluorescent tail. An adder lay curled up on the path. A red deer spotted us and ran off, barking.

As we approached the village - industrial noise, the sound of a road, and the smell of asphalt gradually invaded our senses.

We strolled into pleasant little Pontebernado at 5.30. Then, with Sue in her trusty trainers, down to the village of Pietraporzio. It's a friendly place, we discovered as we shopped for breakfast provisions and chatted to a lady in her 80s who knew all about the paths we had walked today.

Two minutes away from the village centre, a camp site beckoned. Next to our tent (well, 10 metres away) is a restaurant. We have enough gas and money for the time being. So any travelling on tomorrow's well earned rest day will, for a change, be entirely voluntary.

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Wednesday 9 July 2008 - An Italian Border Route (IBR) - Day 15 - The Race

Rifugio Migliorero - and the Lady in White

Plan: Passo di Sometta to Rif E Zanotti - 16 km, 1300 metres ascent, 6.5 hours

Actual: Route as planned to a wild camp just before Rif E Zanotti in a lovely meadow at 2270 metres:
16 km, 1450 metres ascent, 9.3 hours including 2 hours breaks.

Best bit: Wall to wall sunshine and another idyllic camp site.

We decided not to go home!

'Not here' said the nun, 'the nearest place for a coffee is Rif Migliorero'.

We had spotted her leaving what could have been a café after we had spent our first two hours descending 700 metres to Callieri down a path, P19, that is clearly rarely used.

Striking camp had been a leisurely affair as we admired more reflections of the mountains in our little lake. There had been no condensation, but on the way down, past butterwort and bistort in the cool mountain air, we did notice patches of ground frost.

A stretch of lovely shady woodland, with cuckoos and other cheerful birds, was interspersed with marshy overgrown sections where orchids and tall thistles were rampant. The willowherb will be rampant here in a week or two - it probably already is in our garden.

'We're going there.' Said Sue to the nun.
'OK' said the nun, 'we'll race you'.

Now you would think 20 small children and a nun would be no match for two hardened randonneurs at the peak of their game. So we let them off to a start whilst we lazily washed down the second half of our breakfast with delicious spring water - who needs coffee anyway?

The muesli substitute had been a great success, except that at our earlier sitting we had only been able to get through half of the magnificent jam and pastry cake that goes under the name 'Prodotto Artigianale - Fatto a mano'.

This gave our competitors a start, but we were still confident of overhauling them.

As we entered the small village of San Bernolfo we admired a big board showing all the local footpaths. We had considered a higher route, using the red dotted paths on our map. This board had lots of big red crosses and the words 'Via attrezzata!' next to them. We don't know what it all means, other than we are glad not to have chosen that route.

Our path - and we are back on the GTA, albeit not Gillian Price's version, now involved an 800 metre ascent to a col.

Though marked as such on our map, this does not appear to be the main GTA route. The path ran ambitiously through a potato patch. In the steepest way possible, that is.

The King clearly didn't venture this far on his hunting expeditions. This path was of a different time. No concessions for the weak. We were grateful that the horde of children ahead had broken the trail through the potatoes and onto the gravelly hillside. They were still far ahead, but we were catching the nun!

Clumps of fading asphodel and rampant dark mullein and yellow rattle failed to stunt our progress as we slowly overhauled the failing nun.

Disaster.

We passed a girl dressed all in white, exhausted beside the path.

The nun and her entourage were still ahead. Would we catch them? They disappeared.

Sue thinks they had (divine?) assistance.
I'm just baffled (really, try spell checking my surname!).

It was a THRUTCH (and as AS would say, 'the capitals are intentional') to Passo di Laroussa. There was no sign of the kids, it was lunch time, and we had run out of water. Great!

As we descended, 400 metres below us Rifugio Migliorero, a four storey affair resembling a wizard's castle, came into view. Sitting in the sun outside, my binoculars revealed, was a large group of schoolchildren accompanied by a nun in a gleaming white habit. How had they got there?

It took us all of 45 minutes to descend to the nearest stream - almost within shouting range of the Rifugio. We crossed many snow patches but saw no other footprints.

We had lost the race, by fair means or foul, but we enjoyed a perfect lunch in the sun before heading off again (at 2.45!) for the afternoon's instalment of our walk.

We had to pass by the Rifugio. The nun stood beside the eerie building. We could see her mouthing...'We beat you then, you English weaklings. Even my little children beat you.'

Scurrying on, her words faded in the breeze as we slowly ascended the 500 metres to our next pass, Passo di Rostagno, our high point of the day at 2536 metres. Happy Days!

A black redstart fledged before my eyes, tumbling down the steep slope pursued by its worried mum.

It was another thrutch. As the nun stood looking like Gandalf outside his castle, we looked over the pass to a vista of fine mountains, backed by the snow clad Ecrins, some 100km distant. But 300 metres below us, only 45 minutes away, was Rivendell. Yes, a deserted valley with a fine meadow.

'That's our home for tonight' said Sue.

And it was a very good home indeed, generously shared with Family Chamois.

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Tuesday 8 July 2008 - An Italian Border Route (IBR) - Day 14 - In View of Monte Viso

Campsite near Passo di Sometta

Plan: Rif Malinvern to Passo di Sometta - 17 km, 1500 metres ascent, 7.5 hours

Actual: Route almost as planned to a wild camp 500 metres east of Passo di Sometta at 2150 metres, but looping into France via the Lausfer Lakes rather than descending to Sant' Anna di Vinadio:
17 km, 1500 metres ascent, 9.3 hours including 1.5 hours breaks and 0.5 hour diversion.

Best bit: All of it, capped by an idyllic camp site.

Where do I start?

Michael Roberts would have woven an inspirational poem after a day like today.

Jim Perrin would compose an evocative essay with no dark side to it.

All I can manage is this postcard....oh to have some literary skills. I need Mark Alvarez or Daryl May here to help me!

The crescent moon set early, leaving the milky way to beam down in its faint sort of way on Malinvern Rifugio and its 15 occupants.

We slept long and deep.

Only the two of us had ordered breakfast for 7am, unlike our previous sojourns in huts when the entire assembly had started then. But today our companions were mainly Dutch and Italian, not Germans as before.

We started in our normal, for the time being, westerly direction. That meant only half an hour before the sun was on our backs. But it was a pleasant temperature and a finely graded path with the usual plethora of flowers that saw us up the 800 metre climb, under a clear blue sky, to Passo d'Orgials, at 2600 metres just under our high point to date. So we nipped up the adjacent peak to bag both that and our new high point.

A photo from there, unfortunately for technical reasons taken into the sun, should by some miracle of technology (and a degree of patience on my part) have found its way onto these pages within minutes of being taken. [Summer in the Alps]

After an easy descent we had our first encounter of the day - a lone hiker, probably German, travelling in the opposite direction to us. He was worried about the snow on Colletto di Valscura, where we had been yesterday. When we parted company he was a much happier and reassured man.

Usually the afternoon brings a degree of cloud cover. Today - nothing. This was particularly gratifying as the giant cone of Monte Viso came into view and remained there until we descended to camp, concealing our far horizon. At nearly 3900 metres Monte Viso towers above its near neighbours and draws the eye as it pokes incongruously above all else on the horizon.

There is an excellent circular walk from Sant' Anna di Vinadio to the Lausfer Lakes. We trod most of it, observing a couple of sunbathing ibex along with many day walkers. Seeing some parents being ambushed by snowball happy children, we gathered our own ammunition and lobbed the deviant miscreants as they passed. 'Merci' exclaimed the delighted parents.

Our good deed for the day done, we tried to locate the dotted red (on our map) short cut path to Passo di Sometta. It looked dubious and took us away from obvious places to camp, so we retraced and continued along the excellent path to Passo Tesina and descended by little used path P19 to this excellent camping spot. I think it is where I had intended to stop anyway.

We are by a small lake with various streams draining into it. There is nobody around, nor likely to be - we are off the beaten track again. That means skinny dipping for Sue. The water's cold but she enjoys it.

Then we settle down to a truly gourmet dinner of delicious 'Marocaine' soup, tuna and artichoke hors d'oevres, and tortellini with proscuito crudo. All washed down with Yorkshire tea.

It just can't get better than this!

That means a 6 week anti-climax. Oh dear, should we come home now!?

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Summer in the Alps

A new high point - Cima d'Orgials 2647 metres - 10am on 8/7/08

Where would you prefer to be?

Today's Report

Monday 7 July 2008 - An Italian Border Route (IBR) - Day 13 - An Easy Day on the GTA

Decsending through steep snow towards Malinvern

Plan: Terme di Valdieri to Rif Malinvern - 15 km, 1300 metres ascent, 6.25 hours

Actual: Route as planned:
13 km, 1400 metres ascent, 6.3 hours including 0.8 hours breaks.

Best bit: The beautifully paved paths across huge rock fields.

We enjoyed a lie in and a late start today, as breakfast wasn't until 8am. Not a problem as it was raining!

By the time we set off before 9 the rain had disappeared without trace. We daubed ourselves, as usual, with sun tan cream for the 1000 metre ascent to Rif Questa.

Following stage 8 of Gillian Price's GTA (Grande Traversata delle Alpi) itinerary, we enjoyed the beauty of Valle di Valasco in the company of yellow splashes of flowering laburnum. The main track wound up through shady trees, but we started along a narrow path next to the roaring river and its lovely cascades.

The gradient eased as we accompanied lots of day walkers across a level meadow at the end of which was the 'Reale Casa di Caccia', a turreted hunting pavilion which opens next week as a nicely refurbished rifugio.

Views opened up as we strolled on along the old hunting track, paved to accommodate the King's carriage, past butterwort, meadow cranesbill, yellow wood violets, and marsh or common spotted orchids, to name but a few.

We took the longer of two options, turning off the Questa path just below the Rifugio to join a superb track (fit for the King!) to Lago di Claus.

By now a brisk breeze was blowing and the cloud had increased, making us pleasantly cool. The track crossing a large boulder field was remarkable - as wide as a road and with a jigsaw of rocks providing an almost flat surface.

A short descent took us to Lago inf. di Valscura at 2274 metres. Here groups were picnicking in the shelter of rocks. We sat behind Capanna Mario Bassino, a locked bivouac hut, without a view of the lake, but with a fine valley vista and well protected from the wind.

Pied wagtails bobbed and black redstarts chattered as we admired the profusion of gentians and pansies.

There was little sun now. Fleeces were required! We enjoyed tea, with bread and goats cheese, but only spent 35 minutes here. An unusually short lunch break.
The area has several derelict buildings and there is a large two storey barracks higher up towards the French border, reminding us that life has not always been so peaceful around here.

Setting off - for the first time - in fleeces, there was another climb to Colletto di Valscura (2520 metres), over small snow patches but nicely graded. We were on our own now and saw no other walkers after the couple we had encountered descending from the col. He had obscenely short shorts and a rucksack that appeared to be a large plastic bag secured with string; she was dressed in black and had obscenely large bosoms.

The col marked our exit from the Parco Marittime. A sad moment as we have so enjoyed that area. But move on we must, and rain was threatening (it held off, and brightened later).

The descent was tricky - our most difficult ground yet. That was because some large and fairly steep snow slopes had to be crossed - there were previous footprints but it needed concentration, as a slide wasn't a pleasant prospect. After this, the rocky path led through rubble down to Lago Malinvern at 2122 metres.

Arolla pines softened the harsh landscape.

We soon lost our fleeces, but grey clouds remained.

35 minutes later we were at the smart Rifugio Malinvern at 1839 metres - an early finish at 3.05pm. We have a nice room for three to ourselves and a large pot of tea. And comfort and advice from the guardian regarding our (slightly adjusted to hug the border) ongoing route. Thank you for that.

Meal time and evening were spent in the excellent company of Merlijn and Milka, from Amsterdam, enjoying happy hill memories and planning for future trips, with a bit of Alpine Flower spotting thrown in. Hello M + M, we hope that by the time you read this you have enjoyed your visit to the Ligurian coast, and Milka has had fun in the Dolomites.

Hello also to Damiana, who so ably assists the guardian at this friendly establishment and who kindly gave us her recipe for ginsinella together with a delicious sample as a nightcap.

Summer in the Alps

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