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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Sunday 6 July 2008 - An Italian Border Route (IBR) - Day 12 - Recharging Batteries

Spotted Gentian (Gentiana punctata)

Plan: Rest Day

Actual: These 'Rest Days' should be renamed 'Chores and Provisioning Days'!

Best bit: Alpine Garden and Fledging Coal Tits.

Cumulative to date (planned in brackets):
179 km (165), 12700 metres ascent (12200), 67 hours (roughly!) walking (71).
No of summits visited: 5
No of cols or passes visited: 31
Highest point: Colle del Vei del Bouc - 2620 metres
No of native English speakers met/seen from a distance: 0
No of ticks located: 1 (Sue, of course!)

Messages:

Thanks Nick, for this explanation regarding the eagle:
'stone eagle' ='steinadler' =golden eagle
BUT - we have now realised it had a diamond shaped tail and was therefore a bearded vulture (lammergeier).

Thanks also to Roman - 'Lighthiker' for your offer of support and info. As you can see, only part of our trip is along the GTA, which seems quite straightforward. Keeping closer to the border gave us a couple of wonderfully remote days on the last section of our IBR route, over rarely visited ground, and actually short cut the GTA route by a couple of days. In contrast, the next section of our route takes us 'the long way round'.

The GTA route however remains the inspiration for this trip, and from what we have heard from people we have met it is a fine route in its own right. It also has the advantage, for those who don't wish to camp, of having lodgings at the end of each day, and it has well marked paths that are easy to follow.

Notchy (hope you are ok and saving up news for us - eg who won Wimbledon, etc?) - you would have died for the view of yesterday's first mountain pass from the path ascending the second one!

Paul, from UHSM, our dietary consultant, thanks for the advice re 'carbs'. 'It's working', says Sue!

Today started well. The small alimentari that had no bread last night turned up trumps when Sue arrived with a huge bag of bread - for 5 days - whilst I was washing clothes in cold water. No clothes washing facilities here, but we managed.

Then back to the shop where we cobbled together a menu for the next 4 days. They have no GORP, so we are forced to buy chocolate. Whoopee! No muesli either, so it's local fruit cake for breakfasts. We also have at least 5 tins of fish, some of which have gravitated to my rucksack...

We decided on a night of luxury in Terme di Valdieri before embarking on our next section of the walk, which will take four days to the next provisioning point.

Sue didn't get a lift by hitching this time. She requisitioned a camper van. The nice young couple from Rome and their pet gerbil had simply stopped to look at the map. Sue strode up and the couple obliged. The only condition was that we take our shoes off. It was a smart van. Italians have driving stereotypes, and driving habits. This youth was in the latter genre. We kept stopping to let following traffic past; courtesy was King. Sometimes stereotypes just don't apply!

They delivered us safely to the Information Centre in Terme. In the stone wall of the building two coal tits were busy feeding their chirping young. Inside, Enio provided details of the range of accommodation on offer.

We went next door to the imaginatively named 'Albergo Turismo' where we have a large and comfy room. It has power, so all camera and phone batteries have been topped up, and the Freeloader's solar collection of energy has been drained into Sue's ipod. The latter is a Big Deal, as we have no charger for the ipod.

The afternoon was spent recharging our own batteries. The botanic garden was great. It helped us to identify some of the flowers we have puzzled over, and had a good woodland nature trail.

Enio was very helpful re the bearded vulture - he knew there was one in the area we had been in, but apparently we were very lucky to see it. He kindly set a film about the ibex going, with a commentary in English. Very interesting. There are not many of them - we must have seen 5-10% of the entire population!

Leaving the Information Centre, little birds started to whizz about in a somewhat bemused fashion. It was the coal tits fledging in their own inimitable chaotic way.
'Not the best timing' Enio agreed, as the hordes of Sunday picnickers returned to their nearby cars. But the birds were still fluttering about later when most people had gone.

By then we were watching from the comfort of glasses of beer on the hotel's veranda, anticipating the meal to come - lasagne, then braised beef in red wine + potato, and cheese or peaches etc to follow. It was, as predicted by Enio, very good.

Kit check:
Rohan Goa Convertibles (my only trousers) - washed, on impulse, for the second time today - about an hour before dinner. Amazingly they could be worn immediately and were dry within the hour.

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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Saturday 5 July 2008 - An Italian Border Route (IBR) - Day 11 - Under a Vermillion Sky

The view to Rif Genova Figari

Plan: Rif Soria Ellena to Terme di Valdieri - 14 km, 1200 metres ascent, 8 hours

Actual: As planned, then a lift to camp site at Sant' Anna
14 km, 1300 metres ascent, 9.3 hours including 1.7 hours breaks.

Best bit: The views from Colle di Fenestrelle.

Earlier this year in New Zealand we had enjoyed deep blue skies said to be unmatched by anything in Europe.

Wrong.

All morning we laboured under as deep a blue as anything we had seen in NZ, and absolutely cloudless.

It was a warm start through a meadow of dewy dock leaves below the excellent Rifugio. Then a fine well-graded ascent on a lovely path to Colle di Fenestrelle - 2463 metres - and its fine views, particularly of the giant mountain Argentera to the NW.

We had seen just one person - not our normal expectation for a Saturday morning, but as we negotiated some snow fields to find the path down (I fell waist deep into a bergshrund at one point) a few folk appeared. By the end of the day we had probably seen more people out walking than we had seen on the whole of the rest of the trip.

Having a surfeit of luncheon provisions, we stopped for 2 lunches today. The first at 11, by a burbling stream near Rif Genova, the second at 2.30 below Rif Morelli-Buzzi as we began our final descent to Terme di Valdieri.

Meanwhile we had crossed a much rockier pass, Colle del Chiapous, at 2526 metres our high point of the day. With us, admiring the wonderful views (the morning's col with its mountain backdrop looked fairly insignificant) were Tarzan and Jane, a French couple spreadeagled near the col with their bronzed torsos on display as if it were a St Tropez beach. They passed us later, having found some clothes.

All day we were in chamois country. Sometimes it was difficult to differentiate their whistling from that of the ever present marmots.
Here the chamois are much tamer than I have seen them before; they tend to stroll along the footpath ahead of you, moving away only when you get to within 5-10 metres of them. Even then, they just move a short way from the path and scowl disdainfully at the human nuisance.

Unthreatening cotton wool clouds added some contrast to our afternoon photos as we ambled gently down the gently graded (albeit a 1200 metre descent) path to Terme by 5pm.

There being no sign of any bus, we hitched a lift to Sant' Anna and were happily installing ourselves at the rather basic camp site a few minutes later.

Sant' Anna is a not particularly attractive hamlet; it has a very basic shop, no buses tomorrow, and a nicely painted church. A backwater that people flash past on the way to Terme di Valdieri.

The 3 day section to this point had however been outstanding, and we dined alfresco style in the knowledge that our 9 days in the hills to date have been a lovely experience, worthy of an entire holiday in its own right.

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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Friday 4 July 2008 - An Italian Border Route (IBR) - Day 10 - The Hills Are Alive.....

Ibex

Plan: Lac della Vacca to Rif Soria Ellena - 15 km, 1100 metres ascent, 7 hours

Actual: River Camp in Val del Sabbione to Rif Soria Ellena - 1840 metres
20 km, 1600 metres ascent, 9.4 hours including 1.6 hours breaks.

Best bit: Herds of ibex and chamois

New high point: Colle dei Vei del Bouc - 2620 metres

The hills today were alive with herds of ibex and chamois. Marmots scuttled everywhere and snow finches and stonechats busily protected their nests.
Even here at the Rifugio, whilst we are dining a fox is sitting expectantly on a picnic table outside.

(Later...said fox tries to seek refuge in the Rifugio whilst a stone eagle hovers hungrily above.)
The Swiss identified it as a 'stone eagle'. It looked much like a golden eagle to me, perhaps even bigger! [It was actually a bearded vulture.]

It was one of those days we will remember fondly when the going gets tough.

It was great.

Having crossed the river last night we were soon at the top of a thrutchy bank strewn with bistort and Nottingham catchfly and strolling along the M5, dodging mosquitos that luckily hadn't found our excellent camp site. Up at Lac della Vacca it was wonderful. A wild camp site for connoisseurs. It was a shame we had missed out, but yesterday's decision to stop early made sense at the time.

The boundary with France was nearby, so we nipped up to visit it. Gentle slopes led to alpine pastures much less rugged than on our Italian side.

And so we headed up the ancient donkey track to our highest point of the trip, at 2620 metres, where we found another herd of ibex. The clear air held wonderful mountain views.

A 1200 metre descent on well graded paths followed. Our paths today were old trade or war routes, so are 'donkey friendly'. This makes them much gentler in gradient than many alpine paths, and a pleasure to be on.

Having seen nobody in the morning's remote valley (since leaving the GTA route nearly 24 hours earlier, actually), it came as a surprise to meet a day hiker below the col. Several more were met as we descended to the security (and welcome lavatory) of the bar in San Giacomo.

From there it was an easy stroll on the GTA (rejoined here at the start of stage 6, after we left it yesterday half way through stage 3 - our border route took a big short cut!) up a broad path to this fine establishment, run by a Philippino lady and her sister. We have the company of 3 Italians and 13 Swiss/Germans. The common language is English. The menu for tonight reads:

• Pasta w/gorgonzola sauce
• Baked meat w/pizza sauce + flowered polenta w/cheese
• Catalana cream

And delicious it was too, in between watching the eagle.

Strange that English is the common language when according to the hut book the only native English speakers to pass through here within the last two years are Geoff Bailey and Kate Malfroy (malfroykate@mac.com) who passed through on 20 June on day 5 of their 35 day GTA trip. We knew of their existence from yesterday's Germans, and it will be good to swap stories at some point.

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 3 July 2008 - An Italian Border Route (IBR) - Day 9 - Alpine Strawberries for Breakfast

Campsite in Val del Sabbione

Plan: Limonetto to Lac della Vacca - 13 km, 1900 metres ascent, 7 hours

Actual: Bus from Limone to Limonetto, then planned route as far as wild camp in Val del Sabbione - 1800 metres
10 km, 1300 metres ascent, 6.75 hours including 1.25 hours breaks.

Best bit: Scenic Lakes
Summit: Monte Ciotto Mieu (MCM) 2378 metres (just a couple of metres below our high point to date)

We stopped today before 4pm, so it was another short day. That was because it had started to rain!, and we spotted a possibly good site for the tent. By the time we had dropped down to the river and filtered some water (there was a big herd of chamois above us) the sun was shining again. But we persisted and found a nice spot across the river.

We can catch up tomorrow, albeit by way of a long day.

The act of crossing the river to get to this secluded spot was notable for me in that after nearly falling in at the first attempt, I used my crocs for the purpose for which they were bought 18 months ago - river crossings - for the very first time.

We didn't see a soul after leaving Limonetto on the 900 metre climb up to a notch on the horizon - Passo di Ciotto Mieu. The strawberries provided a succulent second breakfast, the sun shone, the flowers waved in the breeze, the streams sparkled...

Yes, we now have streams and need to carry only a litre of water, or less. My load has however been compensated for this reduction by the addition of a spare gas cylinder.

The views from MCM were the clearest we have had yet, though neither Monte Viso nor Monte Rosa (should we really be able to see our final destination at this stage of the walk, already?) could quite be seen today.

Two people came the other way on the main path whilst we had our mini excursion to the summit. Then on the steep (aided by wires) descent to Lac della Alberg we met a German couple doing the GTA. Alright, they weren't camping at all, but having done the first half of the route last year they are now finishing it off. So they are the closest yet to our own aspirations.
We recommended that they visit the MCM summit, but I don't think they did, so they won't have found our message in the summit box.

After a lovely lunch by Lac della Alberg, our own route left the GTA by a short cut over boulder fields (not Sue's favourite terrain, but it saved a 200 metre climb) to Lac della Frisson, dominated by the rocky conical peak of Monte Frisson, high above us.

The path was clearly rarely used, especially beyond Passo della Mena, from where the 500 metre descent over steep grass on an overgrown zigzagy path was quite hard on the knees. But that is a feature of this route - it goes where others don't go - and it wouldn't surprise me if no English speaking person has ventured up the attractive but remote valley in which we are camped for a good few years.

The paths around here have some startlingly interesting names! We are camped just off M5c, and today we have also enjoyed paths L12, L7, and M24 (poorly marked, that one, not advised in mist).

More obscure paths follow tomorrow, before we rejoin the GTA route. We hope we can find them!

It doesn't take a genius to work out that we have no signal here, and we may not have one for some time! Please bear with us at such times.

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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Wednesday 2 July 2008 - An Italian Border Route (IBR) - Day 8 - The Sun Shines on Limone

Limone's main square

Plan: Rest Day

Actual: Rest Day around Camp Site at Limone, and a visit to Borgo-S-Dalmazzo

Best bit: The morning's bright blue sky.

Cumulative to date (planned in brackets):
135 km (123), 8500 metres ascent (8000), 46 hours (roughly!) walking (49).
No of summits visited: 4
Highest point: Ridge at 2380 metres beyond Colla Rossa

Checked messages again today:

We are doing this on rest days (assuming we have a signal) but it's just a quick check using the phone, which in the absence of any other medium (no internet cafés here) is our only contact with the outside world, except by postcard. So if you really need to contact us, please text.

Pauline, from my old office did just that. Hello Pauline, and congratulations on closing the last of the cases I managed before I left GT, over 4 years ago. (NB we were a very efficient team - the delay was entirely due to third parties!)

Well done, Ken and Helen, on scaling one of eastern Canada's highest peaks. We are already looking forward to next year's trip.

Hello Night Bird, Sue appreciates your concern. The 'heat rash' extended up her legs to her back, but has now subsided. The bite on her eyelid did wonders for her looks, she says. Personally, I found it rather ugly! Luckily she remained calm when Monday's planned water supply proved absent.

Congratulations Kate (daughter) on getting your own house. You have plenty of time to practise your skills in the kitchen before we return! I know you won't read this, but perhaps Mike could pass the message on.

Robert I'm sure will agree with us, the Mad Buzzard of Orthwaite is indeed awesome. Anyone wanting a mini adrenaline adventure could do worse than pay it a visit.

Limone is a lovely town, and this camp site is excellent. We strolled into town for breakfast before returning to the (very solid) gazebo to diary write and send a few postcards, etc.

The trip to Borgo (we could have gone the other way, to Fontan, but that would have seemed odd) was needed to buy gas, as Limone only sells the piercing type. Four years ago we crossed the Pyrenees without any such problem, but it looks as if a significant feature of our rest days may be the problem of gas re-supply. On the plus side, thanks to the heat and the efficient pot cosy, the first cylinder lasted a week, doing about 20 brews and 3 full meals.

Yesterday we saw much bird life, as well as lots of marmots and more deer. At one point a group of animated snow finches was chasing off a flock of alpine choughs, and later we disturbed a ptarmigan.

After this morning's blue skies it clouded over a little this afternoon, but we kept away from the rain and enjoyed a wander around the town, which reminds us a little of Cortina d'Ampezzo.

Dinner was taken at Ristorante la Diligenza, and was indeed excellent (and served most diligently!).

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Tuesday 1 July 2008 - An Italian Border Route (IBR) - Day 7 - Flirting with the Border

On the Border with Alpenrose

Plan: Colla Rossa to Limonetto - 23 km, 1200 metres ascent, 7.5 hours

Actual: Efficient Rifugio to Limonetto, then bus to camp site at Limone - 1000 metres
19 km, 600 metres ascent, 6.5 hours including 1.5 hours breaks.

Best bit: Timed to perfection!

The full dormitory at Rif Don Barbera was absolutely quiet all night, and with good ventilation we all slept well.

The 10 of us in the Refuge all breakfasted at 7 and set off at about 8. Bizarrely, all 4 groups/pairs set off in the same direction. This was on the 'Tour di Marguareis' - a five day hutting circuit that could be ideal for Notchy, Night Bird, Birthday Boy, and others who prefer a milder form of backpacking to that which we are enjoying on this trip!

The good path was well waymarked, as we were soon also on the GTA route, the inspiration for our walk, for the first time.
We then more or less followed the now familiar border posts all morning.

Mist came and went. One moment we could see for miles, over massive cloud inversions, next moment we could be in a cloud, with 10 metres visibility and just the verdant flowers to enjoy. Today our floral radar observed the usual vast array, most of which we couldn't identify, but dominated by leopardsbane, globularia and a variety of gentians and orchids.

By lunch time we had reached Colle di Tenda, where a huge C19 fort, Fort Central, dominates the scene. We couldn't look around it as it was not maintained and had an impenetrable moat.
Just below was the remains of another huge construction, perhaps from the 1930s. Its high walls provided just enough shade for us to enjoy a satisfactorily cool lunch - the last of our tinned mackerel.

We passed nearby a couple more of these old C19 forts today, and we will see more. But it is relics from between the World Wars, when Italy was fortifying itself against possible invasion from France, that really litter the border, right from the start of our walk by the coast.

Descending to Limonetto, we lost the path briefly and followed a track down to a pleasant beech forest. This afternoon a new novelty featured on our walk - water. First some marshy ground, then a couple of open ended pipes gushing into the meadow, then some mountain streams, and at the foot of the beech forest an impressive waterfall. Hopefully our days of setting off with 2 litres of water each are over.

Below the waterfall a solid fence protected the privacy of an impressive mansion. At the end of its drive an open gate announced its name as 'Wonderfall'. The gate closed automatically as we photographed it!

It was 2.30, with drops of water coming from the seemingly blue sky, and the day's work was done, thanks to yesterday's heavy investment in mileage.

Limonetto is a small place to spend a day off, but we had barely explored it by the time a bus arrived. This took us down to Limone, whilst a storm tried to get going. We sheltered briefly at a bus stop then as the rain faltered we strolled into the large pedestrian precinct of this pleasant town.

By 3pm we were seated under cover outside Caffé Carillon, which provided welcome beers (with crisps and nuts thrown in). The storm raged for a while and a flurry of activity removed items from the outdoor displays of nearby shops.

We were in no hurry. We had timed our arrival to perfection. One week into our trip and our only use for waterproofs has been as pillows. We know that won't last, but we can enjoy the moment.

The kind people at the café drew us a sketch of how to get to the camp site (about 1km distant from its placement on our map) and once the storm had passed and the road was steaming dry, we strolled down to this excellent spot. It's nearly full of old caravans with bijou cabins attached to them - holiday homes for Italians. We are welcome though, and next to our pitch in a quiet corner is a gazebo with a huge picnic table that we can use for dining in comfort.

Some bikers arrive and set up as our neighbours, so we are guaranteed a quiet night. One is a Swiss fan of British bikes - he has rebuilt an old Triumph machine. The others are German officionados of the Dakar Rally, with the latest KTM has to offer.

We do a few camp chores before tucking in to some of the produce we have carried all the way (in expectation of a wild camp) from Fontan - including a large loaf of bread....

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Monday 30 June 2008 - An Italian Border Route (IBR) - Day 6 - A Fine Alpine Ridge

On the Border near Porta Bertrand

Plan: Rif Allavena to Colla Rossa - 24 km, 1600 metres ascent, 8 hours

Actual: Fawlty Towers Rifugio to Rif Don Barbera - 2070 metres
30 km, 1750 metres ascent, 9.8 hours including 1.5 hours breaks.

Best bit: Superb ridge with slopes pink with alpenrose.

First, apologies for the delay (I think) in Saturday's missive. It seemed to have gone but then it seemed not to have gone, so you may have it twice. Sending images may be the problem....so I've deleted Saorge from the Day 4 report just sent..

Today, perhaps for the first and only time, we are ahead of schedule. That's because my planned water supply at Colla Rossa, proved to be a figment of the Italian map maker's imagination. So with no water encountered all day, it seemed wise to come as far as this excellent little refuge and its fine cuisine.

We waved off Arne, the mountain biker from Bad Gastein, and headed directly back to the border. We were going well, and Arne was surprised to pass us 2 hours later - we had taken a more direct route!

The morning was spent on easy broad tracks in the forest, until the sharp ascent of Monte Saccarello (2200 metres - our high point), where we lunched near a 14 metre tall statue of Christ "The Redeemer".

We had seen a chamois in the forest; later a roe deer showed us its bum. (Sue says we saw more than its bottom as it leapt over the alpenrose!)
Today the whistles of marmots became a familiar sound that will accompany us all the way on this trip.

We left the AV dei Monti Liguri path for the last time at lunchtime and this afternoon we were again on a relatively unfrequented route described only as 'A35' on our map. It was a lovely ridge path that side-stepped any difficulties and delivered us safely to this refuge in plenty of time to order dinner.

We found another summit, Cima Misoun, 2356 metres, a new high point. A visitors book allowed us to make the first English entry since it was started in June 2006. Neither this nor last night's refuge has any recorded English speaking visitor over the past two years.

Later, the ridge path took us to a new high point of 2390 metres.

We saw no other walkers at all today, on this fine traverse. Not one!

But there are 10 of us staying in this refuge, so perhaps we are entering more frequented territory.

Will we go higher tomorrow?
Will the weather hold? We had flurries of cloud today, and it rained at the refuge after we arrived. But it's now a beautifully clear evening. Despite walking up to the border I can't find a signal, so this, and the re-sending of Day 4, will have to wait.

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Sunday 29 June 2008 - An Italian Border Route (IBR) - Day 5 - The Day of the Flowers

On the Balcony Path along the Border

Plan: Fontan to Rif Allavena - 23 km, 1600 metres ascent, 8.5 hours

Actual: Noisy Camp at Fontan to Rif Allavena - 1545 metres
23 km, 1930 metres ascent, 10 hours including 2 hours breaks.

Best bit: The flowers and the well graded paths.

Actually, the whole day was the best bit.

Last night's Roquefort Pizza (and there was a great deal of Roquefort) was digested to the sound of our French neighbours partying. There were only 3 of them but their pernod made them very loud!

Another fine sunny day. A thoroughly superb day. All morning we wound our way back up to 1100 metres on wonderfully graded woodland donkey tracks.

The flowers were magnificent.

We saw our only people of the day around lunchtime at Passo Muratone - a few 4WD enthusiasts and 8 day walkers.

The morning had been a cool 25C in the trees, but the afternoon saw my thermometer rise to 38C.

Raw Heat.

A light breeze overcame the worst of that, and the well graded path, now at times vertiginous and aided by wires, saw us comfortably along our border route.

Despite the haze the views down to the remote gorges in France were superb. They almost matched the wonderful variety of flowers - today we saw many lilies and gentians as well as the usual orchids and bellflowers, etc.

There were huge banks of alpenrose as we reached our new high point for the trip - Col Vallette, 1981 metres, near the end of the day.

Allavena Refuge takes 70 people. We are here tonight with just Arne, an Austrian mountain biker who has come from the coast today, mainly on the AV dei Monti Liguri that we have been following. He is tired.

There seem to be half a dozen people running this place, which has a Faulty Towers feel to it.

The food was fine despite an impossible mountain of polenta.

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Saturday 28 June 2008 - An Italian Border Route (IBR) - Day 4 - A Welcome Pause In Fontan/Saorge

Saorge from the south

Plan: Rest Day

Actual: Rest Day around Camp Site at Fontan - 460 metres
Visit to interesting village of Saorge.
2 km, 50 metres ascent.

Best bit: Just chilling out.

Cumulative to date (planned in brackets):
63 km (53), 4220 metres ascent (3600), 25 hours (roughly!) walking (25).
No of summits visited: 2

Checked messages today:

Best of luck with the Wild Camping Saga, to those involved. I did notice the PM's office's derisory response to the petition before I left.

Thank you, John, for your words of encouragement from Timperley.

Thank you, Alan, for your words of - for want of a better one - jealousy! We don't pretend to be 'lightweight' as we have all the gear for 2 months in the Alps, and on this section we have had to carry lots of water. It's quite sweaty in 30-35C, even without 15 kg on your back! Hopefully some of the maps will be posted home as we go along, but we don't have the luxury of a local base or any 'stashes'. We have light but comfy kit, and my sack is certainly lighter than in the Pyrenees 4 years ago. It needs to be - I've slowed down since then.
And Alan, 35 years of hard graft and a big investment in a couple of children (how else would we have got to Liverpool for 5.30 am?), has surely earned the right to tramp around in 30+C temperatures with 15+kg aloft!?!

Must be mad!

Today Dave Oliver cheekily tried to impress us with tales of sunshine and good walks in the Pyrenees. We know he gets more holiday than we do but at least it was a case of 'touché' on this occasion! Hi Dave, we know you haven't time to read this.

Sounds like the weather is ripe for an Andy Howell Pyrenees Experience...

After a leisurely morning in Fontan we hitched a lift with a nice Parisien couple who had recently relocated to Nice, for the short ride through the nasty tunnel to Saorge.
It didn't take long to recce tomorrow's exit route from here, then we seemed to get stuck in Bar Lou Pountin, where it was 33C in the shade.

When the going gets tough....

Sue found a fountain to cool her feet.

We agree that the title of this blog could be misleading (it already is for anyone Googling 'Postcards of Timperley' - and believe me, such people exist!).
So, I've tried to amend it.

Now back at camp we have established that the nearby restaurant that said 'Opening 28 June' has in fact opened. So we'll be along there shortly to comply with Sue's high carbohydrate regime in preparation for the next 3 days, which sound challenging in this heat! Beer is very high carb, I keep telling her...

Kit report:
3 long hot days in brand new Asolo Fugitives. They feel like slippers.
X-socks - a last minute purchase from Bob and Rose. Excellent for comfort and drying qualities. Sue needs some....

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Friday 27 June 2008 - An Italian Border Route (IBR) - Day 3 - Some Unexpected Hurdles (UHs)

A street in Saorge

Plan: Rif Biv Testa d'Alpe to Fontan - 19 km, 600 metres ascent, 8 hours

Actual: Fly Camp to Camp Site at Fontan - 460 metres
24 km, 1100 metres ascent, 10.3 hours including 2 hours breaks.

Best bit: Hot showers and cold beers at the end of the day.

UH No 1: We woke up to the buzzing of flies at Colla Sgora. But at least it was only 24C!

Today's path started on the broad track through lovely forest that the Alta Via dei Monti Liguri has adopted as its route. This follows the border, the small border stones being marked '1947' on the French side and being numbered (we passed numbers 390 to 386 or so) on the Italian side. A foot long grass snake lay on the path. It moved quite quickly when I tried to pick it up.

UH No 2: A piece of string across the path near Bivi Testa d'Alpe (we never did find the 'Bivi') seemed to ask us to go a different way. Obligingly we took an alternative route and actually got to the summit of Tête d'Alpe (1587 metres - highest point yet). But the signpost to this spot had been taken down and the path was faint. Our plan to continue along the path (which of course was clearly marked on our French map - and was in France) was foiled by deep thicket, so we considered our options then returned to the string.

After having spent an hour sidestepping this flimsy obstacle, our brew up by the path junction to Breil was most welcome.

Here we decided not to visit Breil but to continue along the AV and descend indirectly to Saorge.

The forest path was delightful and from now on the flies slowly subsided. We saw no other walkers today, but at our turn off the AV there were a few cars with picnickers, one of whom was carrying a crutch and a collecting basket. We were curious.
'What are you collecting?'
'Nothing' insisted the woman 'the basket is empty.'

Our path to Collette du Mont Agu was an ancient donkey trail through the woods, built to a high standard many years ago. Nowadays it is not on a GR or AV route and doesn't even have a number. So it is not maintained, with fallen trees and other debris presenting minor obstacles. Occasional yellow paint flashes on trees reminded us that we were on this path, though at one point we did need to retrace to find the flashes.

Lunch in the shade at the Collette, where the path met the well maintained GR52A at an excellent viewpoint, was a high point of the day.

We had decided not to drop directly to Saorge but to head down to the Roya gorge and walk along the canyon side to Saorge. We descended to the sound of thunder, with a few drops of rain. It was sunny on the coast and black in the mountains to the north. We were on the edge today, and it came to nothing. That will not always be the case on this trip.

UH No 3: On reaching the GR52A junction with the gorge path we joined the route of Via Alpina Path R158.
The Via Alpina is a richly funded (millions of Euros) project spanning the Alps.
We should have been alerted by their sparse description of the route - 'This stage leaves Breil on the valley balcony path above the Roya valley to Saorge, a hanging village typical of the Mediterranean hinterland.'
The section from our path junction to Saorge was described as taking 45 minutes, with 9 metres ascent.
The Via Alpina staff who wrote this should be forced to walk it with 15 kg rucksacks after a hard day. It took us 2 hours and my altimeter recorded 350 metres of ascent to the top of the spectacular ancient village.
The French map, the top of which we walk off at Saorge, shows the mythical Via Alpina route, whereas the Italian map - we are just on the edge of our first Italian map - is more accurate.
We hope the Italian maps will be as accurate in Italy as this one is in France!

We did get a few glimpses of the gorge, and the approach to Saorge was stunning.

The cans of orange juice were also most welcome, as we had exhausted today's supply to 2 litres of water each (we normally carry only 1 litre, but springs are scarce here.

UH No 4: We planned to camp at Fontan. The path leading to Fontan, which we never properly found, would have involved significant further ascent. So we walked down the road. This was fine apart from a 400 metre tunnel with no footpath. At least it was well lit, with little traffic.

The camp site is small and quiet, between the river and the road. The ground is grassy but stony, and the facilities are sparse but more than adequate for us and two lots of car campers. The restaurant next door doesn't open until tomorrow, but there's another one in the village.

UH No 5: After cleaning off 3 days of grime we headed off to the restaurant. A man greeted us at the door at 7.30.
Great.
He was locking up.
At least there was a bar open, to aid our rehydration as we headed back to camp to our emergency rations of soup, pasta and tuna. We didn't expect to have to call on them quite so early in the trip!

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Thursday 26 June 2008 - An Italian Border Route (IBR) - Day 2 - Lovely Italian Villages and a Steep Climb

Early morning view into Italy from Rif P Gambino

Plan: Rif Patrick Gambino to Biv Testa d'Alpe - 24 km, 1750 metres ascent, 9 hours (note adjustment from spreadsheet, which missed a section!)

Actual: Camp by bijou Rifugio to Col Sgora - 1063 metres
18 km, 1300 metres ascent 9.5 hours including 1.5 hours breaks.

Best bit: Cool tranquillity outside Rifugio this morning.

Everything is very green here, at a time when it's normally brown, according to Luca, the guardian at Rif P Gambino. He told us the weather had been really bad until a week ago, when the sun had come out.

The sun blazed on us today.

This morning's mainly downhill route (back down to 140 metres) passed through 3 lovely Italian villages. First we met a friendly Swedish family at the café in Olivetta, then we reached Fanghetto by a rough path not on our French map. Seemingly passing through a catacomb under this village an excellent balcony path led to the pretty and well serviced village of Airole, where we enjoyed an alfresco lunch in the cool square.

Our afternoon's route lay steeply up a donkey track from the square at 140 metres, to a broad ridge at 1100 metres before dropping to Col Sgora, where at 5 pm we were pleased to find an unexpected water supply. In fact we were surprised to find Col Sgora, as it's marked in a different place on our map.

We saw no other hikers this afternoon. I wonder why? The temperature was 35C as we left the square, and we recorded 37C on the 1100 metre ridge. It was humid as well.

Quite hard work really, so what with my planning estimate cock-up we were glad to stop where we did.

Apart from the flies, that is. They had joined us on the ascent in ever increasing swarms and they spent the evening with us, only subsiding when the sun went down. But for them we would have had a lovely time on this grassy terrace with fine views east into Italy.

But the flies were debilitating and the tent, for a while, was like a sauna, so blogging not possible. Hence the delay in this transmission. Sorry!

On the ridge our attention wandered briefly from the flies and the heat to a fine specimen of Lizard Orchid. Neither of us had seen one before.

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Wednesday 25 June 2008 - An Italian Border Route (IBR) - A Stunning Start

The view back to Menton from Col du Berceau

Plan: Camp site in Menton to Rif Patrick Gambino - 14 km, 1500 metres ascent, 7 hours.

Actual: Hot Camp Site to Camping outside Rif Patrick Gambino
15 km, 1550 metres ascent 8.25 hours including 2 hours breaks.

Best bit: Shady lunch spot (only 24C) after a hot climb (min 30C)

An excellent mountain day after a hot night (neither sleeping bags nor their liners were needed) despite starting on a beach by the Med.

Good paths, well signed, got us up to Col du Berceau (not on our map) for lunch at over 1000 metres, high above the distant Cote d'Azur.

Here, in a lovely shady spot with fine views, we met three Frenchmen, the only walkers seen all day.

After a short descent we left the GR52 path and headed up to the border and the lovely, well graded 'Balcons de la Cote d'Azur' path.

We left this briefly to bag the 1380 metre summit of Monte Grammondo. Graham Illing (who won't read this) would be impressed; others who do read it may just shake their heads...

After recording our feat in the visitors book and optimistically noting our destination as Saas Fee, we went back down to the balcony path. This led through lovely woodland (we could have been on the path from Gradbach to Lud's Church) down to the Rifugio, outside which we are camped.

Here we found our first water since leaving Menton, and a friendly guardian who poured us cups of mint tea and supplied biscuits within seconds of our arrival. We are his only guests tonight, but he won't charge us for camping, and we want to cook some of our own weighty provisions, so we are trying to boost his coffers by consuming his supplies of Birra Moretti.

Hic!

So, a fabulous day, despite having drippingly lugged 15 kilo rucksacks up 1500 metres under clear blue skies and a sun that beat down relentlessly at over 30C. In the days ahead we will have fond memories of this heat.

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Tuesday 24 June 2008 - An Italian Border Route (IBR) - Prologue No 2

In a Menton coffee shop, and at Camping St Michael

Plan: Menton to Camping Fleur de Mai - 2 km, 100 metres ascent, 1 hour.

Actual: Menton (Madone) to Camping St Michel (€13)

4 km, 220 metres ascent (including back to town for a meal), approx 2 hours.

Mike got us efficiently to Liverpool, then security tried their best:

1. To confiscate our MSR Superfly stove, and

2. To delay us from getting on the plane, simply by not getting people through fast enough.

Sue skillfully negotiated the stove on board (by licking it greedily), and we paid an extra £2 each to get in a fast lane that saw us through security just in time.

The flight saw us transcribing addresses from a bulky list, into new notebooks, one of which has now disappeared. The bulky list was binned in the meantime, so if you don't get a postcard please don't be as upset as we are to have lost the notebook.

Nice airport was efficient, and we exited the airport about 20 minutes after landing. The 11am bus got us to Menton by lunchtime, and some nice people in a small café saved us the trouble of going to our planned camp site - Fleur de Mai - 'C'est fermé' they said. So we are now luxuriating at the Municipal site, Camping St Michel, a steamy 110 metre ascent from Menton.

It's just about bearable - 31C in the shade.

We'll venture back into town shortly for a meal and provisions, before setting off on our ramble tomorrow.

The weather (to use Alan Sloman's words - and make him jealous) is 'perfick'.

Next Day

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Monday 23 June 2008 - An Italian Border Route - Prologue No 1

It has been a busy day!

The kit that was strewn around the house was relocated to an upstairs bedroom (me - shown above), and to the dining room (Sue).

It has been stuffed into containers and is ready to go - Mike is picking us up at 5 am to take us to Liverpool airport for the flight to Nice. He's possibly the only rock guitarist in the world ready to get up at 4.30 am to provide a taxi service for his dad. Thanks Mike!

I've started a web page - here - that will be added to in due course when we return. It currently just links to our kit list, a spreadsheet of our planned itinerary, and our detailed itinerary.

It will be interesting to see whether or not these plans, based on my perusal of a few maps, bear any relation to what happens in reality.

Anyway, it's getting on for 1 am, so time to call it a day. We'll be trying to post short blogs when we get a phone signal, and we plan to write the trip up in more detail and add some photos after we return home in August.

In the meantime, we welcome any comments and observations - you never know, we may find an occasional internet cafe in which to view them.

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