Italy Trip, Friday, July 28 (Day 9)
This day started off with beautiful blue skies and a smattering of clouds, and it pretty much stayed that way all day. It was warm and just wonderful.
We headed for our next hike destination. This 11 KM/7 MI hike had three main segments. The first was reported to be quite steep, the second was a nice rolling walk through the forest, and the third was again kind of steep as it approached the top of the mountain.
I opted to just hike the second portion. This was possible because the road crossed the hiking path periodically and Andrea was driving the van up to specific spots. The first picture today is of me after doing the middle-section hike. The look-out over the field toward the mountains was just gorgeous.
I had a bit of a mishap on this hike. There were very few obstacles (in terms of big rocks) on this hike, but at one place where there were rocks (close to where a stream was), I planted my hiking poles in the dirt and then leaned on them to get extra support as I stepped down and over some rocks. Suddenly I found myself on the ground. I thought I must have just slipped, but then someone said, “You broke your pole.” Sure enough, one of my carbon-fiber hiking poles had broken off in the bottom section, and that’s what caused me to fall. I was grateful it hadn’t happened in other places where the potential for damage was much worse. As it is, I just got a little scrape on one leg but was otherwise fine. And I got a loaner pole to use for the rest of the hike.
After finishing that 2 MI portion of the hike, I went up in the van to the top so I could start scouting places to take pictures from the summit. You can see the results. There was quite a bit of haze today so the pictures are not really clear, but it’s easy to see that the area is beautiful. Mountain villages with portions at the lake’s edge. Very picturesque.
I have to say that the summit was not all that picture-friendly. In most places, you catch a lot of the hilltop or some of the ski-lift structures. But I found a couple of good vantage points. The one with the chair lift shows a bit of the scale.
Once all the hikers and the riders were all assembled at the top, Andrea and Jo did their best to get us all the last bit of the way to the actual summit of Miramonti. It was a pretty steep climb, and Chris had decided he wasn’t going to stress his leg for that as he’s trying to rest it so it actually recovers.
But our guides had something special planned to do at the top, so Andrea found a way to get Chris up there (not sure if he drove the van…probably not ’cause that would be a no-no…or if he drove Chris to the lift station and had him ride up) so the crew would all be together.
Turns out that today was Patricia’s and Chris’ 17th wedding anniversary, and Jo and Andrea had conspired to bring cheese, grapes, peaches, and wine (champagne?) and wanted to do a little “congratulations” ceremony. they finally managed to round us all up long enough to take a group photo (L-R, Tricia, Nikki, Robyne, Kim, Jo, Patricia, Chris, me, and Andrea) and then do the “presentation.” That was really thoughtful and we all enjoyed it–hopefully Patricia and Chris most of all. The picture of Joe pouring them some bubbly would seem to indicate they did–judging from their smiles. 🙂
There were a lot of people at the top, I’m sure for the views, but also for the luge-type track (on rails) that was up there. This was like a mini roller-coaster ride on the side of the mountain. If we’d had time, I would have liked to have done it, but there was quite a line and we didn’t have time. Darn.
From the summit, we took the chairlift down a ways and then found a restaurant to have lunch. After that we rode down to another town and checked into the hotel where we’ll be staying for the next two nights. This time, it’s my turn to have a single room AND there’s both a desk in the room and WiFi access, so I’m going to be able to comfortably update the blog tonight.
Tomorrow is another big hike, but most of us are apparently taking “option 2,” which is a wander around the town and the three close-by islands. I’m looking forward to catching some more picturesque scenery. We’ll have one more hiking day after that, and then another kayaking day at Lake Como.
It’s sad to think we’re coming to the end of our tour. We’ve done a lot–and are not finished yet! But I see the end of the itinerary is in sight…sigh. It will be good to get home, though, and be able to take more time to go through all my pictures.
Dinner in the hotel was fabulous, so now I’m taking my full self and getting ready for bed. Might actually be able to read one of the magazines I brought!
‘Til tomorrow!
