Today was 13 miles and 1,300′ of ascent. Totals are now 162 miles walked and 21,100′ climbed.
Changes: Today we left the Aosta valley. Within 2 miles of walking, you could barely see the massive granite canyon walls that have been our escort for 60 miles!
A look backward to recall the Aosta was required
The changes are difficult. What can you compare the soul stirring Alps (Grand St Bernard pass)?. Apart from Yosemite Valley, is there an equal to the Aosta valley?
Now we are in the Piemonte, beautiful in its own way. It’s just not the same …
The Piemonte is characterized by gentle rolling green hills, covered with vineyards and forest.
The vineyards cling to the hillsides, seemingly avoiding any surface that might be flat.
The trail builders worked diligently to also avoid any flat surface, focusing rather on goat paths, where possible. In this photo, a worker is clearing debris from our “goat” path!
We still had to wend our way through the debris, as he was only beginning to chainsaw/ remove the fallen tree.
The Legend of Yanqui: We’ve heard buzzings from the local nippers of a “legend of Yanqui”, a tale of a hapless American hiker who has the sweetest tasting blood ever! For generations, these nippers would tell the tale of their Tuscan forefathers long ago tasting that blood. Perhaps it was in 2019 or so. “Just a legend”, they said!
Well, today Yanqui revisited Italy and the nippers were ecstatic! They feasted like there was no tomorrow! Even Diane, normally a less desired nipper target was donating to their cause! The legend was confirmed!
That is, until we pulled out the 30% DEET and shut down the feasting Pronto! Well, maybe not pronto enough, but at least we weren’t “drained” completely!
In entering town, we saw yet another sky diving exhibition.
This time, Bill did not lose sight of the trail markers while enjoying the show.
Arrivederci!
Took me a while to figure out what you were referring to as the nippers. But when you pulled out the Deet, I knew clearly. Yowza! Those trails still look like quite an adventure. So, how many miles total will you be walking this time? No matter the miles. Enjoy the time. As seals and croft once sang, “we May never Pass this Way again“. Love you both. 🥰🥰🥰
Hi Willow! Yeah, it may be a bit difficult to figure what the heck Bill means by “nippers”. This was actually a reprise of an Italian Camino post I wrote during our Lucca to Rome walk. I called mosquitos “nippers” as I described the carnage they wreaked on sweet-blood Bill. Since then, I always bring a small bottle of deet … just in case!