Today was 6 miles and 1,800′ of climbing. Totals are:  74 miles walked and 9,400′ climbed.

So, what’s an evening look like in the Alps? After dinner, we spent some time on our hotel balcony watching the moon set over the Alps

And the local train depart the village Station.

It was almost like a postcard hamlet!

This morning, as we were preparing to depart, our hotelier gifted Diane with her own St Bernard to keep her safe!

Then the hike began!  So many things to note! First, the beautiful trail signs

Next, the orderliness of the Swiss. Who stacks wood this neatly?

Then there’s the watch out for wolves sign.

The climbing

The river,

And our first view of the Grand St Bernard pass!

Wow! Not bad for 6 miles of hiking!

Today was a near-0.  Normally after about a week of trail hiking, we plan a day off, a “0”. This year, we noted that the towns around where we’d be resting were very, very small. Spending two nights in those towns would be a bit like watching paint dry! So, we opted for two Near-0’s! 6 miles today, and 4 miles tomorrow, instead of a 10 mile hike and then two nights of paint drying 🤔.

Now for the chores (laundry,etc).

Au Revoir

Day 7: Today was only 4 miles, but 1,200′ of climbing. Totals are now 78 miles hiked and 10,600′ climbed.

Today, the weather changed!  Where mid-day highs had been in the upper 90’s for over a week,

today started cool and will just be getting cooler!

The good news is that after Saturday, we’ll be dropping 4 – 6,000′ down into Italy, where it should be about 20 F warmer!

For the last couple days, we’ve had glimpses of the pass, so we’ve got to include yet another for yesterday’s stay in Liddes.

Signs: There’s no way of staying on trail without both good trail markings and a competent guidebook. Switzerland loves hiking, so there are a million trail options, each competing with each other for visibility.

What is most valuable about this is the GREEN “70”, the designation for the Via Francigena trail (ours), and the direction that the arrow points! Typically, there are multiple direction options at the signposts, so following that pointer is very valuable.

The next sign of interest is

This one has the advantage of telling you how long it will take to get to your destination. We’ve  learned to add 50% to their numbers!

Most often, the signs are less informative, but still valuable. They won’t tell you that you’re on the right trail, but at least they let you know  you are on a trail … which can be exceedingly valuable!

And so we get to our day’s destination. The photo, below, is a classic Swiss mountain hotel. Now, we’re not staying there … we’re in the nondescript hotel down the street!

Until tomorrow …

Today was 8 miles of hiking and 3,500′ of climbing! Totals are now 86 miles walked and 14,100′ climbed. Most importantly, we have reached the high point of our hike, at 8,175′ and are at the border with Italy!

Several things to note about the above photo. 1. The BLUE circle highlights the buildings at the top of the pass … our first view of the top!  2. Diane is thankful! 3. There are several other hikers in the view. Interestingly, after a week of no others, the hikers were everywhere! A single guy from Vermont, a couple from Ft Lauderdale, another couple from London … and an assortment of others!

The hike itself was wonderful.  Starting with the character-ladened barns of the area.

The lakes

The streams

The meadows

And the company!

And so we made it!

We knew there was a good chance of rain mid-day, so we started early. We arrived at the top just before noon and … just before it started to pour!  We are thankful for travel mercies!

So, speaking of weather;  the weather is changing!  From nearly 100 F for about a week, it’s now cold! (50’s). When we checked the next several days … it was disheartening!

If you look to the right of the temperatures, you’ll see SNOWFLAKES. Yep, it’s gonna snow here on Monday! Our plan is to hike out tomorrow, descending 4,000′ (in 45 F weather), to get down to the warmer lands! Yikes!

We checked the weather throughout Switzerland and this is a big cold front hitting the area. By going down in elevation, and south (to Italy) we’ll miss the worst of this.

It’s all an adventure!

Day 9: 9 miles walked and only 400′ climbed. Totals are now 93 miles walked and 14,500′ climbed.  But … today’s story is not climbing, it’s descent!

4,100′ descent in 9 miles! In fact, we descended 2,100′ in the first 3 miles!  That’s about a 13% average grade descent. Can you spell “blisters”?

Weather matters. As we left this morning, the latest reports were that they were expecting 8 – 10″ of snow tonight. This is August. It’s good that we descended 4,000+’ today! Even here, tomorrow’s temperature at 8:00am will be 40F. We’ll be descending another 2,200′ tomorrow, so it should get warmer.

The hike: This morning started cold and rainy

As we left the top

The descent into the barren above-tree-line valley was stunning

And once we dropped below the tree line, it just got more and more beautiful

We’ve met some fascinating people in the last couple days. The high Alps tour guide,  Lana, who knew these Alps well. The Swedish women walking a reverse Francigena. Our recent acquaintance, Ken, whom we’ve learned has done all of the great trails in the US (PCT, Appalachian, and the Continental Divide trail).  And others, all with remarkable hiking resumes. Then there’s us. We’re just glad to have the health and resources to enjoy this beautiful creation!

Enjoy your journey. It’s the one you’re best fitted for!

Today’s journey was 10 miles and 800′ of climbing. Totals are now, 103 miles hiked and 15,300′ climbed. Again, descent was the story today, with 2,900′ of descent. Two days ago, we were at 8,200′ and today we’re down at 1,970′. That’s a lot of downhill in 18 miles of walking.

When we woke up and looked out the window, we noticed two things.  First, our hotel was right on the trail (no getting lost for at least the first 100 yds)

And second, it snowed!

Which was much better viewed a couple miles down the trail

Our best guess is that the snow line was about 1,000′ higher than where we stayed last night. That would make it about 2,000′ BELOW the pass where we stayed 2 nights ago. Beautiful, but tough for hiking!

The trail was very nice, following a canal/stream through the mountains

Eventually, we made it to Aosta where we will spend 2 days before pushing on.  Aosta is a town of about 60,000 people … a bit of a shock for us after a week of villages of a couple hundred.

Enjoy!

Bill and Diane

Today was 20 miles walked and only 1,000′ climbed. Our journey totals are now 123 miles walked and 16,300′ climbed.

The Aosta Valley is a long, fairly narrow valley. With a river, a highway and a train in the middle,  there’s not always a lot of spare room for trails. So, the principal Via Francigena route climbs the canyon walls, going up and down as necessary, to provide the trail space.

There is another way … Italy has a phenomenal bike path that follows up against that river for nearly the whole distance of our walk. It is slightly longer (maybe 3 more miles), but far less climbing (our 1,000′ vs 3,500′). And, it is beautiful! Don’t take our word for it …

And

Also,

We were quite content with this route! Tomorrow, there isn’t a straightforward bike path alternate,  so we’ll go back to the mountain goat trail.

Directions: Bill grew up hiking with a compass and topo maps.   You get a sense of where the trail should be and search for the markers or landmarks. And you make mistakes, but that’s part of the adventure!

As we started hiking trails in Europe, we had GPS  that we could use to cross reference our guidebook directions. Much better than compass and topo, but not foolproof (witness Bill’s many “lost directions”). The challenge was that the camino trails were never on Google maps, so you had to guess at the overlay.

As we looked at today’s bike path vs official walking path, Bill was concerned that our guidebook wouldn’t help. Net, the chance of getting off track was potentially high.  So,

Bill found a Via Francigena App! That tool shows both the walking and the cycling routes, AND overlays your GPS position on the detailed map! (See RED dot on RED trail line)

It was great!  Mostly, no getting lost and no worrying about missing a trail marker  … just look at the map and if your RED dot is on the line, you’re good to go!

Okay, this is a good thing,  but Bill misses the aesthetics of physical maps and compasses. Also, he has NO excuse now if he gets lost!

Friends along the way: In the last several days, we’ve met several native English speakers walking the Via Francigena. And a feature of these walks is the ease with which you make friendships.  You’re walking for hours and conversation just flow.

Last night, six of us gathered for a great dinner.

There’s Mary and Stuart from London, and Victoria and Allen from Florida. Ken, from Vermont, another of the band, wasn’t able to make the meal.

On leaving the dinner, we noted this very informative sign on the road

We think it means,  “this space reserved for hockey players”. What are your thoughts?

TTFN,

Bill and Diane

Today was 13 miles walked and 2,500′ climbed. The totals are 136 miles walked and 18,800′ climbed!

The High Road:  We continue to follow the Aosta Valley South and East, with the Dora River coursing through its middle.

Where yesterday we chose to take the path down in the valley, today we followed the hillside trail with its more expansive views and more vigorous climbing. Actually, we net-descended 300′ today, but climbed 2,500′ while also descending 2,800′!

And to pile on the “woe is us’s”, the ascents and descents were not that easy 5 – 10% grades,  these were the 20 – 30% grades with loose footing. Whine, whine.

When the trail was level, it was beautiful

We met two hikers today, headed in the opposite direction. They are from Canada and started their journey in Rome.  They are headed to Santiago de Compostela. They are doing, in a single effort, what we are attempting to do over 5 separate Caminos. To each, their own path. We wished them well.

Enjoy your journey,

Bill and Diane

Day 13: 13 miles hiked and 900′ climbed. We’re now at 149 miles hiked and 19,800′ overall.

This morning we woke before sunrise to see a magnificent moonset into the mountain ridge:

Unlike yesterday, today’s journey was mostly in the valley floor; not the expansive views, but certain beautiful.

The path to us through Bard, a medieval village with an impressive fort

And to an old Roman Bridge, still in use

A brief history of Aosta valley. This valley, leading to the Grand St Bernard pass has been an active thoroughfare for millenia.  Abandoned Roman and medieval outposts litter the hillsides all up and down the valley, as they were used to keep control.

In the late 1790’s, Napoleon led an army of 40,000′ up the Switzerland side and down into the Aosta valley to attack the Piemonte people (We’re in Piemonte, tomorrow! ). It’s kind of amazing to try to envision 40,000′ troops marching through this tight canyon.  Apparently,  Napoleon was successful.

We’ve arrived at our night’s rest, and it has a WASHER! “Well” cleaned laundry is on the menu tonight!  And, this excellent apartment is only 50 meters from the trail. Easy peasy!

Last night’s stay was nice, but … it was remote and 0.30 miles up an exceedingly steep hill. After arriving, we had to think seriously about going back down that hill to get a dinner. We did, and it was well worth it! We ate in a “locals”pizzeria. Great food and really, really nice locals.  Worth it!

Preparation for tomorrow awaits! Take care!

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!

No miles. Just too much food (pasta, fish, salad, gelato) and too little activity. Sounds good to us!

Hiking and a full post, tomorrow.