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!