Blogs from Trient, South-West, Switzerland, Europe

Leaving the campground in Val Veni after three nights in my tent, I rejoined the Tour du Mont Blanc where I had left it two days earlier, one hour down the road in the town of Courmayeur. But having dropped down into the bed of the Val d'Aosta (into which both the Val Veni and Italian Val Ferret flow) there was only one direction the trail could go: up. At first the gradient was gentle as the route followed a sealed road up a side-valley, but after leaving the road and heading up onto the forested flanks of Monte de la Saxe the steepness immediately ratcheted up a couple of notches. Yet fresh from a rest day I was equal to the task, managing to climb the 600m from the road-end to Rifugio Bertone in just ... read more

In Trient and happy to be so. Another good day's walk, as we settle into routine. Breakfast, walk up, walk up, walk up, walk along, walk down, walk up, walk up, walk along, walk down, walk down, oops forgot somewhere in there there has to be an icypole or two, arrive, shower and feed. But now we are seeing familiar faces although some are huffing and puffing as much as us so the greeting is usually a nod or a wave rather than a long conversation. Unusual accomodation today. Very 'Fawlty Towers'. Some bits were quite good (evening meal soup was really good) but others were at the best unusual (huge room but nothing but a bed, single chair and a wardrobe with no hangers in it. The room was as white as Mt. Blanc with ... read more