Advertisement
Published: September 2nd 2013
The month of August was spent in the Swiss and Italian Alps so read on for the details.
On Thursday 1 August we headed around to Saas Fee to the aire on the terrace overlooking the valley. The only down side was the giant multi story car park directly behind. However, we had one night in the back row and the next day a van left so we got a front row spot with the view. Saas Fee has a deal for reduced parking rates and free rides on buses and cables for a small daily price. On Friday we took the gondola up to Hannig to do a hike up to Mallig for great glacier and 4000mt peak views. The walk back through the Azalea rockery and the pine forest was lovely.
On Saturday we did a bit of washing then took the gondola up to 3000mt at Felskinn and hiked the alpine route across the snow to below Britannia hut. On the way we waited for a helicopter who blew my hat off as it took off – my beloved Rip curl hat is gone!!!! The rest of the walk was great but a little scary on
the high level balcony path around to Plaatjen gondola. We got back in time to take in the washing before the afternoon rain storm came. Sunday we caught the bus to Maatmark to hike around the lake and up to Distelalp. A lovely walk with views of massive glaciers and water falls. Spotted a Rock Thrush, Marmottes and Chamoix along the way. On Monday 5 August we had a rest day and spent time doing household chores, browsing the village streets and watching the comings and goings on the aire. Tuesday we used the bus and the gondola to get up to Kreuzboden then walked the high level footpath around to Almagellalp. The first part was a botanical walk with alpine flowers identified along the way. We saw our first Eidelweiss of the trip, immediately above the sign identifying it! Stopped for lunch of soup and beer in the gorgeous valley above Saas Almagell then followed the interesting klettergarten route around the rock face to the top of the chairlift. We had to cross a couple of swing bridges, metal steps, wooden walkways and narrow paths, all very high above the sheer valley sides.
On Wednesday it was time
to farewell Saas Fee after 7 lovely days. It took me a while to find the office in order to pay for the aire but the nice man gave me the full 6 nights discount (although we only had the guest card for 5 nights). We drove down to Visp then on to Brig which has a pleasant old town centre for strolling around. By the time we drove the narrow road up to Binntal the rain had set in again. On site we met Heather and Chris from Zurich and spent a social evening with them. The next day it was still raining so we did the washing and hung around the campsite until mid afternoon when the rain finally cleared. On Friday the weather did not seem to be improving much so we decided to head over to Italy. Brian drove us over and through the Simplon Pass which would have been spectacular but the for low cloud enveloping the views.
Once on the Italian side the roads and the drivers became a lot less disciplined and it was with great relief we arrived at the huge aire below the dam at Riale at the head of
the Val Formazza. It was 10 Euro a night and worth it for the views and the walking. On Saturday we headed off for a 17km, 900mt ascent hike to the Lago Sabioni and back around the Lago Marosco. A lovely day, lots of people around and the highlight was having several minutes observing a Wallcreeper and this time we got some photos! On Sunday we had another lovely day hiking the opposite part of the mountains with another 17km hike, 800mt ascent up to the Passo Giacomo and back around Lago Bonini.
On Monday we drove down the Val Formazza and up the Val Devero where it cost 10euro to park and nowhere to camp. Would be good walking but did not stay. We ended up at Domobianca ski car park above Domodossola for the night. Late in the evening we had two lots of latin lovers who fortunately did not stay long! On Tuesday we spent the morning in Domodossola which has a nice old town centre and a good gelati bar, then finished the day up the Val Anzasca at the aire in Macugnaga in the shadow of the Monte Rosa. The aire is a concrete
pen with bays marked for 28 vans, thankfully not full at the moment. Wednesday we hiked up to the Rifugio Zamboni Zappa below the glacier of Monte Rosa. It was 900mt ascent and about 13.5km. Lots of people on the ridge track back to the chairlift.
Thursday 15 August is a public holiday in Italy for Assumption so lots of people were out and about. We took a gentle walk up the Val Quarazza past Lago de Fata foraging for raspberries along the way. We bought a few supplies in Staffa then spent a lazy afternoon back at camp. We were a little surprised at the wonky logic of the aire operator – stay for 2 days and pay 15euro, stay for another single day and pay 10euro! On Friday we headed south to the Vicolungo Outlet Centre hoping to find a few outdoor shops however it was mostly fashion although there was a good North Face shop tucked in amongst them. We aimed for a free camp in the PN Lame Sesia but it took a few tries before we ended up next to a cemetary at Oldenika. A warm night pierced by the local church bells which
tolled all night – double chimes every hour!
On Saturday morning we walked along the bird reserve where we got a good look at a Golden Oriole before we headed back into the mountains to cool down and spent two nights by the river at Tschaval as the local aire was full. We did a great hike up to Gabiat cable station and beyond, enjoying terrific views of the craggy Monte Rosa massif. Monday we decided to head around to Cervinia to the huge aire high up the valley. It was only about half full thankfully. On Tuesday we did a fabulous hike around the cirque below Monte Cervino (as the Matterhorn is known on the Italian side). This was a spectacular hike of 15.5km and 1000mt of ascent with amazing views of the peaks all around us and also amazing views of what people consider appropriate alpine hiking gear e.g. a girl walking at 2500mt altitude in Ugg boots and a group of young men about to climb the Matterhorn in shorts and t.shirts!! Mind you this was all put in the shade the next day when we witnessed a Spanish man called Killian run up Monte Cervino from the clock tower in Cervinia and back in 2.52 hours, smashing the existing record by 23 minutes!! He literally ran up 2500mt of ascent in 2 hours and you should have seen his return, we watched him most of the way through binns.
After all this excitement it was time to move valleys so we headed back down to the Aosta valley, did some shopping then drove up the Cogne valley to yet another delightful location. The motorhome aire at Lillaz was our home for the next 3 nights. We planned a big walk but I went down with a bit of a virus which left Brian to go wandering off on his own for a day. I meanwhile had a bit of down time to myself. Next day I felt a lot better but we still only did a moderate walk up a beautiful valley. We got back just as the rain blew in for a few hours. We used the time to get on the internet at a local hotel which served very tasty local brewed amber beer. That night the aire emptied out considerably – guess the summer holidays are drawing to a close this week, thank goodness. Having said that, the mountains have not been as overrun as we feared with most aires having plenty of room each day. After Cogne we shifted around to the lovely and isolated Val Grisenche where the aire was free, including electric. Probably due to the fact that demolition work was going on at the dam just above us with blasting and jack hammering during the day. However, we escaped all this but driving up to the far end of the lake to do a couple of fabulous days hiking.
As August drew to a close we headed up the Petit Col St Bernard for a hike and an overnight stop near the col before crossing back into France. We revisited Les Chapieaux which is a wild camping area on the tour du Mont Blanc route. We first visited here back in 2003 and it hasn't changed much. We arrived on Friday afternoon just as they were setting up for the Ultra Trail of Mont Blanc so by 9.45pm that night we watched the first of 2500 runners come pelting down the mountain in the dark. We watched them come through for about an hour then retired to our beds however the last ones were not due through until about 4am so it was a bit of a sleepless night for us. There was a band playing until 3.30am then the clean up started about 6am. However, it was an interesting spectacle.
So now we are into September and looking forward to a quieter time now that school holidays are over.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.186s; Tpl: 0.011s; cc: 10; qc: 51; dbt: 0.0545s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb
