August 5
Today was a bit of an adventure.
We woke up with every intention of grabbing a gondola in a neighbouring town, Selva Wolkenstein (I know, very Italian sounding isn't it), about 20 minutes up the road. The network of chairlifts, gondolas and cable cars is truly impressive. It seems like it would be possible to travel across the mountains by alpine skis only in this area.
Alas, when we arrived at the gondola station, we found out that it had been hit by lighting the night before and so they were still repairing it. Our alternative was a bus which wound up the steep mountain road to the same spot, so we switched plans and hopped the bus.
After about a 15 minute climb, which included a great view of the highest soccer pitch I've ever seen, we were dropped at this rock strewn world beneath the gargantuan shadow of a massive tower of rock. It looked like the mountain had been hurling pieces of itself into the valley along its shoulder. Our hike started at the top of the gondola, a small little place called Champinoi.
We wound our way through a landscape of rock and wildflowers, picking our way through what has aptly been called Rock City. Ren lead the way through the rock field, warning us of slippery parts, telling us how to get around the muddy bits. He had a running diatribe of mountain recommendations that I could hear echoing off the rock about 100 meters behind him.
On either said were imposing views of rocky peeks looming over the valley, shrouded in clouds elegantly wrapped around their peeks and shoulders. The sun occasionally fought its way through, but the clouds dominated the landscape today making for deep greens across the meadow. We picked our way through the rocky paradise, admiring wildflowers, views and hardy roots impossibly twisted around rocks in a determined effort to reach soil.
The rock strewn and evergreen enclosed landscape eventually opened up to a large open alpine field with peeks on either side that felt like you were walking off the edge of the world. It was here that we saw them up close. Yes, you know what I'm talking about - alpine cows.
They are strewn just like the boulders across the landscape. The kids thought it was amazing to see "wild" cows in the mountains and did their best to make friends with every single one. We explained that they were brought up in the mountains to graze over the summer, but they liked the idea of wild cows better.
It was a deep alpine green field. With the lower clouds, the colours were more vibrant not being exposed to the harsh sun. As we walked across it, the clouds slipped forward and lower, lending a surreal feel to our ambling.
We stopped for lunch at a "little" ski lodge, Ecomici which was better than the nicest lodge on Whistler. The bathrooms alone were worth the trip - New Age music, soft lighting, hand driers built into the sink taps. I wasn't sure if I was in a ski lodge, or a spa. I have expected a woman in a starched white uniform to offer me a hand towel. The down side is that I ordered polenta for lunch, not really knowing what it was. I have learne not to order it again. As I saw later on a menu, polenta actually translates into corn gruel. Not as appetizing up close as it sounds. Actually, it wasn't too bad and very filling, but not at all what I was expecting.
Our plan had been to walk half way down and catch a bus for the bottom half of the return trip. We had, unfortunately, just missed the return bus by mere minutes and the next one wasn't scheduled for an hour. Having little interest in sitting at the side of the road with a couple of tired kids, we opted to finish it off on foot. Realistically, Kohji and I opted for that, but through the discovery of pocket chocolate (a pocket full of M&Ms) for the kids, we managed to actually get them down to the bottom with only a little complaining. All told they covered 8 kilometres on foot, some of it on rocky or steep down hill terrain. Sure, we cut out the uphill slog, but they still did the rest on their own.
After the obligatory post hike treat, we lounged for a while before heading back into Ortessi for dinner. Here we found an out of the way pizzeria where the proprietress took quite a shine to the kids. She kept stopping by the table, smiling and waving at them at them, and telling us they were "good kids"! It seemed one of those family run places where the staff was efficient, the owner effervescent and the food good.
Tomorrow, on to Courmayeur, where we will switch French for German and admire the awesomeness of Mont Blanc, Europe's highest peak.
The parting shot for tonight just had to be shared. Last good night from San Michele.
1 comment:
Great Pictures!
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