Saturday 23rd August: Morning clear and 7°C, Afternoon misty and 15°C.
Macugnaga to Alagna: 29.7k: 8.30am to 6.45pm: 10hrs 15mins
Monte Rosa behind Hotel Dufour
Onward and up to Col de Turlo
Hard Rock Cafe
Mosaic of granite slabs
Trillions of hours building this track
Mist rises out of the valley
3pm at the Passe del Turlo 2738m
Even the dogs made it
Down to Alagna into the mist
Tiptoeing along the granite edges
Catching up to Fran's Tour Group
Mum and baby donkey
Alagna deep in the valley below
Single street of pretty Alagna
A well earned meat, fries and salad
Profile of days walk - Col del Turlo
Hilary, we are not impressed! Almost 30k today when it should have only been 19.5k - that's a 50% increase in distance! And as well as 30k, we climbed the Col del Turlo at 2738 metres, a climb of 1421 metres above Macugnaga, then down again 1600 metres to Alagna. The highlight was seeing the Monte Rosa in all its glory first thing in the morning as a backdrop to our Hotel Dufour and climbing the Col del Turlo with a well graded track of mosaic granite slabs up to the top and a graded rocky mule track down the other side. Getting to the really pretty village of Alagna at 6.45pm was a great end to another hard day. Our average of 15k per day has been blown out the window!
We awake to chat Facetime with Bonnie, then Skype to Donna and Milton. Technology has allowed us to stay in touch so easily on these trips. Breakfast is a bit spartan, but the single peach between us was so juicy. It's 8.30am when we leave to a glorious morning and we can see the Monte Rosa for the first time. We briefly stop at the local Alimentari for bread and tomatoes - the tomatoes look red and delicious. I break the bread in half to make it fit - it's rock hard on the outside, light on the inside - Italian style bread.
Onward and up to the Passe del Turlo - the signs say 5hrs 50 minutes just to the top and we already know Hilary's 8hr day over the top and down to Alagna is a furphy. After 3hrs of steady climbing through the pine forests, it's time for a coffee on a huge granite slab in the middle of the track. There's not many walkers today - 4 men and 3 dogs. Out of the pine forests, the track turns to a mosaic of granite slabs - just like a roman road. It's supposed to be the best track to a mountain pass in Europe. Even though the grade is steep, its an easy slog.
At 3pm, after 6hrs 30minutes and a GPS reading of 16k, we reach the Passe del Turlo. There's a collection of people - day trippers, Fran's Tour Group, and one dog. The two men with their greyhound go back the same way - 32k for the dog that day - any wonder it's a greyhound! It's not freezing cold at the top - 7°C, not 2°C and after a brief encounter with the other climbers, we have a chunk of rock bread with a hunk of cheese and head on down. We've reckoned we'll be lucky to be there by 6pm.
The track down was very well graded, no high steps to clamber over, but the smooth granite edge supporting the track made it easy to tip toe quickly down whilst balancing on the edge. The centre of the track was slippery with little rocks. Soon we catch up to Fran's tour group, have a quick chat, compare notes and discover that both Ian's and Fran's GPS reading is the same at 20.7k from the start and we're only half way down the mountain! We think Hillary used a tape measure over a small map to get her measurements.
The pretty village of Alagna lies way below as we head on down between the huge sides of the valley towering over the top of us. Fran's group stops for the night at the Rifugio Pastore - we stop for a quick cup of tea before walking down the last 4k into the village where we ask one of the locals for directions to Indren Hus, our Bed n Breakfast for the night. It's 6.45pm and we've only had 3 x 10 minute stops. Ian's knees are stuffed and my quads are tight as a drum from the pounding down hill. After a most beautiful shower and a bit of washing, we're given directions to a local restaurant where we enjoy a mixed grill, salad and chips.
Home to bed. Good on ya Hillary!