Saturday 8th September: Weather 10°C up to 16°C: sunny morning: mist rolled in at midday on col
Fondo to Le Capanne DAY 20: 13.5k: 9.30am to 5.00pm: 7hrs 30 mins: Ascent 1100 m, Descent 750 m
Accommodation: Le Capanne Agriturismo at altitude 1400 metres
Pretty stoned path through forest
Village of Succinto
A long slog up 1100 metres
Late morning tea 1.20pm
Slopes of mist and yellow flowers
Momentary blue sky above mist
Lots of boulder hopping today
The mist rolls in
Col Lavosoza at 2147 metres
Quincinetto 2000 metres down
Donkeys blocking the path
5 mins to Agriturismo Le Capanne
A mix of sun and mist on this long day, mostly because of the hours spent boulder hopping in the mist. Highlight was getting to Col Lavosoza at 2147 Metres, our very last col of this 21 day walk, then a arriving at the lovely Agriturismo accommodation Le Capanne.
We’re awake early at 6am and there’s time for a quick shower before 7am breakfast - the usual stale bread jam and a hot cup of tea. Our rom was lovely and cosy and not what we’d expect from a Poste Tappa - End Stop accommodation on the GTA. A late start at 9.30pm begins with a walk up through the forest of an ancent stone path tp the pretty village of Succinto where the cableway is working sending down the local produce of cheese to the valley below and hauling back necessities.
The climb starts in earnest soon after leaving the village, through the forest on a stony track that’s quite steep and the stepping stones are high, making it more tiring. Soon we can look back to the village of Succinto at 1163 metres before climbing to a cluster of old stone houses at Piani di Cappia. Then our serious climb begins across grassy/rocky/bouldery slopes, the track often disintegrating after wild boars have uprooted stones and grass in search of roots. The path is narrow, ill defined, wet and slippery and the mist is rolling in making it cool. It’s a long slog for another 3 hours and at 1.20pm, having had no stops at all, we reach an old stone hut where two Swiss German hikers have just had lunch. Time for a welcome morning tea sitting wedged between a rock and the walls of the hut, out of the cool breeze.
Another 2 hours of walking in the mist, and we reach the old cheese maker’s hut at Alpe Chiaromonte at 2014 metres. It’s misty and he’s not around so we don’t stop. At 3pm we reach the Col Lavosoza at 2147 metres, our very last col of this 21 day hiking trip. The mist temporarily lifts as we walk across the broad expanse of hummock grass to the other side where we can see the village of Quincinetto almost 2000 metres down in the Aosta Valley. We can also see the white tent pitched outside the Agriturism Le Capanne, our home for the night, but it’s more than an hour before we descend the 700 metres to get there. It was a long hard day and we’re glad to arrive. First a hot shower, before washing our wet soggy socks after another day in wet grass.
Dinner is at 7.30pm, so time to sort photos and blog while curled up in bed with a beer and sprite. At 7.30 we trot over to the dining room and I ask for vegetarian please as my tummy doesn’t feel like heavy meat. It’s after 8 when dinner arrives. Ian has a small dish of anti pasta - sausage slices and cheese - and my vegetarian is a lovely dish of roasted chestnuts. For mains, Ian has roast beef and salad, and my vegetarian is boiled peas and salad. A good thing I wasn’t hungry. Followed by a plate of fruit. Another Doc Martin and bed.