Monday 3rd September: Weather 15°C to 18°C all day: Sunny with overcast periods
Noasca to San Lorenzo DAY 15: 15k: 5h: 10.45am to 3.45pm
Accommodation: Hotel Degli Amici/Trattoria San Lorenzo at Altitude of 1045 Metres
View from room Hotel Cascata
An exciting interesting day. After a cool morning, it was a warm 18°C all day with lots of things happening. First breakfast is not in our Hotel Cascata but over the road at the Gran Paradiso. Next off I posted home my excess maps to save 600 grams weight, we dumped our second gas can today, weighing it at the post office to check how much was left. Then the track through the forest disappeared and we had to walk down the road and finally we get to San Lorenzo to discover the Hotel Degli Amici we thought we had booked has been closed for four years. A couple of older German hikers tell us it’s we need to stay in the Poste Tappa at Trattoria Lorenzo - basically a few rooms at the back of the bar/restaurant with a communal shower, and chooks running around in the yard below.
Morning tea 10.30am Noasca
Time to dump our second gas can
Down through the larch forest
Autumn leaves
Mist up high
Lunch at Zauniere park Valle d'Orca
Eating Blackberries by teh road
Fornolosa church Valle D'Orca
Grapes on road to San Lorenzo
San Lorenzo 1045 metres
Almost a sleep in til 7am, as we know today is only a short 12 k walk through the forest down the Valle D’Orca and up to San Lorenzo. Time to chat to Bonnie home from Bali before showering, repacking and walking down to the Albergo Gran Paradiso where breakfast had been arranged. Apparently the same people manage both the Albergo Cascata and the Gran Paradiso. Breakfast is nice with a mixture of croissants, apple strudel and a hot cup of tea. Back to our room, I sort out my maps and books that I don’t need any more, before walking the 50 metres to the Post Office to send them home. We weighed the gas cn I’ve been carrying all trip and discover it’s half used. A bit of trivia info - we used 120 grams of gas in 10 days.
By now it’s 10am and time for a coffee in the park opposite our hotel to use the gas can once more before dumping it. The coffee is so nice made with Nestle condensed milk from a tube. Ian drops the can in the towns refuse bin and at 10.45am we’re following the signs through the forest towards Fe, half way to San Lorenzo. By now it’s 10am and time for a coffee in the park opposite our hotel to use the gas can once more before dumping it. The coffee is so nice made with NestBy now it’s 10am and time for a coffee in the park opposite our hotel to use the gas can once more before dumping it. The coffee is so nice made with Nestle condensed milk from a tube. Ian drops the gas can in the towns refuse bin and at 10.45am we’re following the signs through the forest towards Fe, half way to San Lorenzo.
It’s such a pretty track through mostly larch and the autumn leaves have started to fall. There’s a few little villages on the track with footbridges across the torrent to the main road on the other side. At Fe, the track disappears. There should be a track continuing down beside the torrent. My map says there is, and a poster we saw in Noasca shows a track continuing down. But there isn’t! We try a few tracks that finish in dead ends before deciding to walk down the main road which fortunately isn’t busy at midday on a Monday.
It’s actually quite pleasant on the road for a change. With no chance of tripping over boulders or rocks, it’s possible to look up and around. By 1pm we see a picnic area at Zaninere and have bread and cheese in the park at proper table and chairs in the sun, as it’s still a chilly breeze. On down the road, hugging the edge which is mattered with blackberries. I stopped to pick and eat until I was stuffed with sweet blackberries.
Down through Fornolosa, a very old village with an ancient church. A but further on is another village of Risone where we turn sharp left up another narrow road to walk teh 3k up the 300 metres ascent to San Lorenzo. There’s more deserted villages and one of the old houses has grape vines laden with black grapes, spilling onto the road. Another stop to pick and eat.
It’s still only 18°C but feels warmer walking up hill with a breeze behind us. At 3.45pm we arrive in the 10 house village of San Lorenzo at an altitude of 1045 metres and teh first place we see is our Hotel Degli Amici. But there’s no one there. Thinking it’s probably a 5pm check in, we walk up the road and find a spot to sit where ian has phone/internet and book a place in Milan for September 10th, the night before we leave.
An hour later and back to the hotel. Still closed. Up the road to the Trattoria San Lorenzo where there’s a German couple who tell us the Hotel Degli Amici has been closed for 4 years and the only place to stay is the Trattoria. It was a bit confusing as I had received an email from Simona when I requested a reservation at the Hotel and she said OK. But it appears her family run both places, and right now the Trattoria is the only place open. The old Italian lady shows us to a room at the back above the chicken coup. It’s cosy with 8 beds in it. The German couple are in the next room and we share a bathroom, which has really hot water.
Dinner is at 7pm and is a fabulous collection of anti pasta - meats, cheeses, pickles, baked trout, saucy tuna, followed by ravioli then jam tarts. All with red wine and a genepi to finish off. We had a lovely conversation with our new German friends about hiking in general. We leave teh dining room full after a fascinating day.
A bit of blogging then a Doc Martin then bed.