Tuesday 4th September: Weather 12°C to 15°C Sunny and blue skies all day except for mist at very top of cols
San Lorenzo to Talosio DAY 16: 22k: 7.45am to 5.40pm. 5mins short of 10hrs: Ascent 1500m, Descent 1600m
Accommodation: Santuario di Prascondu, Talosio, at altitude 1321 metres
Lovely owner Trattoria San Lorenzo
Trattoria San Lorenzo by Simona
Looking down on San Lorenzo
Blue skies
La Ca at 1715 metres
First sheep on this track
Electricity lines going nowhere
Shepherd and his Caravan
Sheep with patou (sheep dog)
Skirting around up through bush
Morning tea Alpe Praghetta 2150m
Trust me there’s sheep down there
Colla at 2171 metres
Alpe di Colla at 2171 metres
Lago d'Eugio 1860 metres
Track across Dam wall Lago d'Eugio
Massive dam wall built 1950 d'Eugio
Mist on way to Mont Arzola
Our longest and biggest day. Not quite our hardest, that medal goes to the day from Rhemes Notre Dame to Bezzi on Day 8, not because of the distance or height gained and lost, but because the last 9k was boulder hopping. Highlights today were climbing 1100 metres to Alp di Colla at 2171 metres then descending to the man made lake Lago d’Eugio at 1860 metres before climbing to the next high point Mont Arzola at 2171 metres. The whole day was cool, with blue skies, stunning view to the alps all round and to the flat plains of Turin. But perhaps our best highlight was getting the the church/monastery of Santuario di Prascondu at 5.40pm. just 5 minutes short of a 10 hour day to check in without a reservation for a room, dinner and breakfast.
We know we’re in for a very long day, made even longer by following the suggestion of our German friends at the trattoria in San Lorenzo to stay at the church, about 2k further on from Talosio rather than at the Post Tappa in the old school house where we had planned to stay. We’re awake at 6am packed and down to breakfast at 7am. The manager is a dear Italian lady who has prepared a spread of home made jams, tarts and cakes aith hot coffee or tea. We’ve met some really lovely hard working people in northern Italy.
We say good bye to our German friends who are still having breakfast and walk 50 metres down the road to start the 1100 metres climb to Alpe di Colla at 2171 metres from San Lorenzo at 1045m. It’s a steady cool ascent on an ancient track, that’s quite over grown through lack of use. Just over half way up is La Ca at 1715 metres. There’s views down to the little village of San Lorenzo and to the mountains and blue skies on teh other side.
We’ve been treading in sheep droppings for a while now and soon we see our first two sheep. There’s an old electricity line going no where and soon we come across a shepherd's caravan with a few dogs chained up outside. We try to sneak past, but the dogs hear us and alerts the shepherd who comes out and warns us that his flock of sheep are spread across the track and being minded by a patou, a big white sheep dog, and he indicates with his hands it will bite and waves his arm to show us where to go around them. Easier said than done as we have to scramble over rocks, tufts of grassy hummocks and gorse like bush for 30 minutes to rejoin the track higher up. We’ve encountered patous before - not to be played with.
Finally we’re at Alpe Praghetta at 2150 metre, a deserted stone village with magnificent panoramic views and find a morning tea spot on some stone steps, avoiding the sheep’s poo scattered everywhere. Just twenty metres higher is Alpe di Colla at 2171 metres and shrouded in mist. Down the other side, the track is steep, then becomes a grass road, and soon we’re at the massive dam wall built across the gorge forming Lago d’Eugio at 1860 metres.
Up the other mountain side, the track is wet, overgrown and slippery, clearly on the misty side of the valley. One hour later we reach the next Col, Monte Arzola at 2158m. It's cold and misty, though we can see sun beneath the mist. It’s too cold to stop, so we scamper down til we’re beneath the mist and find a sunny spot for lunch at 2.30pm with views out to the plains of Turin.
A bit further down, at 3pm, we can see the large church, Santuario di Prascondu, down the valley on the other side. This imposing structure was constructed in 1618 to commemorate an apparition of the blessed Mary, and apart from housing a museum, the rooms are set out as dormitories to cater for people on the Gran Traverse of teh Alps (GTA).
It looks so close, we think we’ll be there in an hour, but when we arrive in the village of Posio at 1400 metres, we miss the turn off and spend almost an hour looking to see how we can get across the gully to the church. Eventually at 5pm, we see the sign - 45 minutes to go. We roll into the church at 5.40pm, 5 minutes short of a 10 hour day. There’s an older lady who only speaks Italian in teh kitchen and we indicate that we’re looking for a bed for teh night and dinner and breakfast. She smiles and shows us up to our room on the third floor. It’s a dorm for 4 but there’s only us in it. There’s only 2 others in the whole place - two German girls who have walked from the opposite direction.
The shower on the second level is nice and hot, and we need to wash our clothes which are muddy and pooy from the sheeps droppings. There’s a clothes line already strung across the walk way outside our room. Dinner is at 7pm in the tiny dining room with a warm wood fire burning. Another typical Italian dinner with mountains of anti pasti before a second course of ravioli, followed by a main of mixed meat skewers and a bowl of green beans, finished off with a juicy nectarine. We’re full to overflowing. The German girls tell us part of the GTA track for us tomorrow has been diverted, but it’s really steep and we’d be best to stick to the old track. Very useful information
After a chat, we’re back to our cold room and watch a Doc Martin before bed at 9pm.
Second sheep flock to skirt around
Santuario do Prascondu 4hrs to go
2nd Colle Arzolla 2158 metres
Eagles in the air
Lunch down from mist in sun
Almost at Santuario do Prascondu