Monviso Valle Po, Italy
Barge, Italy. October 2, 2016 8:20 a.m.
We're almost halfway to Monviso. The mountain is only 50 kilometers away from Pinerolo so it is visible for nearly the entire drive. As we get closer we lose signal to the radio stations from Turin. Duccio knew this would happen so he asks me to grab the Bach CD from the glovebox.
Desi is sleeping in the back. She pops up every now and then to see if we're showing signs of stopping soon.
There are two plains on the north side of Monviso. Pian della Regina, for the queen. And Pian del Re, the King. The road to Pian del Re is closed after September for the winter. We made it on the final day of the season.
The road narrows to one and a half lanes. Duccio honks the horn before blind turns.
At the beginning of the trail we cross the birthplace of the Po river. It's the longest river in Italy.
We enter the valley...
Our plan is to hike to Rifugio Quintino Sella. Its about a 6 kilometer walk with a 650m elevation gain.
Can you see the small red cabin? That's where some of the serious mountaineers rest for the night before climbing the north face in the morning.
After an hour we can see that we've gained some elevation. There's the road we came in on.
Duccio explains to me that when the water in between the rocks freeze, it naturally expands. So when the ice melts in the Spring and Summer, that newly created space causes many rocks to weaken and break away from the mountain.
We reach the fresh snow and get closer to Mt. Viso. Winter is coming.
Desi meets a new friend. Together they decide that they're about to drop the dopest album of 2016.
We reach the Great Lake of Viso. Beautiful.
While hiking in the valley it's easy to forget how high you are. This sea of clouds reminds us that we're over 8,500 ft above sea level.
We make it to the Quintino Sella Refuge. It has close to 80 beds. Serves breakfast at 4:00 for those who are climbing to the summit. And again at 7:00 for the casual scenery intaker. We stop in for lunch.
Since it's the last day of the season there's only one thing on the menu, Polenta. It's a hearty combination of a cornmeal porridge with freshly made sausage. Very satisfying alpine food. The beer added a nice final touch too.
"Génépi?" The waitress asked while taking away our clean plates.
"Uhhmm..." I hesitated and looked at her then at Duccio for translation. "Si, Grazie." He answered.
The drink is made from the Génépi flower that only grows in areas higher than 2,000 meters. It is soaked in a container with grain alcohol and sugar to extract its flavor and aroma for over a month. What's left is an herbal, perhaps medicinal, sort of minty, cosmic flavored liqueur. I am an instant fan.
After lunch we top off our water bottles with some fresh water from the mountain.
Here's part of an airplane propeller from a plane crash in the 1940's.
We walk around the lake before heading back.
There's warnings and reminders of the dangers of mother nature.
Walking back I see this unique landscape surrounding Lake Chiaretto.
A lot of the red areas are wild blueberry bushes.
Desi in her element.
After almost 8 hours in the mountains we make it back to Pian Del Re.
The same trail we did continues all the way around Monviso and takes three days. If the weather is good, a reasonably active person can do it in two long days with an overnight stay at Rifugio Vallanta. Highly recommend.
