Auberge U Vallone to Hotel Castel di Vergio
I awake to the sounds of heavy rain on the tent. Glad we did the Cirque yesterday – it will be a whole different ball game today. I feel warm and cosy in my sleeping bag and for once there are no stones under the mat. In fact it feels like I am on a waterbed. Water. The thought stirs me from my slumber – the tent is afloat!
I wake Ali and we quickly dress, collapse the tent and head for shelter in the Auberge. The gentle stream running past the hut has turned into a raging torrent over night. With little soil and vegetation covering the bare rock high in the mountains the water run off is quick.
Today promises to be an easier day than the first four and we leave the hut on a good path up through the pine trees in the rain. As we gingerly cross a stream in full spate we are overtaken by fell runners who just jump in and wade across – they are part of a GR20 race which covers the full 120 mile route in an amazing five days – so they can’t afford to hang around.
As we ascend the pine trees give way to alder scrub and we climb up out of the valley. About three hours from leaving the Auberge we break for lunch at a refuge. At 1991m the hut is the highest point of today’s walk and it is here that the rain finally stops - affording us a view down into the Golo valley.
We descend into the valley and take a dip in the pools below a cascading waterfall . We cross the river Golo here and re-cross it again via a footbridge lower down.
The easy path through a birch wood lulls us into temporarily losing the path – the usual red and white way-makers are painted on the occasional tree and can be hard to spot on the silvery birch bark.
Eventually we begin to see signs of civilisation and can hear a car on a nearby road. We have reached the Hotel and we pitch tents in the grounds
I wake Ali and we quickly dress, collapse the tent and head for shelter in the Auberge. The gentle stream running past the hut has turned into a raging torrent over night. With little soil and vegetation covering the bare rock high in the mountains the water run off is quick.
Today promises to be an easier day than the first four and we leave the hut on a good path up through the pine trees in the rain. As we gingerly cross a stream in full spate we are overtaken by fell runners who just jump in and wade across – they are part of a GR20 race which covers the full 120 mile route in an amazing five days – so they can’t afford to hang around.
As we ascend the pine trees give way to alder scrub and we climb up out of the valley. About three hours from leaving the Auberge we break for lunch at a refuge. At 1991m the hut is the highest point of today’s walk and it is here that the rain finally stops - affording us a view down into the Golo valley.
We descend into the valley and take a dip in the pools below a cascading waterfall . We cross the river Golo here and re-cross it again via a footbridge lower down.
The easy path through a birch wood lulls us into temporarily losing the path – the usual red and white way-makers are painted on the occasional tree and can be hard to spot on the silvery birch bark.
Eventually we begin to see signs of civilisation and can hear a car on a nearby road. We have reached the Hotel and we pitch tents in the grounds
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