Italy - Day 4: Rifugio Col Gallina to Rifugio Cinque Torri

Top of the world

There had been a slight miscalculation when booking the accommodation. A lack of detailed maps, in our possession at the time of planning, meant that the two rifugios, yesterday's and today's, were only a few kilometers apart. Almost in direct line of site. So just walking between the two in a straight(ish) line seemed a bit of a waste. I


I don't want to blame anyone for such poor planning - so the person responsible shall not be named.

High point from below

So we looked at the map and found a circuitous route that would take us to our goal and take the whole day doing it. A nice little detour that would take us around one of the bigger local 'mites'. Nothing too strenuous at least on a flat map. And anyway the route was marked easy: no ferrata (those stupid suicide thing with wires and harnesses). A cottage on route and the ski lift up to the high point, that we'd avoided yesterday, to start the walk. 

We had breakfast and set of to the lift. We had to wait for it to open. But we were first in line and the sun was shining. But, by the time the lift arrived we weren't first in line anymore. But we weren't prepared to argue with old ladies with walking sticks. They can be vicious.

The view from the lift ,while vertigo inducing, was fantastic. We got to the top. Windy and cold and set off, only to be confronted with a WW1 Italian soldier in full battle gear. The war had been fought up here, so there was a museum. However more people died up here from the cold than from the enemy. The top was covered with man-made caves and old gun emplacements, sleeping quarters, wood piles and barbed wire. All very very old. So we looked - interested. It was cold even in the middle of summer and there was still snow.

Snow

Someone said it would be nice to have a summer holiday where we didn't see snow. But they didn't mean it - or we will ignore it anyway. Next year there will be even more snow.

We walked down a wonderful valley. Deeper and deeper into the heart of the mountains. The only sound was the water rushing down on either side of us. We saw two other people, alone even though we had showered, in a couple of hours.

A random direction

The scenery was amazing. More of the same - sure - but always different enough to maintain interest. At least when you are walking down hill.

The same, but different

We walked down and down.

Our map scale 1:50 000 wasn't the best for navigation but eventually we saw where we thought we were going. But not definitely. And we pride ourselves on being able to read maps.

A big pile of rock at the bottom of a cliff, made by what looked like the middle of a 'mite' giving up and falling down. We could see the farrata, that we were avoiding, but not the path that we needed. We couldn't even see where the path could be hidden. But we soldiered on.

The missing middle

The path when we got to it was my nightmare. While they were happy, I was on all fours sweating like the proverbial pig, heart beating like a very fast thing and crawling on all fours. All they could do was laugh and take photos of my distress. Bastards.


A few small plants. WW1 barbed wire, rocks and us. Martian or Luna wouldn't be a stretch. It was up but worth every step. The up didn't stop till we got to the other end of the 'mite'. It was rocky - it has been well fortified. Stuff left everywhere - not rubbish but history. Bloody history. Never did like it.

WW1 rust

A tangle of rusty barbed wire is typical of what is to be found. Anything of any interest or value having been removed a long time ago we guessed. So the chances of happening upon an old helmet or shell casing or a tank were non-existent. But we looked just in case.

It had aged well. Being frozen half of the year and dry the other half has kept it in reasonable condition. It's over 100 years old. So a bit of rust is not too bad.

I hope I will be in such shape - but probably too late already - when I am a hundred plus.

Barren

 The path continued up

And up

 To the cottage.

Play time

We had a drink and a small bite to eat, enjoyed the sun and set off down.

Of course we had underestimated the route and had a long march to Cinque Torri, the 5 towers, which annoyingly were in view for most of the rest of the trip.

But when we got there...

A room with a view

The view

We slept within falling distance of the five towers and hoped that they wouldn't fall down today.

The 5 towers, it seems, all have names but they aren't very exciting.