Daily Archives: 10 August 2015

August 10th

Itinerary:  Brè – Capanna Pairolo – Capanna San Lucio – Gazzirola (2116 m) – Bocchetta di Sommafiume – Alpe di Giumello – Passo San Jorio – Capanna Gesero

Distance: 41,9 km
Time:  12 hours walking (plus 1 hour for stops)
Vertical distance:  2740 m uphill; 1780 m downhill

This was going to be a long day since we had at all costs to reach Gesero Hut as it was accessible by car and would be Nona’s last night with us.

After an early breakfast, Peter and I were able to leave Brè car park shortly after 8 a.m.  We followed pleasant paths in the forest, mainly uphill to Alpe Bolla, then past the Denti della Vecchia (old woman’s teeth – aptly named limestone pinnacles) to Capanna Pairolo and then Capanna San Lucio, by which time we were above the tree line.   We had a quick drink at each place.  Next came the gradual ascent of Gazzirola and a tedious ridge to the Bocchetta di Sommafiume, by which time we had hiked about 30 km and it was already 5.30 p.m.  There was no time to waste!  The weather had been fairly sunny all day but it was not too hot.

We possibly made a mistake here by choosing a path on the Swiss side, a little longer and descending an extra 100 m compared with a path on the Italian side (there was nothing on the jagged ridge itself), but we would never know if the latter path would have been any quicker.  In the event we had to climb 400 m up to just under Passo San Jorio before the long traverse to Biscia, by which time it was already dark.  For the last 30 – 40 minutes we followed the gravel road down to the hut – fortunately it was easy to follow even in the dark.  Peter did not want to use his torch to avoid blinding his eyes, and I had no torch with me that day!

Nona was waiting for us at the hut and the friendly hut warden gave us a meal even as late as 9.30 p.m.