We started off from Ferret at 8:15 and shortly thereafter got to the bottom of what was going to be an 800 meter climb to the pass to Italy. There were some beautiful views on the way and plenty of cow bell music. We also came across a number of some very fit people who were running down the mountain with their tiny water backpacks. Overall the fitness levels of fellow hikers are as expected - very varied. We even managed to overtake a few.
We got to the pass just after midday and spent about 40 mins relaxing and having a break. The downside was that it was very windy and cold up there. And there were about 50 or so odd people who have just climbed up from the other side and were resting also. Some of them, mainly American and some Japanes, were very loud and annoying.
After our rest we descended 500 meters down into Italy along some beautiful meadows. These were full of blooming field flowers. There's actually a lot of butterflies here, which we really don't see often in Berlin. And hence there are thousands of caterpillars, which cross our paths constantly and we have to watch out not to step on them.
After the steep descent we had a filling lunch at Refugio Elena. Italian prices are a lot more reasonable than Swiss. We then descended further to around 1700 meters to a car park followed by a bus stop. Just because our day journey wasn't strenuous enough we decided to add some extra fun to it by missing our turn off to our Refugio and walk about a kilometer downhill along an asphalt road before realising our mistake. Thus instead of enjoying an hour and a half of semi relaxed uphill walking with an altitude gain of 300 meters we instead did 350 meters up a steep hill in an hour. My calves are not going to thank me in the morning.
Just before 18:00 we got to our Refugio Bonatti. We're staying in our first dorm on this trip. It is pretty clean and semi comfortable. Dinner was good. It consisted of salad, bean soup, zucchini cakes with potato mash and a yoghurt for desert. I've started on antibiotics this morning after all and have been feeling better throughout the day, but now I'm exhausted and looking forward to some shut-eye. Reception up here is not great so I'm hoping for a brief window of opportunity to post this.
Highlight of the day : crossing the border from Switzerland to Italy at the 2500m pass of Grand Col Ferret. Incredible views.
Lowlight of the day : hot water in the shower of the dorm being limited to about 2 mins 🚿😒
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