Day 4
Leaving Alpe Devero I passed through a group of stone buildings and up a forest path. I came upon a flock of sheep with some goats mixed in. I watched the shepard lead his sheep to a spur; he whistled and they all followed.
The path goes through a wide bassin that is soggy due to the late snow.
The first pass, Scatta d’ Orogna, had the tamest goats I have met: I turned for a photo but had to swing around and pull away a goat that wanted to eat my backpack.
After the descent, walking along the side of a lake in snow, I came to a critical point; I was with a couple of other hikers.
The original pass around the cliff face had been damaged by an avalanche in spring. A detour had been built, which meant a long climb down then back up over snow. Six Italians went along the original path and assured us it was safe enough.
We decided to follow them.
Parts of the path are not even; shards of rock bigger than me are scattered across it.
At the second pass, Passo Di Valtendra, we were hit by the wind. We retreated below the pass to take off our backpacks. A couple of minutes at the top for photos were enough.
Then I put on my wind jacket, gloves and beanie for the walk down the snow on the other side.
Beyond the snow it warmed up as I descended through a forest.
Alpe Veglia was the end-point, with a friendly refuge.
John
