Halway day!! In which we see one of the wonders of Europe but not much else, and do the hardest hike on the H3H thus far.
Let's see, where shall I start... oh yes, dinner. Dinner was good, sleep was good, and I got up feeling surprisingly fit after the 1740m of descent the previous day. I think I might be getting the hang of this hiking thing once more (after the 10 months of broken-leg-enforced inactivity). Which is just as well, because today's hike was to be the longest on the H3H thus far, and one of the longest we have ever done. 1620m of ascent, 1510m of descent, and much more distance than I had estimated (probably around 26km instead of 19km... for reasons that will be explained). A lot to do with a full pack on your back.
So we set off at 8:15 under cloudy skies, walking for the first hour up the road to the head of the valley under the massive bulk of the Monte Rosa (of which, however, we caught but a few glimpses due to the aforementioned clouds... however those few glimpses were impressive, given that there is a 3300m height difference between the mountain peak and where we were on the road).
At the end of the road the trail continued on a Walserweg... a trail through the mountains built by the Walser people back in the late Middle Ages (13th-14thC). The Walsers were originally an Alemannic people that settled in the upper Rhone valley (Valais in French, Wallis in German) around the year 1000 and then, after having developed farming techniques that allowed them to thrive in the high mountains where others could not, spread to many Alpine valleys in what is today Italy and Austria. They built trails over high mountain passes to link their communities... and what trails they are! Cut and fitted stone, snaking back and forth over mountain-sides, crossing streams and with stone buttresses where slopes were particularly steep... the work involved was and is amazing.
We walked along the Walserweg all the way from about 1600m to the pass at 2738m, and although it had been damaged in some places by, I assume, land-slides and avalanches, for the most part it was still in good shape despite being several hundred years old. If there is a list of the Seven Wonders of Europe then I think that one could make a good argument for the inclusion of the Walserweg. Absolutely stunning. And despite having hiked hundreds of days through the Alps I had never heard of it before.
The smooth surface and steady incline of the Walserweg made for quick progress, although at the cost of more distance than expected since its serpentine curves were for the most part not indicated on the map I had used for planning the hike (hence 26km instead of the estimated 19km). We reached the pass about 4 hours after setting out from Alagna... a pretty rapid climb... which didn't leave much energy for looking around. Not that there was much to see, since we hiked through (as opposed to under) thick clouds most of the day. By the time we reached the windy and cold pass I for one was out of energy... so despite the wind and the cold we had a quick lunch before continuing down the Walserweg on the far side.
And down, and down, and down. Initially along the Walserweg, and then later along much rougher trails that seemed to have a double function as stream-beds judging by the amount of water flowing along them. I think it must have rained on this side of the mountain in the morning... or else the trails were just not well built. It made for some slippery hiking requiring good use of poles and a lot of concentration. We were both physically and mentally exhausted by the time we arrived in Macugnaga at 17:15... 9 hours after we started (about 8.25h of hiking time), but much faster than the 10.5 hours of hiking time that I would normally estimate. Yay for us... I was asleep by 9:15PM.
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