So, we got to Vals... although in dribs and drabs and none of us by foot. I'll explain....
A couple of days ago Russ reminded me of something that I had forgotten. Many years ago after my first (and up until now only) hike in Ticino (the couple of days to Sonogno at the end of the H3H Stage 2 two years ago didn't count because they were either downhill or along trails I knew and thus correctly estimated how long they would take), I told him that I found the hiking much more difficult here than elsewhere in the Alps. Would that I had remembered when planning this summer's hike!
My estimations of how long it would take to hike days two and three were way off... as in 25%-45% too short. And since they were fairly long days already, the result was that they became VERY long days. We were on the trails during Stage 2 to Anzonico for 10 hours instead of 7, and Stage 3 to Camperio took 11 hours instead of 9. Not all of the extra time was due to the trails being more difficult than expected, but a lot of it was. And then there were other problems.
But first the trails. What on the map looked like simple climbs, traverses, or descents turned out to be in reality torturous mixtures of ups and downs that added much more altitude to our daily planned totals. Another factor was the steepness of the trails... because really steep trails with high steps are much harder on the muscles to go up and down than gentler trails even if the altitude gained / lost is the same. So, we were much more tired than I expected us to be.
And then the temperatures were very high... upper eighties to low nineties fahrenheit (28-32C) depending upon whether we were in the valleys or up at the passes. Towards the end of Day 2 I got heatstroke, or dehydrated... I'm not sure which, I just know that all of a sudden I couldn't go more than a few hundred steps without needing to take a brak and pant like a dog. Added about 40 minutes to the day for those who were still with me (some had given up earlier).
And to top it all off, there were the pysical ailments: my knee started acting up again, Russ got chafe, two others also had knee problems, one boot malfunction and another where the boot was pressing on a nerve or a bone bruise or something... all conspired to make us slower than we would otherwise be, which also contributed to our overlong hiking times.
You might be surprised to hear that despite all of the above I was not drawn and quartered by my fellow hikers... they were remarkably, no astoundingly, patient and reasonable with me... perhaps because they saw how much I was suffering. Because, on this hike so far, I have been the weakest. I couldn't hike at all from early May (when I injured my knee, ahem, weeding) until early July... and so I only did three trial hikes in total, leaving me in much worse shape than I usually have been. And in worse shape than any of the others. Good for the soul ;-).
At least, however, I managed to do the hikes each day (although on Day 4 we took a bus from Olivone to Campo Blenio saving an hour because we were so exhausted from the day before, and on Day 5 we did the same, saving a two and a half hour hike down the valley into Vals). Russ had to skip days 4 and 5 to heal his chafe, and two of the others opted not to come over the 2770m high pass into Vals because of its difficulty (a good decision -- it was difficult, and instead they walked 3+ hours back down to Campo Blenio and took buses to Vals).
So we were only four out of the original seven who hiked day 5 into Vals. Russ has arrived the day before, the two others came in during the evening. I said I'd explain ;-).
Ah well.
At least the accommodations have been excellent... in different ways. The two self-service cabins, where Kristof cooked cheese fondue one night (while I made a salad of tomatoes and avocadoes that it almost killed me to carry up the trail) and spaghetti another night (without salad :-) were spectacularly sited and wonderfully kitted-out. The two Osterias we stayed at, in Anzonico and Camperio, had excellent food and pleasant rooms, with friendly service. And now, in Vals, we are living in warm and casual luxury with really, really good food. Which has been much appreciated!
And we only have had one day during which it rained upon us -- day 5 coming down from the high pass -- and even then the rain held off until we were down into the valley and off the steep part of the trail.
And the landscapes and the trails and passes have been spectacular. Well worth coming to Ticino to see and hike (just expect it to take longer than you plan :-).
So, all in all, it has been a difficult, but ultimately satisfying first week. But boy am I glad to be in the midst of two rest days.
More tomorrow....
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