We walked a little more than eight miles on a variety of surfaces ranging from cobblestones, to just plain stones, to dirt to asphalt. The ascents were tough and so were the descents when made on stony paths. But we knew there would be challenges when we chose a walk at the base of the alps.
We set off this morning on a ferry to Baveno to catch a train. However, an accident caused a long delay in the train schedule, so we took a taxi to the beginning of the walk: Mergozza. There, we located an historic elm tree, set our backs to it, and started our walk.
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Centuries old elm in Mergozza |
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Interesting diner sign in MergozzaThe next several hours were spent walking/hiking. The weather was coolish, so that was nice, though we still managed to work up major sweats when climbing up the mountainside. The only downside was the amount of fog/haze. All the beautiful vistas we were promised were blocked out by the fog. I’m sure those lake views from the tops of some of those mountains would have been the reward for the climb. We settled for just being glad we could make the climbs.
 Above, Kudzu is not relegated to the South; it’s also a major part of the River Toce landscape in northern Italy. Who knew? We came out here after a good long climb    Above, the rock work is stunning. Can’t even imagine how much
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We also saw several shrines and churches along the walk.
This one below was in Mont’Orfano, an ancient stone village atop one of the hills. It is a Romanesque church built on top of two other churches, one dating to the 5th Century. The baptistry from the 5th Century church still exists.
5th Century Baptistry
Below, we walked along the River Toce, which was such a beautiful color. We followed the river until it emptied into Lake Maggiore.
After a final particularly challenging climb and then a descent, we found our way to Pallanza to catch the ferry back to our island home. Pallanza is a beautiful town that we wish had more time to explore.
We bought two sandwiches for lunch today and shared part of one while stopped at one of the churches, and threw the rest away. We just ate the other one for dinner. No going out tonight. We’re pretty tired from the walking and ready for a good night’s rest…so we can set off again tomorrow!
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Kim & Betsy 
Well that looks fantastic! What a fun hike today!