Saturday June 22nd, 2019
We will spend the weekend in the mountains, in Ponte di Legno and Bormio. When I was little, in summer I always went to Ponte di Legno for the holidays. A lot has changed over the years. We leave later than usual and arrive late in the morning. We park the car near the church, walk to the center. It’s raining. We pass by the main square and the pedestrian streets. The rain continues even when we stop for lunch. We therefore decide to go to the hotel, our room (one bedroom apartment) is already available. We stay in the hotel for about an hour, waiting for the weather to get better.
And a beautiful sun comes out. We reach the Case di Viso by car, a group of mountain huts not far from the town. It is very beautiful, we walk along the main road and go up towards the picnic area and the small Laghetto di Viso. I didn’t remember this. After a stop at the only bar present, we return to Ponte di Legno and then we go to Zoanno, where we listen to the Mass.
We go back to Ponte di Legno and go straight to dinner. After dinner my dad and my sister decide to go back to the hotel (by car), while I choose to walk back through the center of the illuminated town. When I am almost at the hotel, I see that a small waterfall is nearby. I ask for information at the hotel reception and walk to the viewpoint from where you can admire the waterfall. Then I go back and go to sleep.
Sunday June 23rd, 2019
Even today it is a beautiful sunny day. In the morning we decide to go to Valbione by car. Halfway there is a hurdle, shifted to the side indicating that the road is closed. We do not understand therefore if we can pass or not. Along the way we find excavators, but being Sunday there is no one at work and we can therefore continue to Valbione. Then we continue up to the Corno d’Aola. There is no one, we are the only ones, the refuge is closed, but the view is beautiful. It was a great decision to get up here. We go back and stop at Valbione, where there is a small artificial lake. We go around the lake and return to Ponte di Legno.
Afternoon
In the afternoon we would like to go up the Gavia pass to reach Bormio. Yesterday we were informed that there was a cycling race in the morning so we decided to wait in the afternoon. We arrive at the bottom of the valley and walk through the Valle delle Messi, there are so many people to have a picnic. At the beginning of the Gavia road we read that the pass is open and passable, but there is a landslide danger shortly after Santa Caterina and therefore it is not possible to reach Bormio from here. With a little regret we are forced to change our itinerary and decide to take another pass, the Aprica. We stop for lunch in Edolo, and then we reach Bormio (the road is a bit long).
However, we decide to take a simple walk around, starting from the botanical garden (which we visit). The walk is shorter than we expected and coming back we decide to go to the Stelvio Pass. Here too the view is beautiful. When we get out of the car, we are surrounded by snow. It’s great. It is late afternoon and many souvenir shops are closing. People are also starting to go away. After taking some photos, we stop on the road to look at the marmots (there are so many, one is trying to get off the wall and cross the street), to the war memorial with the nearby church and the waterfall. After a brief stop at the hotel, we go out for dinner. We walk along the central street, there are few people and we have dinner. Later we return to the hotel.
Monday June 24th, 2019
Last day of this trip. After breakfast we walk a little further to the center of Bormio, passing by various churches including S. Spirito with its beautiful frescoes. So we go to the Cancano lakes. We reach the entrance of the valley with the Torri di Fraele (which dominate the valley below from a rocky spur), we continue along the lake Scale (the only natural lake among the three), and we reach the two artificial lakes, Lake Cancano and lake S. Giacomo.
After a short walk back to the other side. Unfortunately at some point we are forced to cross the dam, as the road is reserved for A2A personnel. We stop for lunch near the first dam. Then we cross it and see the little church. It’s time to leave the cool of the mountains to go home. We pass again from Bormio, but we continue without stopping. We make a stop in Tirano, we walk briefly in the center with its many old buildings and after an ice cream we leave again. In the late afternoon we are at home.
You can read about my trip to Ferrara here.
