Passo della Cisa to Bivacco I Ghiaccioni
Distance: 30km
Same bus, same driver. But he nearly misses me standing there at the stop in the dark. I wave like a maniac and luckily he finally notices me as he is directly abeam.
At 07:00 sharp, he arrives at Passo Della Cisa and wishes me "Buon Camino" - happy trail.
The weather is surprisingly okay. No wind, no rain as I start into my hiking day. It feels good to be back on track.
Soon enough, the weather changes. First from okay to bad with gale force winds then from bad to worse when rain joins the party. As I climb higher, I start getting uncomfortably cold, I push hard on order to stay warm. Yet, slowly but surely I start worrying about hypothermia once I become completely soaked. Oh the misery. Not often have I suffered like this on E1. I say to myself "keep moving and everything will be alright"
At around noon, I approach the ridge, the highlight of the day. However, the wind blows me right back down. It would be plain stupid to continue. So I retreat, follow a shitty but sheltered trail parallel to the ridge. It's where, out of nowhere and only the way it can happen in the mountains, blue sky appears above me. Magical! I take the next link up to the ridge. Still windy as shit but with the sun bearable. With parts of the mountains still covered in clouds, the mood is mystic. Once these remaining clouds evaporate, the views are becoming fantastic and slowly my clothes start drying. The storms must have cleaned the air. Even Corsica's mountains are visible.
Walking the ridge is a big highlight on E1. Despite the wind I thoroughly enjoy this exquisite hike. Demanding but rewarding. Amazing how close misery and happiness can be.
As all good things come to an end, so does the ridge walk. The rest of the day is pretty mediocre on very rough trails. No views, slow progress. My feet tired. More than once I hit roots and rocks. A sign that it's time to finish the hike. After a last crazily steep descent, I reach the hut, that I eyed to spend the night in. After such a day I don't feel like pitching my tent. Being weekend it's full, as expected. But I find a spot on the floor. Good enough.
The fire is going and the four Italian keep on talking about food while they are cooking their dinner (which takes hours. It's now 22:00 and they are still cooking. So Italian). Even though I understand just a fraction it's quite interesting to listen to their conversation. I'm curious how their meal turns out.
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Rob (Sunday, 18 September 2022 21:45)
I've heard your last message and read your blog this time before leaving you the usual whatsapp message too. I did have to laugh when you mentioned the four Italians. You should have asked if they could sing you a song. (Nessun Dorma) THE 4 TENORS.
I could imagine them being so animated, vocal, and expressive with their cook �
I'll tell you the story of Andrea (the bus driver from Perugia) who stayed with us years ago. He cooked a few meals. He was a Couchsurfer not a TA. But he was sooooo animated in the kitchen. One thing he impressed upon us (loudly and proudly) was "DONT OVERCOOK THE PASTA!!!" Omg, he was so funny to watch. Because he became so passionate in the kitchen with his cooking. It was the first time we saw pasta, thrown onto our wall, to prove the point El Dante. That shocked us. Lolol. And then he (before leaving 4 days later), typed up2 of his recipes, and promised when he got home to Italy, he will make a video of him cooking two of the dishes he left the recipes for. He did send videos SIX OF THEM! And in each other, we were reminded "DONT OVERCOOK THE PASTA". So you did make us laugh. We knew you were going to say something about not overlooking the pasta haha.i will whatsapp you, the story of the time I did.
I can imagine the overdressed look by necessity to stave off hypothermia. A few times TAs have spoken of that. Especially nobos, when they left too early from Bluff, and snow and frost were still aplenty in the Alps.
Whatsapp now ...
Take care. Stay safe �