This summer I was fortunate to spend four weeks in northern Italy. I traveled with two women friends from Napa. Having never been in this part of the world and being too busy to do any research beforehand, I had no idea what to expect. What I got was a wonderful immersion in a strikingly beautiful and demanding natural environment.
What I learned was this:
1. Americans are missing the best parts of the Alps
Like many Americans, I’ve hiked in the Dolomites in north-eastern Italy and I’ve heard of the Haut Route through the Alps and the Tour de Monte Blanc. But I had never heard of the trek we were going to do, called the Tour de Monte Rosa, a 100+-mile route around the Monte Rosa massif on the Italian-Swiss border. And I had never heard of Gran Paradiso National Park where we planned to get in shape for our trek. (Although it is not an endorsement of the tour company we used, click here for a closer look at the trek.) Photo caption: Hiking to Valnontey through fields of flowers.
For our first week we stayed in the charming mountain village of Cogne on the edge of the Gran Paradiso National Park. The park surrounds the Gran Paradiso massif and was Italy’s first national park, established in 1922 on the royal hunting grounds to protect the ibex which had been nearly hunted to extinction.
There are dozens of trails accessible from Cogne and we hiked every day-to abandoned shepherd’s huts, alpine lakes, waterfalls, or viewpoints. Gran Paradiso was a beautiful—and challenging—intro to Alpine hiking. And, surprisingly, we saw no Americans on these trails, just many very fit Europeans.
2. The Alps are VERY vertical
My first sighting of the Pennine Alps (between Switzerland and Italy) was from the airplane window, flying into Milan. They appeared to be huge, solid, straight-sided mounds of rock with very narrow valleys separating the different mounds. On the ground, the massifs looked much the same—imposing piles of stone that went straight up. Being used to the gently-graded trails in the Sierras, I kept looking for switch-backs up the faces. Photo caption: The view downhill from Colle del Turlo.
We learned switch-backs are optional on our first day’s hike. We decided to take walk from Cogne to Valnontey and visit the Alpine Botanic Garden using the “T” or “Tourist” route. This was pretty easy so we veered off onto the “E” or “Hiking” route. This headed straight up for 300 feet and had us hanging onto trees along the trail to help pull ourselves up. There is a third trail classification: “EE” for “Experienced Excursionists”. We were never brave enough to find out what those trails were like! Our training hikes were useful, mostly because they prepared us mentally for what was to come.
Our Tour de Monte Rosa began with a monster ascent, climbing from our base in Alagna Valsesia almost four thousand feet up to the Colle del Turlo pass followed by a 10-mile descent to our inn at Macugnaga. That was a fitting introduction to eight days of trekking around the two massifs (Monte Rosa and Mischabel). Each day started with a big climb (or a ski lift ride part way if we were lucky!), followed by a high traverse, extensive views, and a lengthy descent--then usually another climb and descent before the day was through. We were always ready for beer and patatines frites (potato chips) at the end of the day.
3. The Alps are green—and very “Green”
Along the trail and in all the villages we came across “fountains” which are pipes stuck in the ground (or the side of the mountain) pouring out fresh water into a stone tub for hikers to help themselves. Coming from drought-stricken California, this abundance of water and the green, flower-filled alpine meadows it supplied were a constant delight. Photo caption: One of many “fountains” providing fresh spring water
All of this water allows Switzerland to get over half of its electricity from renewable hydro power at a relatively low cost. Two of the Swiss towns we stayed in, Zermatt and Saas-Fee allow only electric vehicles. Both towns are also international ski destinations—summer and winter for Zermatt—and chose to eliminate air pollution in their narrow valleys by becoming combustion-engine car-free zones. People get around by walking, cycling, or taking tiny electric taxis and shuttles. E-bikes are popular, especially for mountain biking, and our Zermatt hotel had an area for washing as well as recharging e-bikes. It was fascinating to see “all-e” as a way of life in an international tourist destination. Photo caption: Our e-taxi in Zermatt
4. Italy is full of mysteries
If you’ve been there, you know what I mean. An example of the more common type of Italian mystery was the appearance of works of art one morning along the Alta Via 2, a main hiking trail through Gran Paradiso. There was no explanatory signage, just delightful photos and paintings attached to stakes in the ground or pinned to lines strung between trees every so often. How Italian! Photo caption: Walser houses and grain storage structures
A deeper mystery is the attraction of precipitous heights and avalanche-filled winters to the Walser people who migrated up into this area of the Alps in the 12th century. They lived in shepherd communities scattered over the mountains. They created alpine meadows, build stone houses, and developed new tools and techniques as the first permanent settlers in this harsh terrain. The stone houses and barns still stand, invoking awe at the hardiness of these people.
If my “lessons” have intrigued you, consider visiting and hiking here—there is so much to explore! We were fortunate to be guided by a friend who is a certified Italian Mountain Guide (and usually guides more extreme mountaineering and ski expeditions). I would recommend going on a guided trek, but most of the hikers we saw were self-guided. I know that I’ll be going back to northern Italy and its magnificent mountains.
Photo caption: The author with Monte Rosa in the background. P.S. We summited this peak (14940 feet) at the end of our trek!