Gnaiss Dreams

Last night, the night of the seventh of June, marked our twenty-fifth consecutive night in tents. Its funny the adjustment we've made to it. At home I sometimes have cravings towards the general comforts of home or certain aspects of city life when I'm camping, but not here. We're here for a whole six months and I've become very content sleeping in tents night after night. In some places, such as Val di Mello, its been the only practical approach to enjoy a place to the fullest. In others we've simply thought “why not?” from a money saving perspective; if you're content that you're not missing out on anything and its saving you money, why wouldn't you do it?

After leaving Val di Mello we descended the Val Masino Valley, finding camping above the city of Sondrio, the following day's destination to do a little washing and stock up on supplies for our next venture into more isolated areas. We cooked a huge meal, just as the light was fading; 500g of pasta, close to a kilo of meat and several potatoes, all combined into a 750g jar of sauce and interspersed with onion for extra flavour. It's safe to say we didn't go hungry that night!

Camping above Sondrio

The following day we explored the city a little, stocked up on supplies, bought a more efficient camping stove and headed to a laundromat. At the laundromat we were greeted by the overly warm and helpful hospitality of a couple of elderly Italian women who inspected our handy work to ensure the correct items were inside out, etc, etc. While our stuff was being washed we headed across the road for pizza at the recommendation of one of the ladies. It was pretty much restaurant standard compared to Australia but it was definitely a fast food place. Best of all, my beer cost a third of the marked cost because I got a pizza as well. In Italy you get alcohol combo deals at your run of the mill Dominos/ Pizza Hut equivalent!

Chiavenna

Leaving Sondrio we headed west, skirting the top of Lago di Como and heading north into Switzerland. We made a brief stop in Chiavenna, a rather nice town with a steep drop to a river in its city centre. After wandering around for a while and choosing to move on we struggled to find where we parked the car a little before continuing north.

Coming out of the town we got into roadworks that involved a 10cm drop into a gravel ditch and a similar sharp edge coming out that threatened to give us a pinch flat. In places half of the road was closed and a system of lights keeps only one lane moving. This played up in one spot and we met another car, luckily we were both going slowly. We somehow managed to squeeze past them despite the road only being a single lane wide. The country was spectacular, the road cut into steep mountainsides and culminating in a pass with a dam that still had huge bodies of ice floating in it. It was freezing. We only stopped here for the moments it took to take a few photos before continuing on.

A bridge over a gorge on the ascent to the pass

Many tornanti, as hair pins are called in Italy, later and we were down in Switzerland. Customs were closed and we passed through without any trouble. We made progress north towards Chur before turning off into the Ferrara Valley, home to Magic Wood, one of the world's premier bouldering spots. We went straight down to the river without setting up our tents, struggling not to feel the excitement. The place is simply epic; the boulders litter steep, inticrate, mossy slopes above a picturesque river. We walked around, checking out various problems. The grain of the rock is simply amazing. Rough enough for friction yet smooth enough to not tear hands too easily on aggressive jumps. Some descriptions I had read likened the rock type, Gnaiss, to granite but it really feels nothing like it. The cruelest gnaiss I climbed on trumps some of the kindest granite.

A boulderer's dream

Climbing would have to wait until morning as the sun was now well and truly hidden behind the hill. We climbed back out of the river too the camp ground and got a meal on while we set up our tents. Anticipation was running high.