Day 10 GEA Pracchia

The autumn mist returned with a vengeance today and again we couldn't see a thing.

The first task was to get up to ridge and onto a route which would take us back to the GEA. We identified a spot and managed to persuade our host to give us a lift. Fortunately he agreed to take some money because it turned out to be a long way, very slow, and along a track impassible without a four wheel drive.

Another foggy

Day 9 GEA Migliana

I guess it's something to do with a military career but Chris does like to keep up appearances. A couple of things worth noting: firstly he doesn't like to hang washing from his rucksack when walking through towns; secondly he doesn't like hanging those waterproof map cases around his neck. Today I finally persuaded that ready access to the map would have a real impact on his navigational effectiveness and, despite offending his sense of decor, he agreed and took us almost directly to the intended destination.

Day 8 GEA Montepiano

Bit of a frustrating day today, the weather was poor, we got lost a couple of times, and to be honest I'm just starting to get a bit tired of all these trees, even with their semi-autumn colours.

We were scratching our heads last night about accommodation. The guide suggests that after Montepiano we hit a brick wall in terms of places being open this time of year. There were four Italian walkers in the hotel and one of them spoke perfect English. He soon put together an itinerary for us, corrected the book were it was wrong and found alternatives where there was a genuine problem. Really is nothing like local knowledge, the problem is getting hold of it if you don't speak Italian.

The fog was very thick in the morning and visibility was down to less than 10 metres. Everything was of course very wet and there was absolutely no chance of seeing any of the promised views.

Thick fog at Passo della Giogo

Day 7 GEA Passo del Giogo

Lack of accommodation at both Badia Moscheta and Passo della Futa meant for a short four hour walk to Passo del Giogo. Of course we did manage to make it a little longer.

After settling our biggest bill to date (yesterday's beer) we set off in the wrong direction from the lovely Locanda della Colla. Ten minutes later we were back saying our hellos and goodbyes to a party of German motorcyclists amused at our navigational excellence.

Day 6 GEA Colla di Casaglia.

We did toy with idea of walking back up from San Benedetto in Alp back up to the GEA but if I'm honest we didn't toy with it for long. We don't have a map for this section and wanted to keep things as simple as possible. It did mean we missed the waterfall that makes San Benedetto in Alp famous. Instead we made an early start and a little bus back up to Passo del Muraglione and had a coffee in the bar there.

The passes are very popular with motorcyclists, I guess they like the endless hairpin bends on the way to top. Understanding his customers the barman in the bar at Passo del Muraglione has festooned the place with the autographed photographs of many heroes of Italian motorcycling.

In the bar a fungi hunter mistook me for one of his own, I'm clearly starting to blend in.

In the woods near Passo del Muraglione

Day 5 GEA San Benedetto in Alpe

Today was supposed to be an easy walk but somehow we managed to fill all the available daylight time, a sort of Parkinson's law adjusted to walking.

Time filling started with a relatively late breakfast at the Agriturismo Poderone and it was after nine when we left and only after Chris had nearly bear hugged the life out of a clearly petrified landlady.

Crushing the landlady at the Agriturismo Poderone

Day 4 GEA Campigna

Last night I finally had to admit defeat and accept that tomorrow's planned walk was too long. Because we are staying about five kilometres north of the route today the return trip tomorrow made the day impossible, probably over 11 hours. We have had to find another stop over tomorrow and push all the other bookings back a day. It's hard work if you don't speak Italian. Incidentally I don't speak a word of Italian but Chris somehow speaks less, he seems to think I'm some sort of linguist.

Early morning in Badia Prataglia