Our last day in Valle d'Aosta was a clear one - a good thing, since we were hoping to go for a hike in Gran Paradiso National Park. We gave our keys back to the owners of the apartment at 9 am and were quickly on our way.
After a quick stop for provisions, we were on our way up the snaking highway to Gran Paradiso.
We parked in Valnotey, a tiny town in the mountains, put on an extra layer since it was in fact cooler up there, and readied ourselves to
climb the mountain, up a path, of course.
More groups (the same ones?!) of Italian school children were at the base of the paths, and we wondered if we would have hike amidst a crowd of loud preadolescents. I also wondered if Thursdays is their
day for museum/castle outings, and Fridays are hiking days.
Luckily, we passed the groups within the first 100 metres of the path and didn't see them again until we reached a meadow, about 800 metres above the town. I'm not sure how they got there, and we didn't see them again, so they must have taken a different route.
Our little mountain goats, also known as Maia and Solanne, did very well on the path, even though it was at times rocky, at times narrow, and at times very steep. We saw a tall waterfall on our first leg, and we decided to lunch near its top when we arrived to it. Bread,
provolone cheese, and carrots and apples fuelled our last leg.
About 500 metres ahead we stopped at a rifugio, a little house in the hills where, as the name suggests, people (shepherds?) would take refuge if caught in inclement weather up above. We stopped and had our reward snack: chocolate with hazelnuts.
The girls and I enjoyed the view and took a few pictures and videos while Derek explored a little further up. He returned with news that we should go just a little farther up, again with the promise that it would be worth the effort.
The climb up was steeper and rockier than what we had done thus far. We got to another meadow where there were three or four rifugi. There we saw ibex, one lazing on a rock, and a few down lower, grazing. We walked closer to them, as quietly as two excited little girls can - there was lots of excited whispering. Derek and Solanne got within 20 metres of the lazy ibex. Derek would have gone closer, but the mother instinct in me kept looking at those giant horns and I began begging them to come back. Derek the adventurer returned reluctantly and we
turned to visit the rifugi.
There wasn't much inside, though some very determined loiterers had brought up lounging chairs and left them behind. More than one group had built a fire in the main building, and many more had unfortunately
not packed out their garbage.
Derek and I had timed how long it took to get up and knew when we should be back to the car in order to make it back to my aunt's house in time for dinner; thus, it was time to start making our way back
down the mountain.
We didn't hear any cukoos here, but the view was still beautiful, and I got to sing a bit of "The Hills Are Alive with the Sound of Music."
The way down, of course, was a lot faster as well as a lot more
dangerous. Derek and I each took a small hand and made sure to keep them on the inside - a sligtly tricky thing for them since when the path zigzags down, the inside moves from right to left and back again. I also taught Maia the important climbing lesson of always keeping at least one foot on solid ground when climbing, which means no jumping down the hill. She was disappointed at first but quickly learned her lesson when she slid partway down the path after having jumped after
my warnings. She took steps the rest of the way down and found that in fact it made more sense to do so.
I am happy to report that the drive back down the hill was not terrifying, and it was rather uneventful. We got back in time to visit with my aunt and cousins a bit before supper.
I guess our fatigue was obvious because everyone left soon after supper, giving us our space to put the girls to bed and turn in early (ish).
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