Lost in the Alps part Un and Deux

When I arrived at the hostel in Menaggio outside of Como, Italy on the edge of Lake Como, I was feeling a bit homesick for London. Fatigue from traveling for 7+ hours plus arriving somewhere where I knew I wouldn’t see a single familiar face really got me down. Once I showered I decided to grab a beer and sit on the veranda a bit to see if it improved my outlook.. I ran into a nice Aussie who was living in London at the bar and he invited me to join him with my drink. We were soon joined by Jessie, one of the staff members, Otto, a rambling Finnish inventor, John, an American photographer who relocated to the town about nine months ago, Victoria, Jessie’s friend from uni in England, and with Tim, the aussie, we made a pretty nice group. We sat around drinking and eating (a delicious 3-course meal from the hostel). A little after midnight I decided to head to bed.

My first full day in Menaggio began with breakfast, a book and this view Off to a good start, so I walked through town to a small public beach on the other side, mostly full of Italian tourist form the adjacent campgrounds, it was peaceful. I swam a few times and had a hard time dragging myself back out of the water.




With the sun leaving the beach I relocated next door to the towns Lido which is a club that offers a grassy place to rest, chairs you could rent, a pool, access to the lake, very clean toilets and music. But don’t worry Mom, with all that time in the sun I had spf 50 with me.

That evening was a quiet one, the sun really drained me so after a few drinks with Tim and our new Aussie friend Sally I headed to bed. I had to go to bed relatively early anyhow because after talking with them I had decided to go on a hike Friday. We’d been staring at the mountain across the lake wondering what was there and I decided it would be my mission to find out. Tim and Sally had been very inspiring with their talks of when they hiked Kilimanjaro, and Sally just got finished a month long pilgrimage in Spain.

With all this in mind I got up early ready for my day. I wished Sally and Tim well on their walk for the day and I went to catch the ferry to Veranna across the lake thinking this needed to be my starting point (mistake #1). I soon realized I was a town off and decided to walk to Bellena , the town I needed to be in, (mistake #2). Going through the coastal tunnels it became clear these were not meant for pedestrians, I flattened myself many times to the wall with approaching buses. Other then that it was a fairly pleasant walk along the coast. I reached Bellena, got the map and guide I needed, grabbed a bottle of water and took the bus a little up the mountain to Vedorogne to start with the guided trail.

Once I made it through the town only glancing at a trail map that didn’t seem to correspond with mine (mistake #3) I headed down the trail, past some pastures and out onto a road that lead me to the town of Noceno. After questioning if I was going the right way I asked the family who ran a little food stand how to get to Camaggirio, they pointed me in the right direction and told me to go up and up and up, a long ways. So I did, kind of. I took their directions and went up (mistake #4), I lost the trail a bit but kept going wherever I caught a glimpse of one. It was an incredibly hot day and I quickly realized I was very short on water and needed to conserve until I found a town or human life as there had been no signs since leaving the town.

I realized that I wasn’t on a real trail because there wouldn’t be an easy trail that would cause me to pull myself up steep hills with my hands. I had a moment of panic. Luckily I had packed my cell just in case and decided I would give myself another hour of going up before I called for help. My thought was that I couldn’t be that far off and luckily I was right.

About half an hour later I reached the summer fields, fresh manure assured me animals were nearby which meant people. Soon I found a dirt road. Feeling calmer knowing I wasn’t lost I headed for a higher peak to get an idea of where I was. I saw another hiker and between my non-italian and his non-english we established I was on the other side of Camaggirio from where I was supposed to be.








I headed straight for the town and their local fountain. After consuming massive amounts of water I felt significantly better and sat to rest. I knew I wouldn’t make it to the top so I took my time relaxing before just heading down.

I followed to signs that would lead me to Nonce to get down and came across a beautiful abandoned town in the woods on my way back. The path down was much better than the one I had created up and I enjoyed my walk through the woods.






I arrived safely in Nonce, I believe much to the relief of the family who help me earlier. They invited me to sit which I did gladly and bought a bottle of water. Between the little English they spoke they asked if I had made it and were quiet impressed I had.

Saying goodbye to them I headed off trying to see where I had gone wrong before. I figured it out when I saw an arrow with a #7 on a wall I had missed at the beginning of the hike. Investigating in Vedorogne my suspicions were confirmed, I had made a mistake at the very start of my hike.





I saw the bus to take me down the hill wasn’t due for 40 minutes and since I knew it would take 30 minutes to reach the lake I decided to see if I could beat it down. I hurried down and found a trail that took me off the road past old houses, through fields and down old town streets. I just managed to beat the bus down and was quiet proud of myself.

I caught a bus back to Veranna, then the ferry to Bellagio (unimpressive) and back to Menaggio where Sally, Tim and I headed into town for massive, delicious pizza and to exchange stories of our hikes for the day. It has been decided I am not allowed to hike on my own certainly not in the alps.





Saturday was an early day to catch the bus to the train to the other train, and so on. I finally arrived in Gryon. It is absolutely lovely up in the alps. The town is quiet a ways up the mountain but well worth the trip. It was a relaxing evening , I had dinner and watched a movie with the aussie girl who I’m sharing a room with.






Sunday I went to the grocery store before it closed and then walked about 45 minutes into the next town where a market was going on. I had planned on hiking up the mountains a bit but the clouds began descending into the valley below covering the mountain so I wouldn’t be able to see much. Instead I relaxed in the hostel watching a movie, reading a bit and doing some things for school, I love relaxing days. When I was making my dinner the couple next to me was fixing the same meal of spaghetti bolognase so they asked if I wanted to share. We had a very nice dinner together chatting about places we'd been and where we wanted to go. And since the rain was now in full effect and I had to get up so early I decided to go to bed early, what a good girl I am not staying up all night partying :)