Lake Como June 17

                                                          June 1                                  Trip to Date

Miles Walked                                       15.8                                            414.2

Feet Climbed                                       2080                                          44,280

Song of the Day:  Ends of the earth by lord Huron:

Oh, there's a river that winds on forever
I'm gonna see where it leads
Oh, there's a mountain that no man has mounted
I'm gonna stand on the peak

Out there's a land that time don't command
Wanna be the first to arrive
No time for ponderin' why I'm a-wanderin'
Nowhere the buses lay

A perfect day of hiking to wrap up our  trip to Italy.  First, the weather  cooperated- sunny in the low 70's.  Our hike today had so many things that we enjoy about Italy- incredible beauty, a challenging and physical walk, friendly people and even a great lunch along the way.  The hike today took us up the eastern side of the upper lake.  The first 10 miles wandered over the mountains surrounding the lake and the last 3 miles bordered the lake shore, ending at the lakeside village of Dorio.  We then took a train back to Varenna where we are staying.  After a brief respite, we set off again to further explore Varenna.

The border with Switzerland snakes around Lake Como to the west and north.  While hiking today,  we certainly had the impression of being in Switzerland- geography, architecture and even food. One fun fact about Lake Como- it is purported to be the deepest lake in Europe at almost 1300 feet deep.  The bottom 7000 feet would be under sea level. 

We have really enjoyed our 3 day visit to Lake Como and look forward to coming back, next time for a longer stay. 

Here are a few shots from the day.  First, a great view south down the lake.  Bellagio is way in the background here.

Most of the walk today was through very dense forest.  There were streams pouring down the mountain everywhere, emptying into the lake.  So, there were many bridges like this over the streams.  Wish we had some of this water in California where we live....

A weak attempt at a selfie.  Linda and I are just not very good at this kind of thing.  Must be a generational deal.  Or perhaps we need one of those damn sticks we see everywhere.  One of the several villages that we passed in the background.  As you can see from this shot, we are quite high above the lake.  Throughout the hike, the trail would head down to the lake and then head back up again.  This is how we were able to rack up a total climb of over 2000 feet today.  As always, the going down was usually harder than climbing.  

Another bridge over a stream.

I call this one "two jack asses..."  Funny, I was just walking along, and all of sudden I hear this loud braying directly above my head.  Scared the hell out of me.  I definitely wasn't expecting to see or hear a donkey on the walk!

Yet more water.

On our walk, we would emerge from the forest from time to time, and have this view.  A very spectacular place.

This was the last part of the walk, along the lake front.  Switzerland and the alps are in the background here.

Tonight we had an excellent meal in a local restaurant.  There was a very nice couple from Vancouver Canada sitting next to us.  They had been to the World's faire "Expo" in Milan today.  The expo is going on throughout the summer. We had not heard of the expo until a few days ago when we took the train to Milan.  Funny enough, two days ago, I got on my iPhone app for the Fort Dodge (Iowa) Messenger newspaper (my hometown newspaper).   I was served up several ads for the Milan Expo!  The worlds faire of course has large pavilions and displays from the countries of the world.  The Canadian guy was a little miffed because Canada did not have a pavilion or display at the Expo.  He said the USA had a very large pavilion.  

Tomorrow, we have a 10:30 train to Milan and then to the airport.  We will arrive back in San Francisco Thursday evening.  This has been another terrific trip for us.  We look forward to coming back to Italy again in the near future.  But, next on our agenda are a hiking trip to the high country in Yosemite National Park in September, and then a trip to Barcelona, Spain in October (a little hiking, but mostly seeing friends and attending a wedding). 

I want to end with a shout out for the Golden State Warriors, who won the NBA championship last night. This was their first time in 40 years.   Notwithstanding the meltdown of the 49ers last year, this has been a good 12 months for Bay Area sports teams.