And Agriturismo "Lo Sabot", where we are sleeping tonight. It is a B&B only and unfortunately the next pizzeria is 10km away. No buses. So we will have to make do with the only restaurant in the village. We walked for almost seven and a half hours today, climbed 1350m and went down 1240m, our highest point was Colle Entrenor at 3007m.

The church of Rhemes Notre Dame, a small and pretty and very touristy place. Lots of Italians and French people.

...and the view from the Colle into Vallon d'Entrenor, where we took a break and watched young chamoises playing, chasing eachother, having a ball on the spots of snow still left.

Colle Entrenor at 3007m...

Laghi Djouan at roughly 2500m

The path leading to the Colle

Gran Paradiso in the distance. We had a view of the mountain while climbing the long, but very pleasant path to Colle Entrenor. Another splendid day, not a cloud in sight.

Agriturismo "Lo Mayen". We arrived here after an almost seven-hour walk, a 740m climb and a 1650m descent to a very warm welcome. The family-run enterprise produces milk, cheese and butter as well as potatoes, jams etc. We were allowed to use the washing machine, had tea and cake and are feeling just fine.

While descending into the valley. Loads of rocks and water everywhere.

The view back to Col Lauson. When we descended there was still some ice and snow, enough to walk slowly and pay attention, but only for a short bit.

The last few metres of the climb to the col. From there it was a long, but very pleasant and nice descent to Eaux Rousses.

The last bit to Col Lauson leads over a not too broad, but comfortable band, a little exposed, but without any difficulties, really nice actually.

Looking back towards Rifugio Vittorio Sella and the valley we climbed to the Col, with some spots of snow.

Looking towards Col Lauson at 3300m. I had some difficulty filling my lungs properly. Must of been the altitude.

Ibexes. Right on our path this morning as we climbed towards Col Lauson in perfect weather. They were very close and very relaxed. They are so beautiful. I am full of awe every time I see them.

Some fresh powdery snow on and around Col Lauson, where we had planned to go today. But we are still here at Rifugio Vittorio Sella. We woke up to rain, thunder and lightning and soon lost hope that the weather would improve early enough to leave. So today is a day of rest, Scopa and chats with the Mappelli family, who have been running Vittorio Sella for more than 30 years and have made it an extremely pleasant place to be for many, many walkers. Definitely an excellent place to rest. They have promised good weather for tomorrow, but we are skipping Rifugio Chabod all the same because of uncertain snow conditions on a very long and challenging stretch. Instead we will descend to Agriturismo Lo Mayen near Eaux Rousses.

Rifugio Vittorio Sella at 2588m. The building infront is where we are sleeping, in a lovely little dorm all for ourselves. That is particularly nice because the hut is really full. The part in the back is where we are eating. We arrived very early today because we opted for a short day. A couple that stayed at the same B&B in Epinel (Le Traineau - not really to he recommended) gave us a lift to Cogne, there we took a shuttle to Valnontey and started on a 880m climb taking us to Vittorio Sella in sun, clouds and some rain. An easy climb to a very nice place with nice people and very good food.

From Passo d'Invergneux it was a long, very long descent towards Cogne. We crossed a very mellow and green valley. Very beautiful but really long. It was hot and we were tired. We managed to get a lift to Epinel near Cogne where we are spending the night. After a pizza and an ice cream in Cogne I am now in my bed in Epinel, very tired and glad to go to sleep.

One of the two "Laghi Pontonnet" in the descent to roughly 2600m. From there we climbed another 300m to Passo d'Invergneux at 2907m.

Colle Fenis at 2857m. From there we continued to Colle Pontonnet at roughly 2900m.

Looking back at where we came from. We walked over so much snow today, it makes walking longer and more complicated because it is much more difficult to find the path and signs and navigate holes etc. The first 750m were very nice but also tiring and I wasn't at all in shape.

Bivacco Borroz at 2150m. A wonderful place, a beautiful and extremely well kept hut with lots of comfort like a real bathroom, light and a great stove. There is also quite a lot of stuff to eat, quite like it is in Switzerland.

The view from Colle Moutsaillon towards our descent, There was lots of snow. The snow made it not easy to find the path, but we made it safely to beautiful Bivacco Borroz all the same, after an about four-hour walk and a 750m climb.

Colle Moutsaillon at 2853m. We climbed the colle from a parking place near Dondena. Maurizio picked me up at 8:00, after a two-hour ride we were at Champorcher, where we bought bread and cheese and had something to eat with tasty (fresh!) apple juice in lovely sunshine.

Rifugio Mantova. Here we took off all our equipment and took a short break after some eight and a half hours. From there it was another 45-minute walk to the cable car station Indren. Then we were back in Gressoney where we had a pannino and a drink before driving back towards Torino. Alberto left me at the tube station, from there it was a less than then minute ride to Casa Crema where I spent the night and used the washing machine. The next day Maurizio was going to pick me up to drive back to Valle Aosta for our two-week trek.

The descent was very nice at first and walking on the still hard snow pleasant. The further down we got the mushier the snow became, because of the sun. It was incredibly HOT and the descent increasingly tough. The views, however, were stunning.

Looking back at Capanna Gnifetti without the fog

Me on the balcony

The views from the balcony were absolutely incredible. Some don't dare even step onto the balcony, because of is heights and the roughly 1000m drop. It is extremely impressive.

Capanna Margherita at 4550m, Europe's highest mountain hut. And I was actually there, quite unbelievable.

Capanna Margherita. Not a good photo, the black box on the right is the hut. We arrived at 9:30 for a tea and a piece of "crostata". The last part of the climb is very steep.

The glacier was beautiful as were the views of the peaks and strange formations of ice everywhere. It was an exhausting climb at such great hights (for me at least) and I was full of respect of the crevasses. Alberto told me only after we were safely back in the cable car how many there were and how many we had walked over.

A photo of us at Colle Lys, the impressive peak and crest of Lyscam in the background. We stopped a Colle Lys at 4200m for the first time to drink in the first sunshine since we left Capanna Gnifetti at 5:30. Incredibly but true I slept well and felt good when we got up at 4:15. It was still dark and we started off with our head lamps but it was already clear that it would be a wonderful day of sunshine.

Looking down at Rifugio Mantova from the balcony of Capanna Gnifetti. The fog came shortly after we arrived. But the forecast for the next day was good.

Capanna Gnifetti was quite full, maybe 150 persons who planned to climb the various peaks of Monte Rosa, but Alberto said the hut was normally fuller. Unfortunately, about an hour after we arrived my head started to hurt in what turned out to be a splitting headache. The altitude was getting to me and I felt rotten. After some aspirins and rest with my head up I felt better, good enough to eat. The food was surprisingly good and plenty. And I was surprised to find that I could actually eat. We went to bed early and I took another tablet, I was convinced that I wouldn't be able to climb up to Capanna Margherita.

Rifugio Gnifetti as we arrived, the weather wasn"t that good. Alberto picked me up at Cascina Roland at 8:45, he came with his friend Olivier. Then we met with Laura, Domenico and Eduardo and drove to Gressoney where we took cable cars first to Salati and then to Indren at roughly 3200m. The walk to rifugio Gnifetti was nice, in less than two hours we arrived and made ourselves comfortable. It is a huge hut, but a nice structure, looking a bit like a fort in the rocks.

For knight Fiona who arrived from the mountains, not at all desperate, but hungry and a little nervous about Monte Rosa, it is a place of rest. Here I gobbled up a huge Caprese in the court yard with home-made bread and grissini. After a short about three-hour and 1000m descent this is where I am spending the night in a ensuite room. Tomorrow morning Alberto will pick me up to go to Gressoney to go up to rifugio Gnifetti and then to rifugio Margherita on Monte Rosa the next day.

Meaning he hacked the stone in two essentially

Cascina Roland at Villar Focchiardo. An old fort on the Via Francigena and the place where - so the legend - where "knight Roland when he arrived at this place, desperate because of the loss of his beloved one, left an eternal mark of his power and magical sword Durindana" in the stone just infront of the cascina.

The "Certosa" is a lovely spot. It would make a wonderful destination for a family meeting. It is self-catering and well equiped and you can get cheese and milk from the "margaro", who lives and works there.

Another bridge. This time the one leading to Certosa Monte Benedetto, a former abbey and the place I had originally planned to stay yesterday.

The bridge over the "Gravio" with a small pool just a few steps away from the rifugio. I crossed it this morning on the path down to Monte Benedetto and then onward to Villar Focchiardo. I had delicious spaghetti with walnut pesto and bruschette with eggplant, zucchini, tomatos and cheese on my second night at rifugio Val Gravio and slept well. Very relaxing.

And this is for Utu

At rifugio Val Gravio again. My companions Rosa, Chiara and Michele carried on to rifugio Amprimo and I stayed here, not only because I couldn't reach anybody at Certosa di Monte Benedetto where I had planned to go but also because Val Gravio is a good place to be. I walked for almost seven hours today, climbed 970m and went down 970m, my highest point was Colle del Vento at 2225m.

It started thundering and we took a slightly different path. We walked together to rifugio Val Gravio on a path completely in the woods. Mainly a forest of golden-rain trees, very beautiful. I have never seen so many laburnum before.

Colle del Vento. I wanted to walk the crest from there, but the fog arrived and I stayed on the path that descends to Piano del Orso. No views unfortunately. And nobody else besides me. At Madonna delle Neve I met two Sicilians and a woman from Ticino. Incredible but true she knows Arturo and gave me news about what is happening in the huts. She told me that Berry had left Capanna Cava and that they are looking for a new tenant.