A short hike in the snow... but Spring is 'round the corner!

Herlock

Herlock

Joined
May 13, 2015
Messages
841
Hi there! Managed to be out last Saturday! Since a while I was not. Just a short hike with snow-shoes to get some fresh air and peace of mind :). Went on a fairly known track but scenery and reference points are completely different with the snow… beautiful! From the centre of the village (823 mt) I headed east, following the fairly steep track and reached the first pass (1490 mt). Here the track becomes almost flat until reaching the junction with another trail, which I followed, reaching a place called Casere Alte and, after about 30 minutes’ walk, I reached another pass (1848 mt) where I had a coffee, some trail mix and a short rest before going back. Didn’t venture up to the peak (2019 mt) alone, in these conditions (snow starts to melt). Spring is coming! Knife with me the Pohl Force Bravo 1, but not much action, he just saw the opening of a couple of trail-mix and some hours of pocket (backpack) time.

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Very nice photos. Very scenic. I was struck by the sameness of many of the homes in the village/town. Are these buildings where folks live on one floor, so multiple families live in the same building? Just a guess.

Spring is springing in my area now and has been for a couple weeks. The trees are leafing out, things are blooming. Wonderful time of the year! Still get a few cold snaps however.
 
Hi! Thanks for kind comments :).

@ Electricut: Thanks! This is a small valley in Bergamo Province, called Val Serina. The village pictured there is Serina itself. The track I partially travelled is # 502 C.A.I. Bergamo, from Serina to mount Alben. Places very close (80-100 km) to where we live, we're lucky!

@22-rimfire: Thank-You. You are not wrong, some houses are family houses, where, originally, "extended" families were living. Nowadays most of them are summer-houses, completely refurbished and turned into holidays apartments :).

Take care.
 
Man --I always look forward to your EXCELLENT photos

Thanks for taking the time to post them...

Dr.Bill:thumbup:
 
Wonderful place ! I assumed near Bergamo. Questions : The roofs are not pitched much and I'm interested in snow loads as so many photos in Alpine areas have great pitch as in A-frame type .Not enough snow or are you Italians optimists ! LOL
Those "snow shoes" [ sled ?? ] look interesting ,please show some photos and explain how they are made.
 
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Hi!

@ WILLIAM.M & Woods Walker: Thanks! This time it was just a smartphone and a touch of GIMP working :)

@ Mete: Hi, Thanks! Yes, you are right, the typical sloping roofs are very common in Dolomites area (Trentino Alto Adige – Sud Tirolo) and Valle d'Aosta, a little less common in this mountain area of Lombardy region. What is very typical here are the slate stones used as roof tiles. Dolomites get all the photo shooting :D! These are more “popular” mountain areas :D. Yes, snow loads probably matter when it comes to architecture. Consider here most villages are not higher than 800 - 1000 mt altitude. Snow can be heavy some years but stays for a limited period of time. Already Saturday afternoon, when going back, snow was disappearing from those roof tops exposed to sun in Serina. Today almost all the snow has gone from the valley bottom! Too warm.

About snowshoes, thanks, but they are nothing special. Just very plain Decathlon (Quechua brand) old model. Plastic stuff, rather cheap. I think I have since 5-6 years already. Since one fastener got damaged, I was thinking about the upgraded model:

http://www.decathlon.it/ciaspole-tsl-418-updown-grip-grigie-id_8161773.html

Sales are on for winter gear :).

Take care.
 
Herlock said:
Hi! Thanks for kind comments :).

@ Electricut: Thanks! This is a small valley in Bergamo Province, called Val Serina. The village pictured there is Serina itself. The track I partially travelled is # 502 C.A.I. Bergamo, from Serina to mount Alben. Places very close (80-100 km) to where we live, we're lucky!

@22-rimfire: Thank-You. You are not wrong, some houses are family houses, where, originally, "extended" families were living. Nowadays most of them are summer-houses, completely refurbished and turned into holidays apartments :).

Take care.
Click to expand...

Beautiful scenery and photos. Are you an ex-pat or are you a native?
 
Herlock said:
About snowshoes, thanks, but they are nothing special. Just very plain Decathlon (Quechua brand) old model. Plastic stuff, rather cheap. I think I have since 5-6 years already. Since one fastener got damaged, I was thinking about the upgraded model:
Click to expand...

Don't! Invest a bit more cash in some TSL's and don't look back. They are easy to find here in Europe and I think they are far better than Quechuas brand. There is a model I like a LOT which allows you to sink your heel under the plane of the snowshoe, so your feet/legs can get a much more natural position when goind downhill. With a regular snowshoe where the feet stay parallel to the deck, your quadriceps burn when you go downhill... Those are not cheap, but well worth the money!
 
Would love to see scenery like that on my hikes!

Nature tricked us with a warmup last weekend (short sleeves, bike riding, sorting through the camping gear, and doing some shooting), then did a 180 and dumped as much as 12" of snow in our area (only 10" at my house), and it's been below freezing since.

Maybe Spring will get here one day...
 
Thank you for the beautiful pictures, this is an area of Italy we are not often exposed to.
How very Italian to pack in a stove and espresso kettle; delightful.

Tom
 
Love the moka pot. We are making maple syrup in eastern Ontario right now, and we use the maple sap to make coffee in those pots. Comes out very sweet, with some cream it's a different sort of treat.
 
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