The Vagabond Hiker

Hiking, trekking, and climbing the world

European town & country walks (and a few hikes)

In reviewing my photos from this past summer, I realized there were quite a few that had been excluded from the limited blog topics chosen. This miscellaneous blog post is meant to remedy that shortcoming, and highlights some of the wonderful cities’ Old Towns as well as a few interesting hikes that had slipped between the cracks.

The Town Walks

There is no better way to see the Old Town of nearly any European city than simply to walk around it. Rarely have I found that a morning perambulating has not yielded great rewards. . .

Sofia, Bulgaria City Garden, near the Grand Hotel Sofia where I stayed for 3 nights waiting for my luggage. . .
Church of St. George, Sofia, the oldest building in the city, began in the 4th century as Roman baths.
The iconic St. Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, Sofia
My favorite building in Sofia, the Church of St. Nicholas the Miracle-Maker
Krakow main square panorama from my breakfast table. Normally jammed, the square was nearly empty at 7:30 Sunday morning. Staying on the main square was wonderful – and quiet – since my hotel room was in the back.
Night view of St. Mary’s Basilica, Krakow, Poland
Vltava River view, Prague, with the cathedral and castle. Two mornings spent walking around Prague were very enjoyable, and being mid-week it was not as crowded as I had feared.
Astronomical clock, Prague, the oldest Astronomical clock in the world still functioning
Modern stained glass in the St. Vitus Cathedral, Prague
View from the upper part of Old Town, Tallinn, Estonia.
Town hall square, Tallinn. The city seemed almost empty.
Old town wall, Tallinn
Helsinki Cathedral, Finland. I took the 2 1/2 hour ferry from Tallinn across the Gulf of Finland to Helsinki. As the city was built in the 19th century from a fishing village, the town center is far more modern than most European cities.
Havis Amanda fountain, Helsinki

The Country Walks

My three days in southern Finland was for the most part spent away from Helsinki and makes a great starting point for the country walks. . .

Hotel Hanaholmen view from my window. About an hour walk from Helsinki center, but a world away.
Sculptures and the Baltic Sea, Porkkala Peninsula. I went on a guided walk in this nature reserve about 45 minutes west of Helsinki. This was part of a temporary mixed-media art exhibition.
Liesjärvi Lake, Liesjärvi National Park. Inland about 90 minutes from Helsinki I went on a second guided walk where we foraged for mushrooms.
Reindeer lichen (Cladonia rangiferina), Liesjärvi
Dutchman’s pipe (Monotropa hypopitys), Liesjärvi

In July, I took a weekend road trip from my Val d’Aosta base across the Col du Grand St Bernard to Switzerland to watch the men play tennis in Gstaad. I of course had some time for walking.

Chateau d’Oex, Switzerland. I stayed here rather than pricey, touristy Gstaad where the men’s tennis tournament was held.
Near Chateau d’Oex, a pedestrian bridge across La Sarine River
Another view of bucolic Chateau d’Oex, from my hike ascending to Pra-Perron

More Northern Italian Hikes

Apart from the Parco Nationale Gran Paradiso (PNGP) hikes (already described in an earlier blog) I returned twice to Italy between my other trekking and traveling adventures and managed to squeeze in a few more. . .

Derelict house on the south slopes of Monte Faie, near Lago Maggiore. I stayed near the southern end of the lake for 5 days between two trips.
View of Lago Maggiore from Monte Faie summit
Ragged (Seguier’s) Pink (Dianthus seguieri), seen on Monte Faie
View of Cima Sasso (1916m) view on the descent of Monte Faie
An Ibex above the Col du Grand St Bernard. While spending a week in Aosta in early September, I did a spectacular hike: 8 miles, 6 lakes, 4 passes, and 2 countries!
A zoom photo of this old male Ibex (Capra ibex)
View towards Mt Dolent (3823m, center-left and just free of clouds) from the Col des Chevaux. The tri-point border of France, Switzerland, and Italy is 100m NW of the summit.
The 3rd of the Lacs de Fenetre near the Col du Grand St Bernard
Lago Chamole, seen on the ascent of the Punta della Valletta.
View from Cresta Nera towards Mt Blanc (in clouds). My traverse of the Punta della Valletta near Aosta was another spectacular hike in early September. This point was a short diversion on the way to the summit.
View of La Grivola from Cresta Nera. The Punta Rossa della Grivola which I climbed (see earlier post) is the left-most visible peak here.
The village of Cogne from Punta della Valletta (3090m). Amazingly, from this point I could also see the city of Aosta in the main valley.
Selfie of The Vagabond Hiker on Punta della Valletta summit
View of the knife edge traverse of Punta della Valletta
A backward look at an assisted traverse, Punta della Valletta. Despite some initial misgivings, I did this without protection.

With this blog I finally conclude my Europe 2022 adventures! Planning for the summer of 2023 when I once again will return to Europe and perhaps even Central Asia has already begun. For now, though, I am busy preparing for a two week, three country trip to the Guianas on the northern coast of South America, leaving Tuesday. That last minute trip will be the focus of my next blog post.

The Vagabond Hiker

Sardinia Walking Week

Before you say – “oh, another post from Italy”, I should make it clear that Sardi consider themselves apart from “mainland Italians,” with their distinct culture, traditions, and language. While many tourists come to Sardinia to bask on sun-drenched beaches or to emulate the sybaritic lifestyles of the glitterati on the Costa Smeralda, there exists a completely different aspect to this island. As well as helping to preserve the traditional lifestyles of the locals, the dramatic mountains and gorges of central Sardinia make for some fantastic walking, and my KE Adventures trip highlighted some of the best easier day hikes on the island.

Our group of fourteen diverse clients included eight Americans, by far the most on any of the nearly 20 KE trips on which I’ve been. In addition to four Brits, our group also had a Belgian and a Pole to give it a bit of international flavor. This was a center-based holiday where we stayed at a charming, locally-owned hotel outside the town of Dorgali, located in the center of the island, between the east coast and the Supramonte mountains. One website’s summary I think accurately describes the latter:

The Supramonte is a vast limestone plateau that extends in the province of Nuoro within the towns of Orgosolo, Dorgali, Urzulei and Baunei. It is an immense rugged and wild massif, made up of caves, forests, canyons. . . one of the wildest areas of the island. Over 500 sq km of rocks and mountains that form vertical walls, sinkholes, caves, [and] underground rivers.

https://www.perfectsardinia.com/destination/central-sardinia/supramonte/

Below are some photos I took last month. Decide for yourself whether the central Sardinia coast and mountains live up to their billing!

View of the Laniattu Valley on the Day 1 ascent where we traversed Monte Tiscale, a rather modest peak.
A gnarled juniper
The Nuragic complex of Sa Sedda e Sos Carros, a bronze age village high in the mountains. Their ancient culture was interesting, but lacking a written language means much of our knowledge of them is simply speculation.
On Day 2 our walk went from our hotel in Dorgali to Cala Ganone on the coast. Here is a view west towards Monte Corrasi (left), which would be our objective for the final day.
View of Cala Ganone and the Mediterranean Sea on Day 2.
An Autumn Crocus (Colchicum lusitanum). It was too late in the season for many flowers, but I’ll share photos of a couple we saw.
One of our (innumerable) group photos. I often felt apart from them as not many were regular hikers, causing excessive stops each day due to a lack of fitness for about half of them.
A gorgeous old juniper (Juniperus phoenicia)
Red squill (Charybdis maritima), whose blooms signal the end of summer
Coastal view on Day 3, where we hiked from Cala Ganone south along the coast to Cala Luna.
An ammonite fossil. The limestone which predominates on this portion of the island is fossil rich, though most are found away from the well-trod paths.
Spiaggia di Cala Fuili. Along with Cala Luna, access is only by either foot or boat. I won’t share any photos of Cala Luna. While beautiful, even mid week in September it was absolutely rammed with boat people. Perhaps 8 AM on a rainy December morning would be an ideal time to visit?
Monte Bardia from my hotel room balcony in Dorgali. This would be my objective on our mid-week off day.
View from the Parco del Carmelo towards Dorgali at the beginning of my ascent of Monte Bardia on Day 4.
Some of the numerous domestic goats we saw on the ascent. One other hiker joined me on this hike.
Another view of Dorgali from our ascent route
View from near Passo Ghenna di Silana on our Day 5 descent to the gorge known as Gola di Gorropu
Holm Oak (Quercus ilex) on our misty descent
With some of our group descending into the gorge
A view of Gola di Gorropu as the mist begins to clear
Entering Gola di Gorropu. There was a ticket booth as this gorge has been monetized for tourists. It provided some fun scrambling for those of us so inclined.
Day 6 was the culmination of our hiking week: the summit of Monte Corrasi, high point of the Supramonte. Here is a view of the town of Oliena on our ascent.
European yew (Taxus baccata), now a protected species in Sardinia
Monte Corrasi summit view east towards Dorgali and Monte Bardia (center)
The Vagabond Hiker on Monte Corrasi, view west
A summit pano from Monte Corrasi, also towards the west

I’ll leave the reader at our high point as the rest of the trip was literally and figuratively down hill. I caught a rather bad cold from a client that persisted for nearly two weeks and from which I am only now recovered back in St George Utah.

I do have some “odds and ends” photos from the Alps this past summer that are interesting enough (to me at least) that I will share them next month as a final blog post for 2022. Until then, enjoy the wonderful autumnal weather wherever you happen to be.

The Vagabond Hiker

Hiking in Italy’s Parco Nazionale Gran Paradiso

What better time to spend several weeks hiking in Parco Nazionale Gran Paradiso (PNGP) than this summer, the 100th anniversary of Italy’s first national park? During my third sojourn since 2018 in the Val d’Aosta, my goal was to explore an area of PNGP that I had not yet visited and to summit at least one significant trekking peak. As my five weeks here draw to a close, I think I can safely say that my goals have been accomplished.

I divide this long post roughly into thirds: first, some local walks in the main Aosta valley near where I was staying; next some highlights of day hikes in and around PNGP; and finally, the climb of Punta Rossa della Grivola, the culmination of my stay in the Val d’Aosta.

Walks from Gressan, Val d’ Aosta

Aosta has the distinction of being both the smallest and the least densely populated of Italy’s twenty regions. Perhaps that’s what attracts me to it! Located in the far northwest of the country, it is bordered by both France and Switzerland. See the map from Wikipedia below.

Aosta, Italy.
By TUBS – This SVG map includes elements that have been taken or adapted from this map:, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=14512479

During my previous visits to Aosta in 2018 and 2019, I chose to stay well above the main valley at an elevation of about 1000m where it was both quieter and cooler. However, this time I chose the village of Gressan as my home base, about 6 km from the capital city of Aosta (population about 35,000). The trade off is that a wide range of hikes is available within a half hour drive, and my preferred supermarket in Aosta almost walking distance. Despite the heat and malodorous ordure from a nearby dairy farm, Gressan is a very pleasant little community. Indeed, I walked right out my door on most off days from some serious hiking. These local walks were ideal during my recovery from Covid, contracted in Norway, and after a mercifully short flareup of patellar tendonitis.

Gressan AirBnb. My apartment is the top floor (mansard), with its west-facing covered balcony seen here.
Morning view from my balcony. Testa del Rutor (3486m, left) and Mont Paramont (3301m, center) are the two highest peaks in the far distance. Mont Blanc is out of view behind on the right.
Morning view west from the outskirts of Gressan. Walking in the early morning in the Aosta Valley was necessary to beat the summer heat. The Val d’Aosta simply pullulates with towers and castles.
A leaning church tower, Gressan. A poorly engineered construction, IMHO.
Gargantua, a glacial moraine and now a nature reserve, is seen here mid-ground, with Aosta partially visible in the valley behind. Popular with local trail runners and dog walkers as well as hikers like me, Gargantua is much bigger than it deceptively looks here. Its name comes from Rabelais’ book Gargantua and Pantagruel. Vineyards, like the one seen here, and apple orchards abound in the Val d’Aosta.
Roman Theater in the city of Aosta (the Roman colony of Augusta Praetoria), with the Grand Combin (Switzerland) rising in the background. The historic center of Aosta has a large pedestrian-only area and features several Roman ruins including a wall, a bridge, and an arch in addition to this theater. Amazingly, this past month was my first walking visit to the city!
View on a balcony walk from the nearby town of Aymavilles to Pondel (Fr.: Pont d’Ael), site of a Roman Bridge.
Pondel Roman bridge with The Grivola in the right background. (MANY more photos of The Grivola to come!) This aqueduct/bridge was constructed in 3 BCE to span the deep gorge over the Grand Eyvia at the entrance to the Valle di Cogne.

Hikes in and around PNGP from Valle di Cogne

Gran Paradiso park, named after the highest mountain completely within Italy*, was initially protected in order to save the Alpine Ibex from poachers, as it was a personal hunting ground for King Vittorio Emanuele II. (Happily, ibex have recently been thriving, so that now there are more than 50,000 of these wild goats, also known as steinbock). Encompassing more than 173,000 acres, the park bestrides two regions in Italy, Aosta and Piemonte. The northern, Aostan, portion boasts the highest peaks and most rugged terrain. The three main valleys on the northern side of the park are all pendent from the main Val d’Aosta. West to east these are: Val de Rhemes, Val Savarenche, and Valle di Cogne. (Refer to the map, extracted from the park’s brochure, below). Some of my earlier hikes from the first two of these valleys were described briefly in my blog from the Val d’Aosta in 2018, where I focused on many of the alpine wildflowers that were in bloom. This post’s main focus, in contrast, will be on hikes in the Valle di Cogne, culminating in my ascent of the Punta Rossa della Grivola, at 3630m (11,910ft) the highest trekking peak (i.e., no ice axes, crampons, ropes, harnesses, hardware, etc, required) in the park, and perhaps in Italy for that matter. 

* -- There is some confusion as to which is the highest mountain in Italy. Mont Blanc (4808m) is sometimes claimed to be, but the summit is actually completely in France. Mont Blanc de Courmayeur (4748m), a sub-summit of Mont Blanc, is marked as lying entirely within Italy on the Italian IGM map, while on the French IGN map the summit lies on the border between France and Italy. In any case, with a prominence of only 18m across the Col Major from the main Mont Blanc summit, it doesn't qualify even as a separate peak. Castor (4223m), whose summit does lie within Italy, is part of the Monte Rosa Massif. With a prominence of 165m, Castor can stake a claim as the highest peak, though the main summit of the Monte Rosa massif, the Dufourspitze (4634m), lies in Switzerland. Nonetheless, the highest mountain completely within Italy is without a doubt The Gran Paradiso (4061m).
Map of Parco Nazionale Gran Paradiso (PNGP). Although not shown, the region of Piemonte roughly encompasses the southern third of the park, with the balance being in the region of Aosta.

From Gressan, the entrance to the Valle di Cogne is quickly reached. The twenty kilometer drive up the valley in my Fiat 500 Cabriolet never grew old. The impossibly steep mountains rising from both sides of the gorge, the roaring Grand Eyvia River, derelict buildings, numerous tunnels and galleries cut into the mountains, and several picturesque communities made focusing on the road difficult at times. When the gorge finally opens up in Cogne, trailheads radiate from the various villages that comprise this town. There is no end to the possibilities for the serious or casual hiker. Indeed, set at an elevation of 1600m, the town of Cogne would have made a splendid alternative base for me this past month. I will highlight some of the hikes in this section, arranged by trailhead rather than chronologically. For the interested reader, a pdf of some of the Alltrails maps of my routes is provided below. I also have hyperlinked to several Summitpost peaks throughout this blog post. (Note: the east side of the Valle de Cogne is technically outside of PNGP proper, but there are some fine trails, including a portion of the Alta Via 2, and viewpoints into the park can be spectacular).

Val d’Aosta Alltrails mapsDownload
Cascate di Lillaz. This shortish and popular loop hike was the only one I did from Lillaz, the farthest village up the main Valle di Cogne.
The village of Lillaz, taken from above the waterfall in the early morning light with the fog dissipating.
Plan de le Goilles. (The map I have is generally in French, though fortunately that language is disappearing among the locals). Note the summer cowherds’ huts. Methane-belching bovines detracted from this portion of the hike.
The charming village of Gimillan above Cogne provided me with a duo of excellent hikes, though many other trails went unexplored. Rosebay willow-herb (aka fireweed) was a common sight on many of my hikes.
Torrente Grauson and a small waterfall. These early morning starts yielded some nice photos with the lingering fog.
Grauson Inferiore. Although not labelled as a rifugio on my maps, it appeared that there were some hikers dossing down here.
Monte Creya (3015m) summit view North to Punta Garin. Monte Creya was one of the three 3000’ers I climbed.
Common rockrose (Helianthemum nummalurium). I saw this on the descent from Monte Creya. Most of my hikes were loops, as trail choices were plentiful.
My first view of my ultimate objective, Punta Rossa della Grivola, with the Grivola itself a bit farther back and its right. I took this photo on a hike from Gimillan to Tsaplana and then up to Punta Arpisson.
Edelweiss (Leontopodium nivale). I’ve shared photos of Edelweiss before, and likely will do so again whenever I encounter this iconic wildflower on my travels.
Alpine thrift (Armeria alpina)
View West from Punta Arpison (3035m). Valnontey valley runs up from Cogne, just visible on the lower left. Gran Paradiso (4061m) is the obvious glaciated high point on the left. Towards the right, Punta Rossa (3630m) can be seen here in its true relation to the much higher la Grivola (3969m), separated by the Trajo Glacier.
View east towards Punta Garin from Punta Arpisson. About 300 meters higher and a whole world of difficult climbing away, I left Punta Garin for younger, more skilled climbers.
The final trailhead I used in the Cogne Valley was Valnontey, from where four of my hikes started. Here can be found a couple of restaurants and hotels, and a large parking lot (which takes change only). Also, for 3 Euros the botanical garden Paradisia is highly recommended. Of course it doesn’t open until 10 AM, so I never did check it out.
Torrente Valnontey. Many easy valley walks are quite popular.
An old rock home along the Torrente Valnontey. Truly an example of making use of landscape features in building!
A view towards the head of Valnontey Valley. This hike was a mid-level loop past the Alpe Money. Alpe in this instance refers to an alpine pasture, not a mountain. I don’t know where the word Money comes from in this valley, but is is an appellation on several different geographic features, including a lake and a peak.
Pinky fieldbush (Adenostyles leucaphylla)
Grass of Parnassus (Parnassia palustrus). Although I shared a photo of this back in my 2018 blog post, it was lousy.
Alpine gentian (Gentiana nivalis)
Meditation at the Head of Valnontey Valley
Back in the valley, looking up the raging Torrente Valnontey
A bridge over Torrent de Grand Lauson on a loop hike to Casolare Herbetet from Valnontey. (I use the Italian Torrente and the French Torrent interchangeably in this post).
Punta Rossa della Grivola, taken on my loop hike to Casolare (farmhouse) Herbetet, situated on a high plateau. You’ll see plenty more photos of Punta Rossa!
Valnontey and Cogne valleys from above Grand Lauson. The pointy peak on the left is Punta Garin. Far left is Monte Emilius.
Balcony traverse high above the west side of Torrente Valnontey, heading to Casolare Herbetet. Can you spot the path? At this magnification it’s almost impossible.
Head of Valnontey with Gran Paradiso towards the right here. Alpe Money is that greener, less steep area mid-mountain on the left. I never did get a decent photo of Casolare Herbetet, which in any case wasn’t all that impressive.

The Punta Rossa della Grivola

At one time I had seriously considered finally climbing Gran Paradiso this summer. As the highest mountain within Italy – and not too difficult as far as alpine summits go – it had been for years on my bucket list. In the end I didn’t bring any climbing equipment with me this summer, and in any case my enthusiasm for alpine mountaineering seems to have diminished recently. So, casting about for a suitable climbing objective that I could safely solo without any equipment, I finally chose the Punta Rossa della Grivola. The Grivola itself is less than 100 meters lower than Gran Paradiso, but is a completely different beast, a technical rock climb. Fortuitously three lower peaks lie adjacent to the Grivola: Bianca, Nera, and Rossa, translated respectively as White, Black, and Red. The first two of these are challenging, dirty scrambles, and some routes require glacier crossing, something I was not willing to do. That left the lowest of the triptych, Rossa, as an obvious consolation prize.

While Punta Rossa (3630m) can theoretically be climbed in a single day from Valnontey, the ascent is greater than 2000 meters, similar to Mt Whitney from Whitney Portal. Unlike the standard Mt Whitney route, though, a good deal of the climb is not on groomed trail, with scrambling and exposure guaranteed. Furthermore, having just recovered from patellar tendonitis, I didn’t think my knees could possible handle more than 6500 ft descent in one day. The logical choice was to divide my climb into three days, staying overnight in the Rifugio Vittorio Sella (2588m) on the Grand Lauson before and after summit day. To that end, I had already made a reservation during my Casolare Herbetet loop hike, which passed by the rifugio. (NB: for the video in this section of the blog, it is best to play it full screen. There is an icon to click on the lower right.)

An Alpine Chamois (Rupicapra rupicapra) above Grand Lauson. After taking several photos of this fellow grazing, he got perturbed at me and walked away. Oops!
Panorama above Grand Lauson with Rifugio Sella and Punta Rossa della Grivola, the obvious high point here. Along with the photo of the chamois, I took this on a brief recon walk the day prior to summit day.
Resting in my room at Rifugio Sella the afternoon prior to summit day. I had a small twin-bunked room to myself, largely because I had come up and personally booked it the week prior and during mid-week it was not full.
Grand Lauson marmot (Marmota marmota, aka mountain rat), seen shortly after my 7 AM summit day start. Most were shrill and shy, but this guy stuck around long enough for me to capture a couple photos of him.
Ibex (Capra ibex) on Grand Lauson shortly after the start of summit day.
More Ibex, these guys crossing my path above Grand Lauson.
Surrounded by Ibex above Gran Lausan
I finally left the herd of Ibex behind. The Punta Rossa ascent route is through the Col della Rossa towards the right side, where the climbing got considerably steeper. Without any other people present, it’s tough to get a sense of scale here, but from the col to the summit is about 1400 vertical feet.
A sketchy traverse after the Col della Rossa. The route is a faint lighter line 2/3rds the way up the scree slope, heading towards the right.
View towards Gran Paradiso taken from after the sketchy traverse. At my elevation here, Gran Paradiso is still mostly hidden behind a nearer – and far lower – peak.
The unmistakable Matterhorn (background center) with the Monte Rosa Massif (background right) seen from the Punta Rossa summit ridge. The glaciated Dufourspitze, highest point on Monte Rosa, highest peak in Switzerland, and second highest peak in western Europe, is seen far right.
Punta Rossa summit ridge. The route goes up to the left and then across the ridge to the summit near the right. While looking straightforward here, the slate (shale?) slabs were loose and there was tremendous exposure at points, as well as some steep, scrambly sections.
Punta Rossa (3630m) summit view towards Gran Paradiso (4061m), now clearly visible as the high point right center here.
The Grivola with Punta Nera (far left) and Punta Bianco (center left), taken from the Punta Rossa summit. Climbing the Grivola by the normal route involves crossing the Trajo glacier seen here and then ascending by the SE face to the obvious ridge-line on the right, and then west along the eastern ridge to the summit. Few climbers attempt it.
The Vagabond Hiker on Punta Rossa della Grivola summit with Gran Paradiso behind
One last photo of The Grivola. Mont Blanc is in the background.
Gran Serra avalanche, seen (and heard) during my descent. The avalanche was caused by the hot weather loosening rocks from the glacier, not the usual fresh snow sloughing off as no snow is present. Ironically, the Gran Serra was a peak I was considering climbing had I stayed longer at Rifugio Sella.
At my Grand Lauson reading spot, five minutes’ walk from the rifugio. A couple pleasant hours were spent here with my Kindle on the afternoon of both days I stayed at the rifugio, another advantage of making this a three day ascent.
View from my reading spot looking back to the rifugio, surrounded by the Torrent de Grand Lauson. Very peaceful, with the noise of the burbling stream replacing the cacophony of the refuge.
It was another 7 AM start on departure morning, returning down to Valnontey. Rifugio Vittorio Sella appears here with glorious mountain light. The refuge was built in 1922, the year PNGP was created.
More beautiful morning light. A collection of huts below Grand Lauson, seen on my descent the final day. Donkeys that transport clients’ equipment and supplies for the rifugio graze here in the summer.
Almost back down to my car! The Torrent de Grand Lauson.
After an active day hiking (or a day spent reading for that matter) the evening view from my balcony wasn’t bad

Later this week I depart Italy for three weeks, trekking and hiking in Bulgaria, Poland, and Slovakia, book-ended with city breaks in Sofia and Prague. I return to Italy at the end of August for a short time, at which point I plan on producing my next two blog posts.

I hope everyone has been enjoying their summer outdoors in nature. I certainly have!

The Vagabond Hiker

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