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Last week, here in northern Italy where I'm working, we had a hard frost and for the first time in many years I was treated to a display of autumn colours by the trees and plants in the countryside around me. In Mexico, my home base for the past two decades, we don't really have autumn and despite the fact that we can get hard frosts at night there isn't the variety of deciduous trees to put on a good show of colour. So, as Tuesday was a national holiday and, weatherwise, the day started out looking promising, I put on some walking clothes, grabbed my rucksack and trekking shoes along with a guide book of popular local walks and set off to drive to the small town of Limone on the upper western side of Lake Garda, about 80 kms distant, to see if I could find some nice autumn scenes.
I'd read there was a circular trail just outside Limone of about 4 hours duration leading up into the hills overlooking the lake. What I neglected to spot in the guide book until I reached the place was that the first 2 hours were an uphill climb zigzagging a 1 in 2 to 1 in 1 gradient around the side and to just below the back of the summit of the ridge overlooking the town. At 720 m, (almost 2400 ft), above the lake this proved to be a nice leg muscle puller! After a brief 15 mins of relatively flat easy going along the ridge the trail then careered zigzagging down the lake side of hill for an hour long descent at even steeper grades than the uphill climb! I later found out that this downhill stint was part of some extreme hiking trail!!
Surprisingly my aging pins lasted well for what was obviously a route for experienced hikers and I arrived back at my start point at exactly 4 hours from my departure feeling well pleased with having made it in the allotted time and in one piece. The weather had been excellent for walking, although during the last 30 mins a light cloud cover had damped out most of the sun and a haze was forming over the lake and wisps of fog starting to show on the ridge peaks. 30 mins later on the way home the sun disappeared completely and a thick haze was engulfing everything. I didn't care, I'd done the walk and survived and I'd got some nice photos to show for it, plus hopefully I've toned my legs up a little more. Now if I could just shed a little of that excess weight I carry - LOL! An hour later and I was back home soaking in a steaming hot shower and reflecting on another great day and experience here in my temporary workplace.
No slide show this time, just a brief description of the photos.
Enjoy!
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An invitation to all viewers - I know that many forum members live in parts of the world where they are treated to really spectacular shots of autumn colours so how about grabbing your camera and posting some images to add to this thread.
PS - No need to climb so high as I did to take the shots! - LOL!
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Photo 1 - The start of the walk at the base of the Singol Valley just above the town of Limone.
Photos 2 - 8 - the first stretch of the uphill climb, a steep rough road made of polished stones going up into the valley
Photo 9 - striking off from the road a steep zig zagging climb through pines up towards the peak
Photos 11 - 12 - a sparsely covered section of the hill with wisps of bright orange grass bordering the path. Two massive outcrop slips make for a spectacular sliding descent!
Photos 13 -15 - Limone below as the trail keeps ascending. A shot of the Singol valley hills in the direction of Lake Garda
Photo 16 - After two hours climbing and 720 m a small set of steps lead to the top of the ridge
Photo 17 - a clearing in a small wooded area at the top of the climb
Photo 18 - ten mins of level walking and a left turn brought me out to the start of the long and very steep descent
Photo 19 - three quarters of the way down the descent and the summit looks a longway off!
Photo 20 - Back to the base of the stream which flows out of the Singol valley down into Limone and the lake and I'm within a couple of mins of my starting point
************************************************** *******
I'd read there was a circular trail just outside Limone of about 4 hours duration leading up into the hills overlooking the lake. What I neglected to spot in the guide book until I reached the place was that the first 2 hours were an uphill climb zigzagging a 1 in 2 to 1 in 1 gradient around the side and to just below the back of the summit of the ridge overlooking the town. At 720 m, (almost 2400 ft), above the lake this proved to be a nice leg muscle puller! After a brief 15 mins of relatively flat easy going along the ridge the trail then careered zigzagging down the lake side of hill for an hour long descent at even steeper grades than the uphill climb! I later found out that this downhill stint was part of some extreme hiking trail!!
Surprisingly my aging pins lasted well for what was obviously a route for experienced hikers and I arrived back at my start point at exactly 4 hours from my departure feeling well pleased with having made it in the allotted time and in one piece. The weather had been excellent for walking, although during the last 30 mins a light cloud cover had damped out most of the sun and a haze was forming over the lake and wisps of fog starting to show on the ridge peaks. 30 mins later on the way home the sun disappeared completely and a thick haze was engulfing everything. I didn't care, I'd done the walk and survived and I'd got some nice photos to show for it, plus hopefully I've toned my legs up a little more. Now if I could just shed a little of that excess weight I carry - LOL! An hour later and I was back home soaking in a steaming hot shower and reflecting on another great day and experience here in my temporary workplace.
No slide show this time, just a brief description of the photos.
Enjoy!
************************************************** *****
An invitation to all viewers - I know that many forum members live in parts of the world where they are treated to really spectacular shots of autumn colours so how about grabbing your camera and posting some images to add to this thread.
PS - No need to climb so high as I did to take the shots! - LOL!
************************************************** *****
Photo 1 - The start of the walk at the base of the Singol Valley just above the town of Limone.
Photos 2 - 8 - the first stretch of the uphill climb, a steep rough road made of polished stones going up into the valley
Photo 9 - striking off from the road a steep zig zagging climb through pines up towards the peak
Photos 11 - 12 - a sparsely covered section of the hill with wisps of bright orange grass bordering the path. Two massive outcrop slips make for a spectacular sliding descent!
Photos 13 -15 - Limone below as the trail keeps ascending. A shot of the Singol valley hills in the direction of Lake Garda
Photo 16 - After two hours climbing and 720 m a small set of steps lead to the top of the ridge
Photo 17 - a clearing in a small wooded area at the top of the climb
Photo 18 - ten mins of level walking and a left turn brought me out to the start of the long and very steep descent
Photo 19 - three quarters of the way down the descent and the summit looks a longway off!
Photo 20 - Back to the base of the stream which flows out of the Singol valley down into Limone and the lake and I'm within a couple of mins of my starting point
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