35 km, 320 vertical metres up
Despite being so far from any traffic, sleeping this high (2650m) is not possible. Nevertheless, we get up to a perfect day. The photos below show how far from anywhere it feels here.
Above , the hut we have dinner in, no choices about the menu, but we were hungry and the food was fine.
Many hours later, and after a few, low speed spills (myself only), near the bottom of the valley.
We have ridden, walked and stubbled down the trail from the hut to a gravel road which then turned into switchbacks through the forest. We then get very lost. Across a field of wild grasses, we can see the gravel road we want to be on. We simply ride through the field. Hey, we are on mountain bikes.
Back in a nearby town, we have expressos served by a lovely old lady who wants us to stay for dinner - it is tempting..
A change to the original plan meant we caught a cable car with special hooks on the outside for the bikes up the mountain at the back of Celerina.
At the top, there is still a steep 300m or so climb to the beginning of the trail - just to the right of this picture. The railway we came up on the second last day of the Alpine Crossing two years earlier is in the foreground.
Kevin and Norbert at the lookout just before the trail beginning.
I am first down the trail, a blue which is fun but does seem to go on and on . . . At the bottom, I wait for the others before Kevin, Alex and myself ride down to the lake and find the cafe Kevin had coffees at, two years before.
The view from where I sit, while Norbert and Volker ride back up the side of the mountain for another run down another trail. Below, Kevin takes the photo.
Enjoying a coffee or two with Kevin and Alexander.
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