Day 165: Having The Legs

Corecco to Monte Bigorio

Distance: 45km

After a good night's sleep, I feel full of energy. Energy, which I will definitely need today.

Not for the first descent though. It's not as steep and rough and thus more pleasant to walk than I was expecting.

Once down at the bottom, I follow the Ticino River for 5 hours. There really is not much to say about this stretch. At one point, when I couldn't stand the heat anymore (temperatures reached up to 35 degrees Celsius by then), I jumped into the river, my clothes on. It will give an extra cooling effect. I sit on the river bank, admiring the massive mountains around me while drying. Therefore, I don't immediately notice the river rising rather quickly (probably one centimeter per minute). Only when my feet suddenly get wet again I realize it. I look at my backpack. It's sitting a few centimeters in the water. Shit. Out of my stupidity, I do an unplanned water resistancy test. It seems to work. The dry bags at the bottom of the pack are only a bit damp.

After a resupply and carbo loading in Giubiasco, I start my first climb of the day. Unfortunately, I over-ate and I have some discomfort in my tummy. This might sound a bit gross but with every fart and every burb I feel better again. And that's a good thing, because I can use all the energy for the steep, rough 800 vertical meters climb. At one point the trail, narrow and covered with dry leaves, puts me out of my comfort zone. The leaves are making it slippery and there's nowhere to hold on to. A small error, a slip and it's a long way down. I try not to think too much about it but rather focus on each and every step. After a couple of meters, going gets easier again. This must have been the most dangerous stretch of the whole E1 so far. 

On top, I enter the training area of the army. Plenty of signs state things like "Danger", "Do not enter", etc..

According to the email I received upon requesting the status of the area, they are not practicing today. With anyone else around, I enter it. Neither do I get arrested or shot. That's a welcome thing. 

Descending to Isone is much more pleasant than the climb before. Once in the village, I fill up my water bottles. There has been an abundance of fountains today, so water was never a problem. But this most probably will be the last opportunity to refill for today. With 3 liters I climb up the other side of the valley. Today, I already walked for 40 kilometers. Yet, my legs don't seems overly tired. So I keep on going. Way past the point I planned to camp. I check the map for places to stay and stumble across a promising looking place with nice views. I push hard as I want to reach it before sunset. And I succeed. A spectacular view of Lugano is awaiting me. Still not feeling too tired, I prepare my bivy, eat some bread with humus and then simply enjoy the view. I'm so happy to have found this spectacular spot. What a worthy place to spend my last night on E1 in Switzerland!