Petite & Grand Saint Bernard Passes

July 7.09 – heading into the mountains back over to Italy

We were going to leave at 7am but since we didn’t get to sleep till after 1:00am ( I think from the late night coffee & dessert stop we had in town) and I could hear rain all morning, we all subconsciously decided to postpone the early morning takeoff. The clouds were lifting a bit by time we left around 11:00am after buying a bunch of yummy food from the marche. Basic supermarkets carry such good food, it’s hard not to get excited shopping. Found some excellent yogurt, fresh assorted olives, a huge round of brie and other assorted bries. We stocked up on our chocolate yesterday in Annecy at another marche.

We drove out along the lake, the same way the Tour de France will be coming through July 21st towards Albertville and then headed up Col Petite San Bernardo pass, the divide between France and Italy. We decided we needed another little bit of Italy before Switzerland (and some decent caps). The top of the pass is at 2188m
and is none too warm. After being down in Annecy where we were basking in sunshine, we were now in real mountain air, fresh and nippy. Had some lunch and then headed out for a hike to Lac Verny. Great alpine hiking on small goat trails. Once back we passed over the line into Italy and had our cappuccinos at the Ristorante S. Bernardo. The decent down was much better than our last experience coming down Mount Ventoux. We are slowly cruising down in 1st & 2nd to save the brakes. We learn that the Tour de France will be coming through this pass and down the other side going through the small towns of Thuile and Pre-Saint-Didier. Amazing to think that the race goes along these small roads and up and down huge mountain passes. I’ve never seen so many cyclists riding these passes. From Annecy up to here and down the other side there has been a continuous stream of riders, many of them older.

We weren’t sure where we were camping tonight so we started looking for a campsite once we were completely down the mountain. You go East once Pre-Saint-Didier passed and head towards Aosta. Along this road that parallels the autostrada there are a number of decent campsites. This might even be an area to consider spending a few days in as each small town has something interesting to offer whether it’s hiking, rafting, spaing, or just taking in Mont Blanc (when visible) or relaxing in the country. We found Camping Green Park partly by accident as they were the ones with the most signage. It is a site with many permanent campers and only a few for transient campers. The site is good though for us and the weather has clouds rolling in and out. We set ourselves up and make some boiled French potatoes with mushrooms, onions, and garlic in a pesto sauce. Mom and I go for a walk down the country road to explore the tiny town 1 km away. The houses here are all built with a combination of rock and wood and huge slate slabs used like shingles on the roofs. Very beautiful stone work.

July 8.09 – Up and away by 10:00 towards Grand Saint Bernardo pass our gateway to Suisseland!

We poked our head out the skylight window at 8:00am and the sky was clear and Mont Blanc was staring right at us! A huge massive of rock covered in snow with one of the many glaciers we could see hanging off of it. We couldn’t see any of this last night so a great treat to view it this morning. We ventured up to the café for morning caps and started at Mont Blanc. By time we walked back down to our site the clouds had moved in over it. We still had sunshine on our caravan so enjoyed breakfast, a great shower and then packed up ready for our next pass of Colle de Grand Saint Bernardo if you’re in Italy or Col d. Grand Saint Bernard if you’re in Switzerland. The road up had a lot of road work going on which was not supervised for passing cars, but as we ascended the road became smoother and a little wider. The switchbacks going up are incredible and the views astounding. At the top is a hostel type hotel you can stay in which used to be where monks lived and trained the Saint Bernard dogs for rescue. It is so cold up here at 2469m that we are not inclined to do any hiking. At one point it started sleet/hailing a bit. We had our last bit of Italy in the restaurant and then were waived in by the polizei to Switzerland. They have a post at both passes where the French, Italian, and Swiss Police man a border post.

The decent down was steeper than yesterday and took about 45 minutes to get down. There is a tunnel the trucks take as the road is impassable for larger vehicles. We came out at Martigny and then took a flat, direct route to Zermatt. We had a fairly blue sky day with some puffy clouds. We arrived at a campsite in Tasch we had been to before at 4:30pm and then promptly made our way for the train shuttle up to Zermatt. 15 francs each and half for Brendan.

We did a nice hike up for Furri and back down into Zermatt. The sun was out up in Furri which made for pleasant early evening walking. Mom and the kids went back down after 30mins of hiking up the road towards the trail. There are restaurants all the way up the mountain so you’ll never go hungry. Food is not cheap though in these places. Got back down at 7:30pm and caught the 8:00pm train only to find mom and the kids on it as well.

This is the coldest spot we’ve been in. We’re all chilly and have all the windows closed! Tomorrow we head to Lauterbraunnen Valley!!