The Bergamo Alps (Italian: Alpi Orobie) are located about 30 kilometers above the city of Bergamo. I made a short stop in Peschiera del Garda on the shores of Lago di Garda but I found the place a bit too busy for my mood. I loved the oleander flowers though. There is a holiday photograph of my mother posing in front of oleanders somewhere in Italy in the 1960s. I have known this photo for many years, but recently I often dream of oleander flowers as a symbol of summer.

I drove on and found a beautiful camping on the shores of Lago d’Iseo. Camping Cave (address: via Cave 13, Iseo, Italy 25049) is located right on the lake. After pitching my tent it was no more than 100 metres to the lake and the (open air) restaurant and bar. Before doing anything else I jumped into the lake.

One of the things I love about Italy is the culture of aperitivo, the drink before dinner, and cicchetti. I prefer Campari Spritz (prosecco, Campari and soda water). It’s bitter and has a beautiful red color. Being camped on the shores of a lake with plenty of cold drinks, meant that each hike would end in a luxury I don’t always experience.

Valgoglio

27 July 2020

For the first hike I drove to Valgoglio, which was quite a long ride from the camping through dozens of tunnels. The mountain roads were very busy with morning commuters. I didn’t have a map of this area since I only brought maps of Südtirol. I hiked along the river Goglio but when I was deciphering the sparse signs it was clear that the nearest mountain hut above the tree line was too far for a day hike. The Bergamo Alps are something else. The area feels very remote and I encountered few other hikers. Large parts of my hike I didn’t have a cell phone reception.

When you spent so many holidays alone, you tend to get some compulsive thoughts while hiking, especially walking uphill. I contemplated a lot on the archetypal Uomo senza nome. ‘The Man With No Name’ was a marketing ploy to promote the spaghetti westerns A Fistful of Dollars (1964), For a Few Dollars More (1965), and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966) with Clint Eastwood. But the original man with no name was Toshiro Mifune’s character in Yojimbo. (the bodyguard) on which Sergio Leone based his 1964 movie. In the opening scenes the rōnin (浪人) arrives at a junction in the road, he shrugs his shoulders, picks up a stick and throws it high into the air. He lets fate decide which path to take; he follows the direction of the fallen stick and walks into a village. And so the story begins. I like the idea of not having a full plan when starting a hike. But even without a plan there is always a plan B.

Rifugio Magnolini

28 July 2020

The second day I started my hike in Bossico after an other exhilarating car ride with many hairpin turns. From there is was a very hot but easy hike to Ceratello. During the hike there were some good views of the lake. The narrow road during the ascent to Rifugio Magnolini (1610 m.) was very steep. On the way down I took the foot path back to Bossico and my car, through pine forests and long rocky single tracks. This was one of the more beautiful hikes. Below the route I walked.

On the way down I walked past a little stone hut marked as ‘ll cadi de la pest’ where the only Bossichesi who escaped the scourge of epidemic in 1630, sought refuge to escape the plague.

The region of Lombardy saw the most cases of COVID-19 by far in Italy. Notably Bergamo province was hard hit by the 2020 pandemic in March. On 8 March a quarantine lockdown was imposed for the whole region of Lombardy and 14 other northern provinces placing 16 million people under quarantine.

By the end of July 2020 quarantine was lifted but many measures were still in place. At the reception of Camping Cave my temperature was measured and face masks were mandatory in the camping toilet facilities. In general a face mask had to be worn in shops and in restaurants and mountain huts when ordering.

Europa endlos

Das Leben ist zeitlos
Europa endlos
Wirklichkeit und Postkartenbilder
Europa endlos
Eleganz und Dekadenz.

Kraftwerk, 1977.

Next destination: Swiss Alps.