Crossings

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Shadowman returned in the morning. He's always a welcome companion. swissinfo.ch

Old moraine deposits from the Gries Glacier. swissinfo.ch

The old Gries glacier lake looking east, taken from the Cornopass at 2500m. swissinfo.ch

And this the new lake, which is actually a dammed reservoir. I had planned to go up the glacier, but instead I'll go around left into Italy briefly. swissinfo.ch

Airing my boots and solar recharching during lunch. Late this afternoon I'll cross over the Ofenhorn in the background. swissinfo.ch

My route crosses the dry peak in the foreground to enter the upper valley of Lago dei Sabbione and climb its glacier to the Ofenhorn. swissinfo.ch

Crossing the Ofenhorn is my ticket into the Binntal valley. swissinfo.ch

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Today I'm crossing over from Canton Ticino to Canton Valais.

It’s sort of a reversal of the migration route of the Walser people of Bosco-Gurin, except that everything is different. Besides our obviously different times and circumstances, there’s the matter of route.

I thought about them yesterday as I crossed the Passo San Giacomo, which they likely crossed as well some 800 years ago.

But today I’m headed over glaciers and mountains that would have made no sense to an ancient traveler. We have the luxury to play in high places now, and I have no cows to attend to. Cattle can’t graze up here in the ice and the rocks.

But this notion of the old migration routes of our ancestors got me to thinking how interesting it would be to follow their old paths.

Of course many are buried under modern asphalt, but others like the routes taken to reach Bosco-Gurin, Comologno, Centovalli, and so many other places would be great fun to explore and to learn about their histories.

Hmm, maybe another project is born?