From 30.09. to 04.10. we were in Piemonte and I was able to activate 3 summits. 2 of them had not yet been activated.
All mountains are completely different characters.
As always, I have printed a screenshots of OpenTopoMap. Normally you can walk well with it.
On 30.09. we were on the Monte Laurasca ( I/PM-160 ). Parking is possible at Fondo li Gabbi. Then it takes about 6 km and 1000 altimeters to the summit. The path is well marked. It was a beautiful day with a splendid view.
At fotos I had seen that there is a summit cross. That’s why I left my pole at home and took my doublet antenna with me. It is similar to the NorCal antenna and very light. I fixed it between the summit cross and the walking stick. After tuning for 40m I heard nothing…. To check, if there is something wrong, I changed to 30m and heard HB9CBR/P calling. So the first contact ever from this summit was a s2s.
On the way back we bought some fresh handmade pasta at the supermarket in Malesco: An absolut recommendation – cheap and tasty!
It rained at 01.10. ….and at 02.10. Simone wanted to visit the Wednesday-market at Luino… IMHO: it is totally overrated. But sometimes women have a different point of view. On the way back I found that all the zipper of the outside pockets of my rucksack were opened. But the pickpockets were be disappointed. There was nothing inside.
So at the 03.10. the next summit was Monte Riga ( I/PM-213 ). Gurro is a nice village for parking an starting the tour. Gurro is although a little special. They call themselves the lost clan. It is said that after a battle in 1525 some Scottish warriors couldn’t get back home and settled down in Gurro. Because of this story, there are some “Scottish” events during the year.
The way the summit is a hard one. There is a crossing at Mergugna, where you take the way to the left. You pass some houses and the path is becoming less and less. And suddenly you find yourself somewhere in the middle of the undergrowth. We climbed upwards (the only way to get on the top) and found the two peaks of Monte Riga. Up there we searched for the trail again, but there is nothing. So we decided to walk the same way back and Magnus helped us to find it. Up there you have a beautiful view over the landscape of the cannobio valley with it nice villages.
At the 04.10. we drove along the SP92, a small street up on the hillside over the Lago Maggiore. We parked at Il Colle and had a nice walk along a well-kept way up to Monte Spalavera (I/PM-201). While we have walked through the forests of sweet chestnuts all the times, there were birches here. The second qso was IK2LEY, who was already on the summit, and I was glad he could complete it that way.
Cloudy weather came up and we left for a cappucchino.
73 Armin