Mountains in the Mist

Mountains are so magical and mysterious. I want to start off this post with a quote by John Muir. Of course, led by curiosity, I googled this gentleman out and this is what I’ve found:

John Muir (1838 –1914) Scottish-born American naturalist, author, and early advocate of preservation of wilderness in the United States. His letters, essays, and books telling of his adventures in nature, especially in the Sierra Nevada mountains of California, have been read by millions.  – no doubts about that!

“The mountains are calling and I must go.” – John Muir.

As we all know everyone can “understand mountains” in his own way and climbing for all of us means something different.

Last weekend my friends and I went hiking to the mountains. We had planned it for a while, checking the weather forecast everyday just to make sure it was a beautiful day. Unfortunately it wasn’t. On Sunday, we decided to do it anyway; we changed our plans by going to one of the closest mountains in the Bergamo Alps.

We had planned it for a while, checking the weather forecast everyday just to make sure it was a beautiful day. Unfortunately it wasn’t. On Sunday, we decided to do it anyway; we changed our plans by going to one of the closest mountains in the Bergamo Alps.

While driving, we were really disappointed by the weather: it was raining and foggy, you could barely see anything along the road and one of my friends was dreaming out loud of having a nice hot chocolate in bed – that didn’t help at all.

We left our car at Carona, a little town in the Province of Bergamo, surrounded by mountains and a perfect spot to start hikes.

In Autumn, the green leaves of deciduous trees change color to many shades of russet, red, golden, yellow, purple, orange, pink and brown. It’s a time of outstanding beauty, when the natural world treats us to a last burst of color before the onset of winter. That’s my favorite thing about this Season: colors.

Our final destination was The Rifugio Fratelli Calvi, a mountain shelter at 2015 m.

Sometimes it was really hard to see, yet we kept going. There was a fascinating beauty behind this mist.

Waking, wet and cold and with no reprieve from the fog and wind in sight we dedided we should have stopped for a break soon. This route was rocky, moist and misty but passed by some lovely old tiny houses, complete with sheep and goats.

A short spell of visibility, we could hear birds chirping and nature around us.

We stopped at the lake for a break and looked at the view. Beautiful landscape filled with stillness. Our minds were quiet and refreshed.

It was as if all I could hear was the silence around me, my soul was in peace and the mountains in front of me were calling me.

We finally made it to the Rifugio Calvi. Formally known as Rifugio Fratelli Calvi in memory of four brothers died during the First World War. It’s a mountain shelter located in a key position because from there, you can go to higher mountains.

It has a restaurant that serves really good food at a reasonable price, rooms for sleeping during the night and the best thing, a fireplace!

Before we went back to the car, we warmed up near the fireplace, ate lunch and played cards. It took two hours and a half to arrive to the top but it was definitely worth it!

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