VIa.1    Section Porto Cerezio - Punta di Mezzo   32 km

The day before Heather and I had left in the morning by train from Hamburg. It was a long day crossing most of Germany from north to south to Basel. Here we got another train taking us through Switzerland to Lugano. There we had to transfer to a commuter train and than a local bus. By the time we had arrived at Porto Cerezio it had become dark. Upon checking in at our hotel we went to the only open restaurant for dinner. We didn't stay up too long as today would be a long hiking day.

Early in the morning while it was still rather cool outside and having had our breakfast at the hotel we started off. First thing was going to the lake front and looking across to Switzerland. A couple of years ago I had been standing at the other shore. There is supposed to be a ferry across the lake. I couldn't find anyinformation about it. Having taken the obligaory start picture we began with my next section of E1. The trail immediatel started climbing taking us high above the lake. It soon became warm and sunny. The climb before lunch took us about 800m up and than most of it down again to the community of Ganna. Several stretches followed old round cobble stone roads. It required careful treading. Being old the road was mostly in disrepair which did not make it easier to walk. In Ganna we stopped for lunch at a local bar. In Italy a bar generally has nothing to do with alcohol but is more like a coffee shop with some pub food.

On and up we went to Brinzio. From here the second real climb took us up to Monte Tre Croci at 1.111m. From here we had some nice views. At Punto panoramico attrezzato Sud we ran into a temporary fence. The trail was closed for logging. There was a map with some rerouting. However it was not suitable for us as it would leave a gap in the middle of the blocked part with no way of getting across. We asked some locals what to do. The reply was that we could walk along the trail and should not worry about the signs. So we continued the trail which followed a forest road passing several forest machines and some logging sides along the slopes. Finally we had enough for today and found a good site for cowboy camping. This was a strenuous first day for us and I was quite happy when I could lay down for the night.

View from Porto Cerezio to Morcote (Switzerland)

Old cobble stone trail out of Porto Cerezio

View of snow topped Alps

Ascending rocky trail with plenty of leafs

Trail passes through town of Brinzio

View from trail of Sacro Monte di Varese