Ciaspolata sotto la luna piena - 5 marzo, 2015

Snowshoe hike under a full moon.

I had a dream last night that I was walking in the snow in the darkness through a beautiful forest ..... and then I realized I wasn't sleeping.  I was with six of my friends and a guide hiking above Alpe di Blessagno with the promise of a full moon and a late evening meal in a mountain agriturisimo. The experience started out a little shaky, I couldn't see anything, the trail was uneven and my one snowshoe kept coming unfastened. (Note to self: next time - practice putting a snowshoe back on when you can still see what you're doing and pack a headlamp.) But after about a half hour of hiking through some areas without snow cover and picking up leaves, sticks and other forest debris with my clown-size feet, we came up over a snowy hill just as the full moon was rising over the mountains. The combination of the reflective snow and the moonlight was magical as we could see for miles. 

Ciaspole - Italian word for snowshoes

Starting our hike at twilight

We hiked up a steep hill, then down a saddle area and up again to a promontory overlooking Lake Como. The wind was intense but we had a stunningly clear 360 degree panoramic view way past Bellagio to the north, over Lugano to the west and even to the glow of Milano to our south. The lake below us looked frozen in the reflection of the moonlight. In the chaos of trying to hold on to our belongings and not slide over the hill, I had my camera on the wrong settings so alas, I returned home with a bunch of out of focus photos. The clear picture will remain only in my memory.

This outing was Sigrun's idea.

Bettina, Sigrun, Christine, Karen and Jeanne  (photo by Tim Ogle)

Looking down on Lake Como

Heading down

Fixing snowshoes on the side of a mountain.

The hike down was steep but the snowshoes did their job and kept us on the surface of the snow crust. The moon was higher in the sky which made the return trip back easier and less spooky. Our guide was patient and my companions supportive so my three hour adventure had a happy ending.  And even though it was about 9:30 when we returned to Le Radici (the agriturisimo), we sat and enjoyed a leisurely dinner of their local products, including a big bowl of pizzocheri.  At midnight, all seven of us packed into the owner's little truck for a ride back down to the village. Goodnight moon!

Ahhh, we made it.