Start: Egna Neumarkt
Finish: Cardano
Distance: 17
Total: 1084
Today was a productive, uneventful 17 mile walk through the countryside and around the city of Bolzano.
After a good night’s rest and an even better breakfast in the old city hall in Egna, I got on the road at 8:15 this morning. The humidity was really high and the sun was beating down. My route took me on some dirt trails getting out of town which lead me straight to the bike trail again. I walked on the trail for the first half of the day. Because I got ahead of my planned stopping locations a few days ago, I chose to stay ahead and walk past my original stop in Bolzano and continue on to the small town of Cardano. So the route on Google Maps had we bypass the main part of Bolzano altogether. I found this nice, quiet hotel here in Cardano that was about a half-mile off my route so I’ll be backtracking tomorrow morning for a few minutes.
As I was approaching my destination today I could see snow-capped mountains just up the road. Bolzano marks the beginning of the Dolomites section of the Alps. These mountains have more pronounced jagged peaks than what I’ve been walking through since I left Verona last Tuesday. I’ve got about 5000’ of climbing to do over the next four days. Thankfully I planned for these four days to be a little shorter in distance than the relatively flat terrain I’ve had through the Adige valley. Also, I’ve noticed in the last couple of days the vineyards have been replaced my orchards. The fruit growing on these trees is so small and immature I can’t tell what it is yet. Looks a little bet like a plum or peach, but the fruit is still small and green so I can’t tell. I guess I should just ask someone. But there are miles and miles of these orchards.
So tomorrow it’s on down the road 16 miles and further up in the mountains. I’m hoping for cooler temperatures but there’s also rain in the forecast for the next several days. Hope that doesn’t happen.
In closing , Happy Father’s Day to all the fathers out there. I talked to both of my daughters and they brightened up my day. Thanks everyone for reading.
