WET DAY IN THE MOUNTAINS
PONTEBERNADO –> STREPEIS
VIA ALPINA DAY 68 – FRIDAY 28 AUGUST 2026
DISTANCE HIKED: 15.70 km
ELEVATION GAIN: 410 m
TOTAL DISTANCE HIKED: 1,751.23 km
TOTAL ELEVATION GAIN: 91, 278m
We are feeling very lucky to have found the Posto Tapa GTA mountain lodge last night. The thunderstorm produced rain pretty much all night, and I lay awake trying to work out our options for keeping moving forward. Going up into the mountains was pointless and probably dangerous, so we decided to continue south but stay in the valley.
I mapped out a route that would keep us off the main road through the valley, passing by a bakery in Pietraporzio before rejoining the VA trail in Strepeis. The route would also take us through a village or two, giving us the option of bailing out if the cold and rain became too much.
It was hard to walk out of a warm, dry lodge into the cold and rain. The first section was only 2 km along the ‘Frachos’ trail between the two towns, and fortunately it wasn’t overly cold. That made us feel a little more confident about our decision to continue.
The bakery was great. They made us a breakfast panini, plus two more to take with us, along with a pain au chocolat and coffee.
We were pretty happy with our route choices. Just as we were finishing breakfast, two hikers came into the bakery. It was so nice to see other hikers who weren’t put off by the wet weather.
As we chatted, we realised they were the two Australians we had heard about. Mike and Kristy, the Canadian-Aussies, had mentioned them. They are also from Adelaide and will be finishing around the same time as us. It was lovely to share our experiences and have a laugh together on such a gloomy day. They had mapped out a different route though, so we may not see them again.
We parted ways and followed the muddy, fast-flowing river downstream. We passed through the very active village of Sambuco, where it was nice to see locals heading to church for some kind of celebration. By then the rain had abated, and Hammer bravely took off his wet-weather gear.
About 5 km further along the river, we turned west and headed uphill towards Strepeis. It was a 4 km road walk, but fortunately the road wasn’t too busy, because we had several small tunnels to walk through before arriving in the village.
We were so happy to get a room at Hotel Corborant, which includes dinner and breakfast. A warm bath, followed by a freshly made coffee for me and a Coke for Hammer, felt pretty close to perfect. The weather outside continued to be gloomy with frequent downpours.
We were very happy with our choices today. What had started as a miserable day had turned out to be not so bad after all.
