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We
arrive at Milano Malpensa at noon, and a little more than one hour
later we
have reached the Alps at Lago Maggiore. Beatiful views on the
road towards the town Stresa.
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There
is a small road from Verbania up to Piancavallo on 1250m
altitude.
Here is a large parking place, and it's free of charge! |
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A
small road, built during world war one, first leads us some 500m
through a
forest. |
After
that it opens up. Here's a view down towards Lago Maggiore
more that 1000 altitude meters below. |
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The
road continues towards Monte Morissolo, a little to the right in the
picture. |
The
route is horizontal and easy to walk, but quite spectacular. |
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It
takes a little more than 30 minutes to reach Monte Morissolo.
Instead of going directly for the peak you can use the road to the
right, leading to the military tunnels. |
The
tunnels were built during world war one, and lead into a system where
you must find a stone stairway, leading up the mountain. |
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Insead
of using the stairway, leading to a military observing point, climb to
the
right of it up to the three crosses. One of the crosses seem to have
fallen during
the winter. The climb is a little exposed and demands some care. Martin
recuperates after the climb. |
The
town Cānnero Riviera seen from the view point. |
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From
the three crosses there is just a few meters to the high point
on
Monte Morissolo, 1311m. Here's a view to the south and the Po valley. |
To
the north are some higher mountains. The snow and the excellent
visibilty makes it astonishing. In fact, we can see all the way to the
Appeninian mountains today. |
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Going
back, we take the time to climb Monte Morissolino as well. We
didn't plan
to get tired of the additional 150 altitude meters, but in the deep
snow it's difficult
to walk. Snowshoes would have been perfect here. |
But
there is a great reward in reaching the summit. Here's Dante
looking to the east. |
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.Looking
to the west, we see Monterosa rising far beond 4000m. We will get
closer acquainted to these mountains during the coming days. |
Another
picture to the east.
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