Aug 9, Thr: Vereina Pass to Guarda

Today is the last major day of hiking over passes for me.

• Morning weather was pretty thick clouds, but initial forecast of decent weather until afternoon.
• We quickly ate breakfast, packed up and were on the trail by 8:30am
• No rain, big tail wind as we ascended from 1943m up the Susertal and over the Vereina Pass at 2585m.
  Wind chill was about freezing.


• Hole in clouds allowed view of Mt Plattenhorner (3220m), just over 10000 feet.
  
• Weather not such that one would want to stop for a break. Somewhat interesting finding the trail through the wide pass. The GPS was handy in several instances. Also a very detailed topog map confirmed our decisions.
  
  
• Descended to Lavin (1500m) through the Val Saglians valley and then tool some local trails to our destination of Guarda (1665m). Since Lisa was familiar with this valley she guided us on some unmarked wonderful upper trails that followed the hillsides above Lavin and we descended right into Guarda.
  





• Suggestion: look up Guarda, Switzerland in Google and read all about it. We stayed at Hotel PizBuin.
  

• HOT shower, great 4-course dinner and large breakfast. 100F but worth every penny. This was the last night of any major hiking so wanted to celebrate.
  
  
  
  
• This town is authentic. The artwork on the buildings was created by layering different layers of colored plaster, then scraping off layers to create magnificant designs. I believe this is called scraffito art.
• The windows are set about a foot back into the wall, and the edges of the wall are at about 60 degrees outward which lets in more light.




• Hiking with these 3 people was a wonderful experience and we had many conversations and became good friends.

12.5 miles, 6100 feet ascend/descend over 5 hours of hiking.