Monday, June 23, 2014

Monthey to Martigny-Croix June 22

                                                                                Current Day.                           Trip to Date

Distance walked-   Miles.                                            14.7.                                       538.9                                 

Gross climb- feet.                                                       1087.                                     38,397

Tunnel of love by Bruce Springsteen
Fat man sitting on a little stool
Takes the money from my hand while his eyes take a walk all over you
Hands me the ticket smiles and whispers good luck
Cuddle up angel cuddle up my little dove
We'll ride down baby into this tunnel of love

Last night was a difficult sleeping night.  It was very warm here, and the room had no air conditioning.  That would not be a problem per se, but our hotel was located righ next to the train station, and several times each hour, there was a combination of alarms, engine noise, etc for 10 minutes each time.  So, you have the old trade off dilemma, noise vs temperature.  We ended up closing the windows because the noise was so bad.  Here is a photo of our hotel:


We had a very pleasant walk today, about 14 miles up through a rather narrow valley with step mountains on both sides.  Much of the walk was along a wooded trail:



We also passed through several small villages. In this one, church had just let out and the parishioners were enjoying some time together:


And passed some nice waterfalls:


Finally, we arrived at our destination, Martigny.  Early this morning, the big bike race the tour de Switzerland passed through Martigny.  Martigny is known for many things, including its adult education.  For example, we passed a store advertising English education:


And a car advertising dancing lessons:


Martigny is also the entry point to the great St Bernard tunnel, which goes from Martigny to the northern border of Italy.  When the tunnel was completed in 1964, it was the longest tunnel in the world at approximately 4 miles.  Interesting to think that you could take about a 10-15 minute tunnel ride and be in Italy.  Over the next four days, we will hike 43 miles and climb over 12,000 feet while emerging at approximately the same place!  

The forecast for tomorrow is rain.  This is a bit worrisome, as portions of the trail are very narrow and can be very challenging and slippery when wet.  





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