A three hour tour...

First off, Happy Memorial Day!  The roadsides around Italy are peppered with poppies and help serve as a reminder that so many have given their time, their commitment, and their lives so that we can live in a free Nation.  I am forever grateful.  

On Saturday, we traveled about an hour and a half north west of Vicenza to a city called Riva del Garda.  The town boasts its accessibility to adventure type sports like mountain biking, windsurfing, and rock climbing.  The weather was nothing short of perfect on Sunday morning so we planned to go on a nice 4 hour hike through some surrounding mountains.  

When we had been walking for about an hour and realized we were still quite a ways from the trail head, we decided we might need to alter our expectations for the hike.  I would like to point out how John Ralph was good at improvising with his wardrobe throughout the duration of the hike.  

After about two hours, we had walked through several olive groves, some grape vine fields, and several uphill stretches through the forests.  

This sign basically told us we were nowhere near being done.  In hindsight, I should have interpreted it to say "Find the nearest bicycle and you'll be in a lot less pain tomorrow".  

Just when I would feel like my little legs could climb no more (we had been climbing for a few hours at this point), we would come across some peaceful meadow and it would remind me that I was walking through some of the most beautiful land in all of the world.  So I would suck it up and keep on trekking.  

Just on a side note, yes we are three days away from June and yes, that is fresh snow on those mountains.  Saturday night it rained a little and we woke up to some freshly dusted mountain tops.  

Around 11:30, we finally made it to a stopping point.  Refugio San Pietro was at the top of one of the mountains, and also served as our lunch spot.  

After a half liter of wine, we decided we should probably eat some food.  With only 20 euro, we were able to fill up on wine and one plate of goulash.  While the wine lasted a good hour, the goulash lasted about three minutes.  

After lunch and with a fresh pair of socks on, we started our climb again.  At this point, we were about 5 hours into our "4 hour hike" and still going up.  

Not sure why this guy was such a grumbly guss, but we went into his forrest anyway.  

These were some old trees, and although they were not that big, this forrest had a similar feel to the Redwood Forrest in California.  It also had a similar feel to the Twilight movies.  Just for the record, we didn't see any werewolves or vampires.  

Phew...finally no more climbing up.  But, we still had to make it all the way back down there.  

At one point during our descent, the trail turned into a creek.  This was at one of the safer parts of the "creek", and the picture doesn't really do it justice.  Thank goodness for waterproof shoes. 

A few twisted ankles and some swollen knees later, we finally made it off the trails and back into a little town around 3:30...still an hour away from our hotel.  I swear, if the scenery hadn't been so pretty, we would have called a cab.  I joked that it was similar to Gilligan's Island.  We set off on a "three hour tour" and look what happens...

Although our legs may be telling us otherwise, the hike was a great way to spend our morning and afternoon.  It got us away from all the distractions of home and we got to walk through some beautiful areas.  I just think next time we'll invest in a detailed map so we know exactly what we're getting ourselves into.