Friday Photo and a Winner

This photo, taken this in some small town outside of Milan, exemplifies the feel of Nightshade City for me. I read Nightshade City while I was in Italy and since Hilary’s writing has an old-world style  to it, reading it amongst buildings several hundred years old really added to the immediacy of the story. I’m pretty sure I saw Billycan’s shadow darken the window above.

And the winner of both Nightshade City and The White Assassin–I used a random number generator to choose–is Natalie Bahm.

Oh, Natalie. Where art thou? Come hither and collect your prize!!

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The View from Chiapous: Backpacking in the Italian Alps

Looking back from where we came.

See the red roof of Rifugio Morelli Buzzi just left of center. That's where we're headed.

We had rain, wind, fog, and sun on our backpacking trip in the Italian Alps. And that sunshine seemed much more meaningful after hiking through a 9,000 foot pass in the wind, fog, and rain. At times, visibility was less than twenty feet.

The day we hiked in to the Rifugio you couldn't see it until you were less than 100 feet from it because of the fog.

One of several Ibex we saw on our four day hike.

I didn’t set out on the backpacking trip hoping for inclement weather but I’m glad I experienced some. Having the contrast just enriched the experience and reminded me that when you’re on foot in the mountains, whether you are in Alaska or Italy, trouble is only one cloud-bank away if you’re not prepared.

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Backcountry Notes

I’ll be in and out of contact with the world for the next couple of weeks while digging into the culture and beauty of the Italian Alps. Since I don’t know exactly when I’ll be in and out of the backcountry, I’ll pop into the cyber-world when I can, hopefully with some photos.

Thanks for stopping by.

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