Day 28 – to Prato allo Stevio

Up at the Pass turned out to be one of the great places to stop over. There will have been no one else around for at least a 10 kilometre radius. The snow set in at about 5 pm the previous evening, and continued on and off all night. This morning there was about 10 centimetres, but it was wet, at about 0C, or just above. The Pass closed at just after 6 last night, until the plough came through and woke me up just after 7.30 this morning.

I had a very leisurely breakfast and read for a while, giving the temperature chance to rise, and was away just after 11. The forecast for today was snow stroke sleet pretty much all day. The steep nature of the Dolomites make hiking in these conditions without snowshoes or crampons very difficult.

With these things in mind, I drove for a couple of hours.

I needed some attention to the van wipers, which are new, but had a mechanical problem no doubt caused by the snow. I pulled over in one of the many tourist ski towns and a helpful mechanic did the job in 5 minutes, for the cash price of a couple of beers.

Once descended into the Bolzano valley, the driving became very different. This now is a busy road for trucks and all sorts headed over of from the Brenner Pass. It was as busy headed out to Merano. The weather was much warmer, as much as 14C, but the rain now heavy and incessant.

I was headed for the Stelvio National Park, and found a quiet place at the sports centre at Prato as the rain passed and the sun came out in the early evening. A decent place to stop, but far from the same bracket as last night.