Lake walk

 24.01.2022

I was back around the Avigliana lakes this morning for a walk with my friend Pat. I really love this place! Except for a short tract on the actual tarmac road, the walk is very pleasant, on the lakeside and in the woods. Fascinating every time I do it. And I do it a few times a month.

The small lake was half covered with ice, which makes a fascinating sight.

With this cold and ice you also get some fancy patterns... this looks like a plastic sheet covering a fallen branch, but it's actually a thin layer of ice - quite amazing!

Another spot I particularly like is the rushes - this morning they made a nice reflection pattern...

So, another nice 8 km walk, that adds to my total - 146 km walked so far from Jan 1st! 😏

Jervis hut

 21.01.2022

Nice 12 km walk today in the Pellice Valley. A beautiful if cold day, with some ice patches along the road - no trouble going up to the hut, but we preferred to wear our crampons on the way down.

We had lunch at the hut, a delicious - if cholesterol-laden - polenta concia, washed down with a pint.

The hike took us a couple of hours both ways.

A nice and pleasant day out in the company of my brother and sister-in-law.

[more pictures: https://photos.app.goo.gl/jVvd5SfUybfq7BTg8 ]

Walk - 17.01.2022

The sky this morning was just so clear and clean I just HAD to take a picture!!!

Walk - 15.01.2022

A nice walk up mount Pietraborga, gave me some nice vievs 😌

the woods in winter have a magic aura... 

a 'lovely' SMOG-CAP can be seen above Turin...

here's the top of the hill - going further up the mountain there's a trail to top.

Walk - 14.01.2022

The walk this morning revealed some frosty patches here and there, and some beautiful frosty items...

A walk around the Avigliana lakes

 05.01.2022

This morning started in fog. I set out expecting a walk in the rain, but when I reached Avigliana the sun was out, nice and warm. So I left the brolly in the car and set off along the pedestrian/cycle lane along the East bank of the small lake. 

I then crossed over to reach the big lake and followed its banks clockwise as I prefer to get rid of the 'crappy' part of the walk first - the part along the main road, that is. There's no real footpath and you always risk to be run over if you're not careful...

That dealt with, I was finally out of the road and passing through the tiny village (just a bunch of houses) on the SE part of the big lake. Finally, the best part of the walk could start, after about a km along the walls of a large manor house on the right (between the lake and the path) and some fields and woods on the left, I reached the abandoned dynamite factory and was on the banks of the lake again. 

The walk from here takes you to a small beach at the northenmost point of the lake and the walk along the East banks. The path follows the lakeside and you pass three walkways that pass directly on water - a very nice, if wobbly, sensation. There I saw some waterfowl that abound in the lake: ducks, scoots, grebes, and a few gulls. On this lake you can swim, kayak and sail, there's a sailing school and some pedal boats for rent too.

Reaching the end of the big lake I crossed the road again to finish the counter-clockwise tour of the small lake. By the time I reached the actual water, the wind had picked up and a fog had come down, giving the landscape an eerie tint. The sound of the wind-swept rushes was really charming. I also took a video, but all I got as a sound was the distant noise of cars rolling along the road, farther afield. Still, I got some good pictures...

This walk, which I do quite often, is about 8 km in length and is always a pleasant going, no matter what the weather. So far so good, walkwise, as I already walked 52 km since January 1. I'm feeling quite pleased with myself! 😎

[more pictures HERE] 

Little Free Libraries

 04.01.2022

My walk today took me to the Bruino cycle lane - 14.5 km total - and there I discovered a Little Free Library...

Now I know where to take my free-roaming books 😄

#freebooks #littlefreelibrary #bookcrossing

New paths

02.01.2022

 Today I followed with Rosie a new path along a previously walked trail. This path was in fact a shortcut of the official trail along the Bruino-Piossasco cycle lane and it took us to an information board which explained some of the local canal system.

Here's a picture and I included a translation of the text in Italian.

WATER RESOURCES

Water is a fundamental primary resource for the survival of humans and natural ecosystems, and is an essential public good for economic and social progress. However, it is a limited resource and it is therefore essential to manage it responsibly and in an integrated manner, i.e. taking into account the different functions it performs.

THE PIOSSASCO MUNICIPAL CANAL

The Piossasco Municipal Canal is an artificial watercourse which originates from the intake on the Sangone stream, in the locality of Loja del Gallo, in the municipal territory of Trana. Just downstream of the intake, it splits into the Rio Sangonetto and the upper Bealera of Piossasco.

The system of artificial canals is of considerable historical interest: the first mention is included in a 1348 sentence which "recognised the custom" to the Lords of Piossasco of deriving from Trana one third of the water of the Sangone stream.

The hydraulic intake draws water from the Sangone throughout the year, with seasonal variations in flow rate from 250 to 520 litres per second, for irrigation purposes and to always guarantee a minimum flow rate to protect the aquatic ecosystem.

Thanks to funding from the "Corona Verde" project, it was possible to rebuild the crossbar and embankment, which were damaged by the heavy flooding in autumn 2011, and to build a ladder for fish, which is essential to allow fish, especially salmonids, to overcome the existing derivation structures (weirs, intake structures), which are real obstacles to their natural mobility, thus restoring river continuity.

In spite of its artificial origin, the Sangonetto stream today appears for the most part to be a natural watercourse: its banks are home to typical vegetation, with Alders and Ash trees predominating, as well as gobies and shrubs, typical species of lowland river stretches.

THE SANGONE TORRENT RIVER CONTRACT

The entire Sangone basin, including the territories in which its derivations flow, is involved in a River Contract process, a voluntary agreement signed in 2009 by all the municipalities involved.

The contract commits public institutions and private actors to work together to achieve a shared objective: the enhancement of the territory starting with the protection of its water bodies.

The process leading up to the signing of the contract is a long and complex one: the comparison between subjects with different interests (administrators, fishermen, tourists, quarrymen, farmers, industrialists, etc.) makes it possible to draw up a concerted action plan that guarantees shared responsibility.

For further information check:  Metropolitan City of Turin, Water Resources Service

[To help my translation I use www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)]

Fisrt walk of 2022!

01.01.2022

 A glorious day welcomed me, the wife and a couple of friends to our first walk of the year at Mont Cenis, France. 

A nice 9 km walk of easy incline dodging snow patches. The Mont Cenis lake looked really fine. We had a really nice day out!

[all pix here: https://photos.app.goo.gl/Y4oKxiUPXLXbBdja7]

I'm back!

 After a few years of internet silence, I decided to come back to the blog to share some of my walks and trips. 

These past few years I've been participating in the #walk1000miles challenge with good results. This year I decided to set a somewhat easier goal, by converting the #walk1000miles into a #walk1000km - easier to reach.