So that I’m not guilty of burying the lead, let me say:

I made it!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I still have almost 1,000 kilometers left to walk, but the Great St. Bernard Pass has loomed large in my imagination since I started planning the trip. It’s often not open to cars or pedestrians until the middle of June, and even if it is, the conditions can be wildly variable. Fortunately, I didn’t set any speed records getting to the pass, so the Via Francigena was open as was the scenic mountain highway. The highway, though, had been closed until less than a week ago due to a landslide on the Italian side.

Leaving Bourg-Saint-Pierre

The morning air was finally cool when I left Bourg-Saint-Pierre, which gave the day an extra dose of excitement. Also, the day’s climb was over 4,000 feet of elevation gain, so any temperature advantage was welcomed.

About 4 kilometers from Bourg-Saint-Pierre, the trail takes you to the top of the dam for the Lac de Toules reservoir, where an enterprising couple has set up a temporary café to serve pilgrims, cyclists, and day-hikers who make their way to the dam. I was enjoying a welcome mid-morning rest and a coffee after the first hard climb of the day when Ed, the young British man, arrived and joined me for a coffee. We then walked together to the pass.

Within a half-kilometer of the pass, we finally encountered our first snow field we had to cross. I estimate that it was 150 yards wide and over twice that length.

There was a second, smaller snow field to cross just before the final steep climb to pavement and restaurants and buses and people in flip-flops. Despite that cacophony of sights and sounds, we had made it to the Great Saint Bernard Pass.

After dropping our bags in the Great St. Bernard Hospice, which has been staffed by monks and serving pilgrims and travelers since 1050, Ed suggested a beer on the Italian side of the border.

The café we chose sits on the other side of both the Swiss/Italian border and a small reservoir.

I don’t seem to have taken any photos of the café, but we sat outside at a picnic table in the sun and enjoyed a cold, delicious beer that I think our bodies metabolized almost instantaneously. We then went inside for lunch where we had pasta, polenta, bread, wine, dessert, and coffee for 32 Euros, one-half or less the price it would have been in Switzerland. The meal gave me hope that Becca wouldn’t have to mortgage the house to finance the balance of my walk.

Dinner was a communal one of soup, a meat vegetable dish (that was delicious), and a chocolate dessert. The prior of the community, Simon Roduit, welcomed us to the Hospice and said a prayer before we ate. He is a relatively young man, but he has served in the Swiss Guard in Rome and as a parish priest in Martigny before receiving the call to serve at the Great St. Bernard Pass.

I didn’t get any photos of Father Roduit or the dinner, but this photo from breakfast captures the spirit of the dinner. Two long tables were filled with young mountain climbers, pilgrims, motorcyclists, cyclists, and older tourists. Various languages were spoken around the table, but English is usually the default common language.

After dinner, I attended the evening prayer service in a beautiful chapel called the Crypt. It was the perfect ending to a wonderful day.

Yes, they did use St. Bernards to rescue travelers.

Next up: The getting down can be harder than the getting up.