Day 24 - Stelvio, Umbrail and repeat

Tuesday 2nd August 2016

In the morning I chat to a neighbour and make him a coffee. He is an English guy called Nathan, and is a freelance journo on an assignment to test a new budget touring bike from Yamaha for a UK biking magazine. It is a Fazer-style, 700cc I think he said.

Oddly that's the second bike-testing journo I have met on my travels. Last year I met a guy who was testing a new automatic-geared machine from Honda. That was at Les Ballastierres in northern France.

Fran and her baby GS

Fran shows up for a coffee and we decide to head into Bormio and find breakfast. Nathan is all fired up about my tales of the passes around Ulrichen. He has had the Furkapass recommended by a pal and when I rave on about the neighbouring Grimsel and Nufenen passes he decides to head that way.

So he gets on his way. It's a bit late by the time Fran and I get to Bormio and as Italians don't seem much into breakfast as a concept, we end up with coffee and donuts and the ubiquitous tosti.

Breakfast in Bormio

After setting of the world to rights for a while we set off on our separate ways once more. Fran is heading over the Passo Di Gavio, my route yesterday, and I am Stelvio bound.

We swap email addresses but I guess I didn't save Fran's properly because it ain't there now. So if perchance you are reading this Fran, get in touch!

The ride up from Bormio is fun but as usual there is a lot of traffic on Stelvio. I continue to the summit and park up for a while to look at all the bikes tracking through in both directions. It is all a bit too commercial for my taste.

The shopping mall at the Stelvio summit

So I back track down to the turn for the Umbrail Trail. This is one of my favourite roads in the Alps. When I first tried it years ago it had a gravel section but now it is completely tarmac. Though it's not long it is fantastic. Lots of perfect hairpins and great views.
The road drops down below the treeline before trickling into the village of Santa Maria Val Mustair.

Looking down the Umbrail Trail

One of my favourite roads in the Alps

Just after the last hairpin before the village there is a sign for Camping Pe da Munt. It turns out to be the perfect camp site. Lush grassy pitches surrounded by pine trees, many with solid  wooden benches and fire pits. There's a small shop selling the essentials (not open) and a "Camp now and come and tell us about yourselves later" notice. Shop and reception are open 9-11am and 5-7pm. It costs 19 francs a night.

I befriend a small kid called Dennis and he shows me a good pitch (next door to where he and his parents are camping) and explains the layout with especial emphasis on the hamburgers served in the small cafe. I soon have my camp set up. It is mid afternoon so most folk are out and about but already I like the feel of this place.

At Camping Pe da Munt

At 6pm I have the panniers and top box off the bike, the suspension is adjusted and I take a ride up the Umbrail Trail to the Stelvio summit for an espresso. Just because I can, he-he.
When I get back down an hour later I continue down to the village of Santa Maria where there is a small supermarket. I stock up on German sausage, local cheese, eggs and Pilsner style beer (sadly they don't stock Weißbier).

Best road in the Alps?

Back at Camping Pe da Munt it's like the bonfire field at The Farmyard Party except it's much better organised. Wood is sold by the bundle at the camp shop or you can forage for your own in the surrounding forests.

Maybe my neighbours chase down and kill wild boar in the forest to roast on spits over their fires. They have the look of survivalist-types. The rubbish bins have locking mechanisms and a warning on the side about bears. It all has an Oregon or Montana feel about it.

It seems appropriate that I am using my Swiss Army knife to knock the top off my beer bottles and slice up my Swiss sausage for supper. Jeez the Swiss make great sausage.

My nearest neighbour has a good fire going. I wander over and introduce myself with a bottle of beer as a peace offering. I am immediately invited to sit by the fire with Phillip and his two sons.
They live in Bern and Phillip is a tunnelling engineer. We talk about Brexit. As a Swiss observer he is very interested in what is happening in Britain and he is very well informed. He is surprisingly sympathetic with Brexit aims and policies such as they are.

The cooking fires get going in the evening

It's a lovely evening as the fires of hell roar and spit, filling the air with woodsmoke and the soft murmur of conversation all around. A rushing stream provides a constant background accompaniment.

I turn in around 11 and have the best night's sleep since I began this tour. 

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