Today was a tough one! We had about 750m climbing to Airolo, then 1000m climbing up Gotthard Pass, then coasting downhill for 60km to Lucern’s lake.
We struggled up the climb to Airolo. I figured it’s because we only had muesli for breakfast, while we’ve been having many breakfasts and snacks each day from the bakeries in France and Italy.
We arrived at Airolo around 11:30, exhausted, and had a big lunch. I bought a pack of 20 cookies, so every 100m of ascent up the pass, we’d each have a cookie. Slowly but surely we made it up the path, nearly all cobblestone for 1000m! It was very uncomfortable. We climbed into the clouds, where it drizzled and we lost all visibility.
Arriving at the pass, we had a quick celebratory snack and then began the long and fast decent. Luckily it was smoothly paved, so we could descend quickly.
Now we’re exhausted and going to sleep in Sisikon – a small lakeside village. It seems affluent and there’s very little space as it’s constrained by cliffs on the lake-edge, so we’ve decided to try sleeping without the tent. That way we can’t get told off for “camping”. We’ll see!
Well done. ❤️