San Giorgio

The day after Bellinzone we conquered San Giorgio, a small mountain located directly in our backyard, literally.  The base of the mountain starts about 50 yards behind the villa we are living in.  When I say small I mean roughly 3,000 ft. The hike says it takes about 2 hr. and 30 min. and it wasn't easy.  There was a small group of guys who started off together and by the time we got to the top it faded to five of us.  The last 500 ft. was probably one of the toughest things I have ever done.  My legs were burning like never before.  When we got to the top though it was the most spectacular view.  We could see at least 10 other towns spread out over the valley and the huge lake seemed so tiny when we got up there.  You could actually see Italy from the top and it actually didn't seem that far away either.  We made it up in 1 hr. and 30 min. and had to wait another 2 hours once we were up there before the rest of the group made it up.  We went down the mountain on the the other side, which would have been a much easier hike up, and ended up in another town.  We had to follow this road which then lead straight into another difficult wooded trail and by the end we were on the initial path we started on.  The hike began at 10 A.M. and we made it back to the villa at 4 P.M.  It didn't help that it was 95 degrees that day either.  All of the sweat and fatigue was well worth the view, but I might think again before going up any time soon.