Kay and I had been planning a couples hike for 3 months with some friends, but each time we planned something in June and August, the weather was so awful on the weekend of the hike that we canceled the hike or the whole get together. Finally in September, we decided to just do it, even if the weather forecast was looking pretty negative.

With myself having just been in the US the weekend before and Kay having spent the last three weeks in the army, we were both pretty tired and not necessarily excited about the prospect of spending the weekend exercising outdoors in inclement weather. Still, as always, I’m glad we went and tried.We ended up hiking in the Monte Tamaro region of Tessin, where we visited the St. Maria degli Angeli Church designed by Mario Botta at Alpe Foppa during our little bit of sunshine on Saturday afternoon.Overall, the weather was a little chilly and pretty foggy. The hike was misty and soggy all day, but made for cool walking, which is not the worst compared to a scorching mountain side.The hike was not too strenuous, but I could still feel my legs struggling after a new training routine at my gym the previous Thursday. The weather was also getting more and more misty and wet the later in the evening it got.When we finally arrived to the “hut” that our friends had booked, which was more of a chalet I believe, we ran into these friendly, fuzzy cows. How cute!I loved their furry faces.Kay tried to pet them, but we didn’t have any food, so they were not that interested actually.

In the lodge, we all took showers. Wow. This is glamping to me. I didn’t even bring any soap or change of clothes with me, so I used the hand soap and put my sweaty clothes back on. No one noticed, I swear.

At dinner I enjoyed a minestrone soup and some polenta and cheese for dinner, because apparently the meat only came floured and I could not convince them to prepare the meat another way. Also, the wine came in funny small 1dl cups.The next morning we woke up to the scene below. We’d already decided to get up early because the next bus home after the 7:45 one was at 12:45, and we didn’t want to hang around or hike through the rain, especially because my friend’s husband had rolled his ankle and it was hurting him pretty badly.Not lying when I say I was also looking forward to go home and relax after traveling the previous weekend. I was sooo tired.We didn’t actually make it to the top of the hike, ironically. We were saving it for the second day, but we all still enjoyed the hike we did, especially because we chose a more back country path that was more rugged and interesting.

It’s pretty clear that autumn is moving in quickly and I don’t feel ready yet. Are you ready for colder temperatures?