🇮🇹 2023 Autumn Lake Como - Monte Crocione

As promised, our third day in Lake Como is our adventure day. My boyfriend Googled lots of options and without a second thought, I picked the "easiest trail". So we set foot on our adventure to Monte Crocione. (Link to trail details)

We arrived and parked our car in Tremezzo at around 10 am and it was very quiet during our hike. We were the only two people hiking. I get tired very easily, so I was ready to give up around two hours into our hike. I kept telling myself the view would be amazing to push myself forward. When my legs were trembling, my boyfriend fetched me two sticks to use as trekking poles. This supported me for another five minutes. When I was close to giving up, I saw a trip of goats. I tried to convince them to come with me so that I could have a support animal on the way. But none of them follows.

We stopped for a short lunch break after three hours of hike. Sitting among trees and looking down to see the view of Lake Como and the mountains, I felt the pain earlier was worth it. However, when my boyfriend announced that the lunch break was over, I was so reluctant to continue.

We walked through a path with piles of gravel on one side and a cliff on the other. It felt so dangerous that I walked the fastest I've ever been. I started to wonder is this really an easy hiking trail? Or is it easy for frequent hikers, but a Mount Everest for someone who feels tired after a five-minute walk? Anyway, I had to keep going!

After the gravel piles, we saw a tunnel that could be and most likely is haunted. I didn't want to walk through it because it looked exactly like the tunnel in Spirited Away. And I was worried that I would be in another world if I walked through the tunnel. The plate next to the tunnel explained that this was built to train the army back in World War II. Well... the explanation only made it scarier! I held my boyfriend's hand and sprinted through the tunnel. On the other side of the tunnel, I realised "shit, we need to go through it again on our way back."

Is it another world behind the tunnel? A beautiful forest welcomed us after we passed the tunnel. We saw three hikers on their way down. We realised it was a bit late already and we were far from finishing the hike. To be safe, we decided to start heading back soon to make sure we got back before sunset.

We also met a mountain biker on our way down. It was so cool to see him squeeze through the woods, but I was also worried that he might bump into a tree. Standing in front of the tunnel again, my boyfriend said that he wanted to shout into the tunnel. "Absolutely not!" I said, "Please don't disturb the spirits. And if you really want to, please wait till I pass." I then ran through the tunnel as fast as I could. My boyfriend shouted into the tunnel while I was still catching my breath. We took a detour to a wee hilltop to take some photos and pretend that we had got to the top of the mountain.

We planned on going to a restaurant this evening but ended up staying in because we were both too tired. Thank goodness we only had one day of adventure in the itinerary. Here's to going back to peaceful relaxation tomorrow!