Monte Misma

Peak: Monte Misma (1161m)
Area: Bergamasque Prealps, Italy
After a disastrous Saturday night, there wasn't much I could do to salvage the situation today, with it being a Sunday. I should have been home reminiscing about a successful Alpine trip, but I was stuck in a Bergamo B&B waiting for an emergency passport. So I made the best of a bad situation, taking the tram from Bergamo station out to the end of the line at Albino, on the very edge of the northern suburbs. Bergamo has such a mountainous situation, so close to lovely peaks, that you can get to trailheads for a couple of euros. In Albino, I had an espresso in a characterful bar, then crossed the river to gain one of the marked paths up a narrow road to the woods of Monte Misma. Route finding was not always obvious, but I kept a vigorous semi-jogging pace up, and found it very therapeutic (albeit hot) after all the stress (which I knew would get worse again tomorrow as I tried to get the documents and book a flight). The multitude of paths made navigation tricky, as did the thickly wooded terrain, but I weaved up the front of the mountain - the NW ridge above Croce San Antonio eventually became better defined as the treeline was breached. Above, a breezy broad summit complete with numerous sunbathing day-trippers. Excellent views across the urban sprawl of Bergamo in one direction, and the rural valleys and high Orobie Alps in the other. I then completed a satisfying loop of the mountain, traversing south-east to the wooded col below Costa Misma, then an excellent contouring path, cool in the woods, down to Fonteno - a path junction and farmhouse. I then joined the outward path, nice views down to the Valle di Luio, all the way back to Albino.