Lizzy Hawker UTMR Training Camp July 9th - 12th
Day four - July 12th Stage 4: 28km Macugnaga to Saas-Fee
The final day did not go quite so well, all started well at Macugnaga. This traditional Walser village is the 2nd overnight stop of the 2015 zero edition race.
the stage initially follows the gondolas up the mountain -
...up to the Golden Madonna - 1300m ascent - 'guarding the Monte Moro Pass' which is finally approached by climbing up angled rock slabs equipped with chains then the descent to Mattmark Lake down grassy slopes and paths strewn with boulders, past the dam then another 11 km to Saas Fee along bolder strewn paths, a short section of tarmac road and then a valley route on the left of the river on a gravel road and up the hill to Sass Fee.
the climb was tough, especially towards the top
with soft snow
you can see the lake in the far distance
I was slower than most of the others and Lizzy kindly stayed with me
this section was hard
The cafe at Sass Fee for a coffee
Unfortunately I had fallen behind on tired legs and would not have reached Grachen by dark; opted to run down into the valley and return by bus and train so as not to delay the 5 other remaining runners still a total of 28k ..
Stalden Station
St Niklas
the high trail that I missed ..
back at the Hotel
discussing the camp at Dinner - rehydrating with a couple of beers ..
I was obviously disappointed not to have run all of the last section so on 13th July ran up to
the Grachen end of the trail from Sass Fee above Hannigalp
The final run up to Hannigalp
