We got up at dawn this morning and walked and scrambled up to the summit of Monte Bregagno (2,107 metres). This was an altogether stiffer proposition than last Monday’s Monte Berlinghera. There is no reliable map, there are plenty of well-used goat-trails, and there are no signs to indicate the correct path. Indeed, sometimes there is no path and the walker has to aim roughly up the mountain’s scrubby and screedy flanks. The summit remained obstinately stuck in cloud but we enjoyed some stupendous views on the way up. We also saw two big wild boar within spitting distance and, for some added spice, watched a noisy rockfall not far from us. We were constantly and agiley accompanied by half-wild goats but saw not another living soul from beginning to end of our six hour adventure. A lot of the paths in this region are prehistoric and when the cloud closes in and deadens the clatter of boots on rocks there is a palpable sense of something ancient about such places.