Having got to a mountain top two days ago, today we went for a ‘flat’ walk out to the mouth of the Adda river, which is the primary source for Lake Como. We walked most of the way along a dyke and it was clear that before the dykes were built the whole area was an alluvial flood plain, a vestige of the glacier age. Indeed, the hills on which now stand the ruins of Fuentes castle and the First World War fort of Montecchio are quite clearly moraines. It was beautiful weather again and all around us ranged the snow-covered alps, stark in their whiteness against the blue sky. At the mouth of the river we met a man training three setters. They ran back and forth and he directed them to search in particular directions, sending them dashing through reed beds and scrubland. He explained to us that he competes in what must be a sort of Alpine version of sheep dog trials. We also encountered three riders, galloping along the thin beach that limns the lake and the marshland. We could have been in the Middle Ages. The lake was mirror-smooth and once the dogs and the horses had gone we walked in close to absolute silence. It was an almost mystic moment.