Mairengo Is Full Of Good
Bits, And Nestles Among Magnificent Chestnut-Trees.
From hence I
went to Osco, about 3800 feet above the sea, and 1430 above Faido.
It was here
I first came to understand the purpose of certain high
poles with cross bars to them which I had already seen elsewhere.
They are for drying the barley on; as soon as it is cut it is hung
up on the cross bars and secured in this way from the rain, but it
is obvious this can only be done when cultivation is on a small
scale. These rascane, as they are called, are a feature of the Val
Leventina, and look very well when they are full of barley.
From Osco I tried to coast along to Calpiognia, but was warned that
the path was dangerous, and found it to be so. I therefore again
descended to Mairengo, and re-ascended by a path which went
straight up behind the village. After a time I got up to the level
of Calpiognia, or nearly so, and found a path through pine woods
which led me across a torrent in a ravine to Calpiognia itself.
This path is very beautiful. While on it I caught sight of a
lovely village nestling on a plateau that now showed itself high up
on the other side the valley of the Ticino, perhaps a couple of
miles off as the crow flies. This I found upon inquiry to be
Dalpe; above Dalpe rose pine woods and pastures; then the loftier
alpi, then rugged precipices, and above all the Dalpe glacier
roseate with sunset.
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