The Lake Is About A Mile, Or A Mile And A Half, Long, And Half A
Mile Broad.
It is 6000 feet above the sea, very deep at the lower
end, and does not freeze where the stream issues from it, so that
the magnificent trout in the, lake can get air and live through the
winter.
In many other lakes, as for example the Lago di Tremorgio,
they cannot do this, and hence perish, though the lakes have been
repeatedly stocked. The trout in the Lago Ritom are said to be the
finest in the world, and certainly I know none so fine myself.
They grow to be as large as moderate-sized salmon, and have a deep
red flesh, very firm and full of flavour. I had two cutlets off
one for breakfast and should have said they were salmon unless I
had known otherwise. In winter, when the lake is frozen over, the
people bring their hay from the farther Lake of Cadagno in sledges
across the Lake Ritom. Here, again, winter must be worth seeing,
but on a rough snowy day Piora must be an awful place. There are a
few stunted pines near the hotel, but the hillsides are for the
most part bare and green. Piora in fact is a fine breezy open
upland valley of singular beauty, and with a sweet atmosphere of
cow about it; it is rich in rhododendrons, and all manner of Alpine
flowers, just a trifle bleak, but as bracing as the Engadine
itself.
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