Day 8: Rifugio Malivern and New Friends

 Rifugio Malivern, seen above, is in the upper reaches of the Valle Stura.
Barbara, below, a German had been hiking for a month and had lots of helpful suggestions.

 The young Italian student below was working at the hut for the summer.

 Barbara and Ingrid prepare to take off the next morning.  They were smart to walk to a busstop because of a bad weather forecast.  They were hiking, like most Germans, from north to south on the GTA.  We were hiking from south to north.