The Imposter of Red 5

How many Morris Minors do you see on the roads of Britain ? They aren't that common. So, what are the chances of finding two heading up towards the summit of the Stelvio Pass within 30 minutes ?

We had reached the top a few hours before. What an amazing bit of road.

38 hairpins to the top, steep drops, amazing views and hard, rugged mountains in all directions. Plenty of snow too, despite the time of year. The top of the pass is 2760 metres, so we guessed it was going to be a bit challenging. It certainly was. The road we took to get to the bottom of the pass was also amazing. From Monno, (we had intended to approach the Stelvio from the north, but failed), the road wound up through tight little hair pins through the trees. Jezebel's turning circle isn't too bad. Better than Olly the limousine or Amba the ambulance for a start. How they would cope with these turns was a minor concern. At the top of the pass, we let Jezebel have a break. As soon as I opened the door I could hear bells. Cow bells ! Lots of them. Such an iconic sound of the Alps. Couldn't see them but we could certainly hear them. 

The road plunged down the side of the mountain until it hit the road to Bormio. Now, I thought Bormio was a skiing resort, but it is only at 1200 metres. A little worrying that the top of the Stelvio is 2760 metres. That's a lot of climbing. 

As we started to ascend, the sat nav looked like someone had scribbled over it. The first hairpin on the road SS38 is numbered 38. The number comes down with each hairpin. After 10 and a few narrow tunnels, Jezebel was getting a little warm so we pulled over. Above us was a series of hairpins as far as you could see. Marc took over the driving. Jezebel wasn't too happy but was making steady progress. We even overtook some cyclists. Finally, after a few stops for cooling and photographs we emerged at the summit. There was deep snow, drifts of several feet in places. Parking is difficult, mainly due to bikes (many of them British.) 

Team Chameleon, Richard and Mark, pulled up. I think they had been cruising up and down solidly since yesterday evening. 

Soon we were joined by Don and John of Team 31. Soon after Richard and Peter of Team 41. The Newlyweds texted to say they were having cooling issues as their fan had come loose.

Nightmare and Trauma had found the correct route around to the North and were making slow progress up the mountain as Amba was overheating regularly.

2 hours we waited with nothing but a massively overpriced Bratwurst for sustenance. Well ok, we could have had as many overpriced bratwursts as we liked but we were there a fair while. I risked frost bite by getting snow in my sandals. Now, that's a rarity. Trauma and Nightmare finally arrived. 

Milly reported being close so we drove back down the south side to watch them coming up. Doris appeared, travelling at some speed. Martin and Harvey reported their second Windy overtake previously, a very unwell Olly. 

The Lotus was whipping up the gradient. Strangely it was Vicky at the wheel. John had kindly let her have a quick spin. She had the same silly grin on her face that they had had. 5 minutes later Milly appeared over the horizon. A few overheating issues had slowed them down and the sheer drops with no barriers had caused Lucy a few concerns but they had made it. There is a route from near the top of the Stelvio that takes you in to Switzerland and towards Zernez, our next destination. The road on my iPhone looked a bit wavy. Alas this doesn't tell  you if it is going up or down. Trauma, being concerned about how Amba would cope with more up hills, decided on a longer route....via the ski resort of Livigno. A strange choice. 

As we descended on our chosen route, we saw a Morris Minor approaching us. A second Morris Minor in 30 minutes. This one was apparently driven by two 19 year old students heading to Istanbul. These Morris drivers are insane. 

And so we arrived at Campingplatz Chapella. A quiet, rustic little site.

It seems there are a number of permanent residents here and a good number of regular visitors, including a couple from Poole, barely 25 miles from home. Helpful chap too, he's fixed our fuse so we have a full set of working lights. Bargain !The little bro arrived and has been taken back under the wing of his mother. He's having chocolate fondue and beer. Temperature is dropping. Glad I'm in a van tonight.