Our first pass

The sprawling town of San Bernardino, boasting two hotels and two restaurants open until 11:00 pm



A castle to greet us on one of the hardest parts of the climb



The road to San Bernardino

June 24 Locarno-San Bernardino

We got a late start again today but for good reason. Since Mo and I both have poison ivy (remnants of doing RAAM and having to pee in the bushes) we have really been trying hard to wear each article of clothing only once. So, this morning we found some washers and dryers at the campground and stayed until 12:30 packing and doing laundry! It was well worth it because a nice German couple we had met caught us before we left, gave us some suggestions of where to go, and even gave us two maps! They said that it is important to act as ambassadors for their country to travelers-a good philosophy to live by. Once we hit the road we headed to the town of Bellinzona where we turned northeast to go over San Bernardino pass at 2065 meters (this is where San Bernardino water is bottled). This pass was really quite amazing for it 32km length but at times we faced 15% grades which made this pass a monster to do while being loaded down on our tandem. So finally at about 8:30pm we got to the small town of San Bernardino about an hour away from the top and tried to find a camping spot to no avail. So, we finally had to settle for a highly over priced room at a hotel. Tomorrow we should be headed over the rest of the pass and down the other side where we hope to cover a big distance in a short time.
~60k
Nate