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Published: June 30th 2009
Day six - May 30, Saturday; Norcia, Hotel Grotta Azzurra
Today's hike features magnificent vistas over the wild Piano Grande, a vast plain ringed in by mountains. Here the colorful display of wildflowers is magnificent, especially during the spring and summer. You finish in the remote village of Castelluccio, which sits upon a hill in the midst of this stark beauty, from whence you are transferred back to Norica. (15 km).
The next morning we awoke to a some very cool, damp air but the good news was that there weren't many clouds and it appeared we'd have plenty of sunshine, at least to begin our day. We went downstairs for breakfast. I discovered that there were two buffets set up, one in a room off of the main room. I compared the food between the two and decided to fill my plate in the smaller room off of the main as that one included assorted croissants, rolls and pastries, a couple of big bowls of yogurt, cereals and lots of fresh fruit and cheeses. Come to find out, that room had been set up for a private tour group and our measly buffet only consisted of very dry
Steep scree filled trail
Anna working her way up loose screebread, dry cereals and some cheese. Lucky for me that I found the gold mine which the others could not enjoy as due to my big score they had posted a sign on the door stating it was not for the rest of us. Too bad for everyone else, great for me!
I began our hike with trepidation as I knew it was billed as the biggest hike of the week and I wondered how I would fare. Too late to back out now and so it's just something I have to do and I'm determined to do it as best I can. We follow the directions working our way back out through the maze of small streets and out the gate. No sign of Pecorino, the dog, today. The beginning of the hike was leisurely walking on the town's small streets and then worked gradually uphill. Our directions stated that we were to turn right onto a trail near a new house. We found the new house but there were a lot of trails leading off into the woods at this point in many directions. We started walking on a two track trail going uphill which matched our
directions. Someone stepped on a snake and then proclaimed it was a viper which we had been advised were in the area making many nervous. The boys had to poke and prod it and it was eventually discovered to be a footless reptile, not a viper, thank goodness. We kept walking up our trail but after about one kilometer it petered out completely appearing to be the wrong choice afterall. We decided we needed to walk back down and find the right trail. This was the only wrong trail choice for the trip which was a good thing. Nice little warm up. We found the right trail and began our ascent which stated it was going to now become steep. It was steep for a good part of the rest of the morning as the trail climbed all morning long. The trail kept to the outside of the mountain overlooking the valley below and as we progressed upwards you got incredible vistas showing from whence we had just walked from. Our beginning point at our hotel just got further and further away. Funny how that works. About halfway up the mountain the directions stated we'd have to climb a steep
scree filled slope. Yep, it was steep and yep, it had a lot of very loose scree. My favorite hiking conditions to be sure. I had been the slowest member of our group throughout and this "hill" was the hardest we'd been on yet. At one point John offered to take my pack so it'd be easier for me. I declined as I generally don't like to pass off my obligations. After some more steps though, John offered again and I accepted his generous offer this time. John works in his home town as a Mountain Rescue person and he said he needed some training as he has to carry ropes, etc., on top of his own gear on rescue missions. Nice to know and it did make me feel a little better but I still don't like to pass off my obligations. The steep scree slope continued on forever and ever it seemed. We finally broke out of it though and from here to the top it was just plain old steep. The trail now was covered with loose rock, not loose scree, which is a big difference. Soon we broke out of the trees and found ourselves in
wide open hills and dales. We sat down on the trail once we got above the trees and had a lunch overlooking the valley below. All good things must come to an end though and it was time walk yet again. The hills sloped in every which way and the wild flowers were the only vegetation in sight except for a few trees. We were walking in knee high wild flowers that were so plentiful that you could not help crushing them as you walked. For the first couple of days of hiking the snow covered mountains were far and away in the distance. However, the crowning glory on our last day’s hike was to crest the pass before us and see our entire view from one end of the valley below to the other with these gigantic mountains that rose all the way from the valley floor to more high than we were currently standing and yet they were only just on the other side of this long, narrow valley. As if that were not enough, the cloud formations were performing in a way I had never seen before. Someone called them ice clouds. Also stretching the whole length
of the valley was a single cloud formation that truly did appear to be an Eagle flying along the entire sky above the tops of those mountains. The Eagle’s pointed beak was pointing to the town of Castellucio, where our hike was to end that day. It was breathtakingly amazing. It created such an incredible energy throughout the group. We had been walking all morning in the very hot sunshine and to come up and see all that fresh snow so very close to us on those magnificent mountains and yet still be so hot was spectacular. All in all, the whole trip was worth just those few moments for it's grandeur. My heart still beats faster when I remember walking up and seeing that sight for the first time. There were two bicyclists who were coming down a trail on our right and then proceeded to our left on our same trail. I cannot fathom how they got there as we were quite high in elevation.
We messed around on top taking a couple of group photos using Don’s camera timer which was funny trying to get Don in the photo without him falling down on the way
to get into the picture. Since it was evident that we still had a long way to go, we continued on our trail which stayed level for a ways working alongside the mountain. On the slope next to us we could see a herd of sheep grazing on the hillside below a dilapidated stone house. Soon the trail began to work uphill again and we came upon a Sheep Herder and his faithful dog sitting at a water station. The water ran downhill into one old iron bathtub which was situated so that when the water filled that one it would then run into another old iron tub, about six in all. As I walked past the Sheep Herder he became very animated and started yelling over and over a word and pointing up the hill where the others had gone. I don’t know what he was saying unfortunately.
The trail began to climb quite steeply once again. We got to the top of another small pass and from there the trail stepped around the side of a mountain. At times it was quite steep and if you missed a step you would’ve rolled very far downhill. We worked
our way around the mountain to yet another pass where there were trail signs pointing in all directions. Our trail merged with a four wheel drive gravel road and we began our descent into Castellucio. The road was quite steep at times and the rock was loose and I truly didn’t want to slide and risk injurying myself and so I walked carefully. Careful walking for miles does wear a person’s knees and feet out. We can now see our destination in our sights and everyone sets off going their own pace. I just want to get off the mountain and on some flat ground. I am pretty tired now. I finally get down off the mountain and find everyone around a parking area with a bench and plop down for a rest. Finally. There are three older gentlemen enjoying another bench across from me as well. It’s now serious time for a cold beer and we go off in pursuit of a good location. We find a bar with tables outside and enjoy cold beers and rejoice in our wonderful hike and the fact we’re sitting down and not moving for a change. Big toasts and a bit of
sadness to know our hikes have ended. We call our hotel and they send someone to come and get us to return us to our hotel. It takes about 40 minutes to drive back down the mountain around many curves. Tonights dinner is at the hotel and we eat outside. They bring us a prix fixe dinner with lots of rosso, as usual. There’s a feeling of great accomplishment within me for having done most of the hikes.
We get a ride at 6:30 in the morning the next day by the hotel to take us back to the Spoleto train station. They leave sack breakfasts for us as the drive takes about 45 minutes. Once at the train station we purchase cappucinos and such and wait for our train to arrive. We’re going from Spoleto to Ancona which is on the eastern coast of Italy. From there we get onto another train to go to Venice. We ride down the coast for quite a ways before arriving in Ancona. It’s raining out though and the beaches look very desolate with their rows and rows of umbrellas standing at attention but closed up tight as no one is visiting
them today. We can see big ships sitting a ways off the coast. We have reserved seats in our next train and we have to kick out two elderly people as our group fills up the whole enclosed carriage. It’s another four hour train ride before we get to Venice and so everyone settles in for the ride, reading, napping and reviewing photos on digital cameras.
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Carla
non-member comment
LOL
Just glanced through this page as I'm running out of time (will read in more detail later)...but I noticed the "Three hopefully not blind men" and it made me laugh out loud! Just thought I'd share that!! LOL Later gator!