You can look back to July 2012 on my blog and find a similar post, but I thought it was time to update this great hike. The longest part is the drive from Nascondiglio di Bacco and back to the rifugio di Fargno above the town of Casali (or Bolognola); start early and finish at lunch time and you can eat in this "bunker" at 1900 meters above the tree line. Try and arrive early to avoid any crowds, I started at 810 from the refuge and was the only person on the top of the first 2 peaks.
From the refuge, I recommend taking the left fork at the base of Tre Vescovi, skirting and climbing its north side. This protects you from the early morning winds which in my 2 hikes have been fairly strong, but abate after 930 or so. This is an easy climb to just above 2,000 meters and took me 35 minutes. After a short stop for photos with Bacco and the surroundings, we descended to the saddle separating Tre Vescovi from Pizzo Berro. Arriving at another fork on the east flank of Pizzo, I take the left turn to scale Priora first because it is a bit higher and longer. The mountain flowers here are fantastic especially in late July and early August. We topped Priora, the 2nd tallest of the Sibillinis in about 90 minutes and I enjoyed the views of Val d'Ambro and Gola dell'Infernaccio from the top. Descending along the crest you come back to the crest of Pizzo Berro and a 50 minute hike from peak to peak got us to the top. This is fairly steep and I would prefer to climb this than descend it (which is what the guide book describes). More great views await of the Mt. Bove trio and into Umbria, Lazio and Abruzzo and then 45-50 minutes got us to our lunch date at Rifugio di Fargno where I had a nice plate of penne pasta with 10 herbs and a couple of bruschetta. 4 hours and 20 minutes total time with 40 minutes of r&r on the peaks, so the hiking part was 3 hours and 40 minutes. Everyone's pace is different and the book says to allow 4.5-6 hours for the hike. Enjoy!
We wrote on names in the log book, one of only a few in these mountains
Some of the beautiful mountain flowers near the trail
4 legs is always faster than 2 legs; Bacco waiting for me on the steep inline up Pizzo Berro
Atop Pizzo Berro looking towards Mt. Priora
The view east from the descending trail
Bacco living on the edge looking towards the Bove circuit to the west
The "bunker" where we will have lunch, rifugio di Fargno
We got lucky and there were still blooms near Castelluccio on the drive back
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