My reward for working for 9 hours on Sunday was to have the day off on Monday to take Bacco to the Sibillini mountains. A part of our 5 years together is the tradition to climb a summit for each of our birthdays; Bacco was lamenting the other day his mountain just didn't hack it (Mt. Amandola), so we hiked up 3 different peaks today, so he could claim one higher for his birthday. I had been wanting to climb Mt. Priora all summer and it was my bd climb. After hearing horror stories about how the Priora hike took 10 hours from Gola dell'Infernaccio, I consulted my handy book "Italy's Sibillini National Park-walking and trekking guide" by Gillian Price and found a shortcut. The road requires a higher profile vehicle and not a z4, but is possible if you drive slowly. We started at the Forcella del Fargno mountain pass with its eponymous refuge (more later), arriving at 9 AM with a wind just calm enough to not send us flying off the mountain. I lost an important cap in the first minute outside the car and it tumbled down a cliff. A trail worker suggested we go around the back side of the Mt. Pizzo Tre Vescovi to avoid the tempest and since we arrived close to that summit, we hiked on up where Bacco marked this as his birthday summit in his usual way.
Mt. Pizzo Tre Vescovi
Leaving the Pizzo, we can see Mt. Priora 2332 meters to the left and Pizzo Berro 2259 meters on the right, both of which we are going to conquer or die, hehe.
Looking across the saddle from the trail on the flank of Pizzo Berro to the top of Priora
Here you get an idea of the steepness of the final part with the visible cross marking the summit.
The big wind returned on top and after a light lunch to replenish our reserves, we hightailed it back west to Pizzo Berro. Luckily I had my windbreaker, but my hands got a bit cold, strange after our multiple days in the 90's.
Notwithstanding Bacco's mark, I decided to leave something a bit more permanent to record our success.
Here we are together, having finally seen our first people of the day on top of Pizzo Berro.
Kids are always trying to spook their parents by walking right up to the edge of the cliff. My son did the same in Bryce National Park.
A look at Mt. Bove North which will be a part of our next big excursion including the 3 mountains of the Bove circuit, North, South and Mt. Bicco, but not today.
Arriving back at the refuge of Fargno where we smelled some good stuff coming from inside and the wonderful caretakers rehydrated Bacco and brought me a nice 1/4 L Sangiovese from Lucangeli near Jesi and a big plate of lentils and beans and bread to take care of my energy deficit.
They loved Bacco. The wonderful iron work is from the 1700's and not the epoch of art nouveau and used to be a decoration for a catholic church pulpit.
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A look up at the Mt. Pizzo the Vescovi where we started
Views of the refuge which is in its 3 incarnation, now as a "bunker"; the first 2 iterations flew off the mountain in the winds (a bit like the story of the 3 pigs).
Look closely and you see the baby feeding; not sure what the cow behind has in mind.
Consigli: Advice: Wear lug sole boots and preferably real hiking boots as there are lots of opportunities to slip on scree or turn your ankle. There is some minor exposure, so this might not be good for those with a great fear of heights. The book says Pizzo Berro requires expertise, but not really, just caution and a bit of fearlessness. Hiking poles are helpful, if you like them and be sure to take 2-3 Liters of water for yourself and 2 for your dog.
1 comment:
If you look closely, you will see that the animal behind is not cow. The intentions then become abundantly clear.
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