Sunday, September 14, 2014

The Devil's Tooth.



Whilst looking for a source of walking maps for the Province of Parma on the Net,  I came across a pamphlet for a place called “I Salti del Diavolo” which translated becomes  “The Devil's Leaps” at Chiastre  in the Baganza valley near Parma . When I saw the photographs I knew that this would be the destination of my next hike.

Salti del Diavolo, Chiastre,PR

Salti del Diavolo, Chiastre,PR

A series of strange sculpted two dimensional mini mountains rise in succession across the landscape for a length of about five kilometres.  A well  kept series of footpaths enables you to explore these strange rock outcrops. An afternoon is not enough to explore the whole site.
The formation of these rocks was caused by the erosion of softer rocks around a vertical vein of hard conglomerate rock . On the north face of the outcrops a layer of fine grained rock forms a separate strata. 

Salti del Diavolo, Chiastre,PR

Salti del Diavolo, Chiastre,PR
This fine grained rock was once prized by the local stone masons who provided stone decorations for important buildings in the valley.

After leaving the car at Chiastre I took the short but steep footpath that climbs up to Monte Chiastre where the “Devils Tooth” is to be found .  A huge stone pillar rises up like a sharks tooth.  The footpath continues through the gap between the tooth and the outcrop  for a few metres along the wall.

Salti del Diavolo, Chiastre,PR

Salti del Diavolo, Chiastre,PR

Salti del Diavolo, Chiastre,PR

Salti del Diavolo, Chiastre,PR

Salti del Diavolo, Chiastre,PR
Taking an alternative footpath back down to Chiastre, the path then drops down to the River Baganza along the line of the outcrops. A short section of the path allows one to walk along the narrow crest of one of the outcrops. For me this was the most spectacular part of the walk with the river far below the shear drop on one side.

Salti del Diavolo, Chiastre,PR

Salti del Diavolo, Chiastre,PR

Salti del Diavolo, Chiastre,PR

Salti del Diavolo, Chiastre,PR
Arriving at the river one has a good general view of the whole system. Here I decided to stop as time as ever was running out.  The return footpath has been cleverly thought out to give you a views the outcrop from a  distance.

Salti del Diavolo, Chiastre,PR

Salti del Diavolo, Chiastre,PR

Salti del Diavolo, Chiastre,PR

Salti del Diavolo, Chiastre,PR
This is a fascinating place that  merits another visit to explore the stretch of footpath between Cassio and the River Baganza that I did not have time to do.  Probably  I will do the other stretch of footpath in winter as the foliage on the trees tend to hide the outcrops in many places.

Salti del Diavolo, Chiastre,PR

Salti del Diavolo, Chiastre,PR

Salti del Diavolo, Chiastre,PR