The object of this hike was to close one of
the last big holes in my bit by bit hikes to walk along the 00 footpath that
runs along the crest of the Tosco Emilian Apennines.
I started out at a good hour from Abetone
in the province of Pistoia to avoid the summer heat as I climbed up on to the
crest. In a couple of hours I was up at Libro Aperto ( Open Book) where the
real hike would begin.
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| Monte Maiore. Abetone PT |
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| Sella delle Mote, Abetone, PT |
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| Looking down on Abetone, PT |
From Libro Aperto the path drops sharply
downwards to the tortured crest that stretches into the distance. This I have
to say is one of the most gruelling stretches of “Crinale” that I have come
across with its constant ups and downs along a very exposed footpath for much
of the way.
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| Cervinara from Libro Aperto |
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| Cervinara |
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| Cervinara |
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| Cervinara |
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| Cervinara |
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| Cervinara |
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| Cervinara |
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| Coming up to Cima Tauffi |
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| Coming up to Cima Tauffi |
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| Coming up to Cima Tauffi |
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| Interesting bit of footpath near Cima Tauffi |
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| Interesting bit of footpath near Cima Tauffi |
After this the going then became much easier
as I descended down to the pass called “Colle dell Aqua Marcia” (Hill of the
rotten water), but there were still an hours’ worth of big bumps before I finally
arrived at destination at “Passo di Croce Acana” with its memorial to the
Alpini (Italy’s elite mountain troops). Strangely one of the two artillery
pieces is a British WWII 25 pounder. Here a dirt road passes over the mountains
from Tuscany to Emilia. It had great importance during the Middle Ages.
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| Looking down on Colle delle Aqua Marchia |
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| Looking down on Colle delle Aqua Marchia |
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| Looking down on Colle delle Aqua Marchia |
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| Passo di Croce Arcana, PT/MO |
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| Passo di Croce Arcana, PT/MO |
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| Passo di Croce Arcana, PT/MO |
It had taken me six hours of hard walking
to arrive here, so I decided to take a long rest before turning back to retrace
my steps. Going the other way was even tougher than the outward walk as I had
to face a series of almost vertical climbs. The good thing was that the weather
had improved a bit as the heavy heat haze had dissolved somewhat. Most of the pictures I took were taken on the
return trip.
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| Libero Aperto |
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| Libero Aperto |
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| Libero Aperto |
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| Libero Aperto |
By the time I got back down to Sella delle
Motte it was starting to get dark so I decided to take the longer forest road
back down to Abetone stopping at the spring to guzzle down a couple of litres
of fresh cold water as I had underestimated the amount of water to carry with
me. I was back to the car at 9.30. If I leave out the two-hour lunch break I
had been on the move for twelve hours, which I think is a personal record.
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