This July the weather in the Tosco Emilian Apennines
has been terrible, with a thunderstorm nearly every day. I managed to fit in a
couple of hikes up there this month. Both of which were dogged by less than
ideal conditions.
My first hike was an old classic for me. I
started at Prato Spilla above Parma and followed the “Crinale” as far as the “Fonte
del Vescovo”, a lovely source of fresh cold water; a pleasure in the hot summer
up here.
The weather was nice to start of with, but
soon turned overcast, taking much of the beauty out of this dramatic landscape.
So, I plodded along enjoying the exercise and fresh air.
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| Climbing up to the Crinale. Prato Spilla,PR |
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| Lago Martini. Parco cento Laghi PR |
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| Monte Bragalata, parco cento Laghi, PR |
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| Parco cento Laghi, PR |
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| Towards Monte Sillara, PR |
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| Towards Monte Sillara,PR |
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| Parco Cento Laghi, PR |
At midday I was at the spring and stopped
for lunch after un uneventful stint. The sun had come out again and it was time
to head back, this time dropping down to the lakes. I soon met up with a
shepherd and his flock, he told me it would rain at four, the weather forecast
had said five. Guess who was right?
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| Lago Bicchire, Parco cento Laghi, PR |
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| Rocca Pumacciolo |
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| Rocca Pumacciolo |
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| Rocca Piumacciolo |
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| Parco cento Laghi,PR |
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| Shepherd and his flock, Parco cento Laghi,PR |
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| Parco cento Laghi PR |
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| Parco cento Laghi, PR |
The seems to be a return to sheep farming
up in the high mountains. Each year I meet more flocks of sheep on my walks.
The sheep are used to make Pecorino Cheese. As well as a sheepdog, a large Maremmano
dog was on hand to guard against wolves.
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| Parco cento Laghi,PR |
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| Back towards Monte Sillara,PR |
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| Monte Sillara,PR |
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| Monte Sillara,PR |
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| Parco cento Laghi,PR |
As I climbed the steep assent of Monte Sillara
I could see a nice storm was brewing. Looking from below it looks rather
daunting, but I find some of these very steep climbs are easier than a long
gradual climb. By the time I got down to lake Sillara it had started to rain. Fortunately,
it did not last long and then the light became interesting for photography.
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| Lago Sillara,PR |
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| Lago Sillara,PR |
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| Lago Sillara,PR |
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| Lago Sillara,PR |
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| Lago Sillara,PR |
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| Laghi Grotta,PR |
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| Laghi grotta,PR |
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| Laghi Grotta,PR |
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| Parco cento Laghi,PR |
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| Above prato Spilla,PR |
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| Above prato Spilla, PR |
By the time I got back to Prato Spilla it
had turned into a nice evening.
My second hike had the highest mountain in
the Tosco Emilian Apennines as my objective. I was undecided right from the
start where my starting point would be. I settled on the more ambitious
solution of Abetone, just over the border into Tuscany.
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| Above Abetone, |
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| Above Abetone |
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| Looking down to Abetoneia |
This was a hike where an out of date map
and map contours caused me problems.
The first stint up to Libero Aperto (Open
Book) a pass that looks like , yes, an
open book was along a footpath I had done several times. The second stint to
Monte Cimone looked easy on the map but was more difficult than it looked.
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| Towards Monte Cimone,MO |
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| Near Monte Cimone, MO |
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| Near Monte Cimone,MO |
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| Towards Monte Cimone,MO |
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| Monte Cimone,MO |
At first the often exposed but level
footpath made it easy going. The are some bits where it is better not to look
down. I had an interesting encounter with a group of horses grazing perilously
on the mountainside.
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| Near Cimone,MO |
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| Near Cimone,MO |
All along the way Monte Cimone, was before me, getting ever closer.
Just under the mountain the ridge path
dropped down steeply, this did not seem to be the case on the map. This meant a
tough climb up to the top of Monte Cimone. I was quite exhausted when I reached
the top.
Mont Cimone enjoys unparalleled views of a
large area of Northern Italy. This made it a great place to build a NATO radar
and telecommunications base. In the Cold War the top of the mountain was off
limits. It is mostly used as a weather station now. After being emerged in a
wilderness it is quite strange and unnerving to see the assorted masts and
buildings of the base.
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| Monte Cimone,MO |
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| Monte Cimone,MO |
The sides of the mountain are quite steep,
so a lift shaft was excavated in the mountain to take the operatives up and
down. There are probably lots of other interesting and secret things buried
away in the mountain.
The farthest point of my walk was to be Lago
Ninfa a picturesque lake with a good restaurant. After a hairy and difficult
decent where an “off the footpath” piece I did turned into a bit of a nightmare,
I finally got to the restaurant for a late lunch.
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| Lago Ninfa,MO |
Being a hot day, I washed the Venison and Polenta
down with a couple of nice cold beers. Refreshed it was time to retrace my
steps taking a footpath that I had seen on the outward leg, but did not exist
on my map. It avoided climbing Cimone again. I came across another flock of
sheep and a newly born lamb that lay exhausted on the path.
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| Aloh the phantom footpath below Monte Cimone,MO |
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| Below Monte Cimone,MO |
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| Below Monte Cimone,MO |
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| Monte Cimone fades into the distance,MO |
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| Libro Aperto,MO |
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| Litchen |
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| Libro Aperto,MO |
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| An exposed stretch of path near Libro Aperto,MO |
Joining the main footpath, it was now a
race to get back to the car whilst it was still daylight. As usual I had
miscalculated my timing, and I got back to the car at nine just as the light
was fading. I had been hiking twelve hours.
