Cinque Terre - SP

July 19, 2013
After breakfast in the camper van area of the service station, we left the motorway in Levanto and found us a suitable car park where we paid for a whole day stay. We then made a special ticket for the Cinque Terre Trail and Trains, so we could walk the trail from Monterosso to Vernazza and then to Corniglia, and we took the train to the other Terre, as the trail had been interrupted by landslide nearly two years ago.


From the same year's floods that caused the landslides (2011), we witnessed the remains of a house, built too close to the river that overflowed...





  




The walk was good, but with lots of ups and down, for the mountain there is very steep... the day was also really hot so we did a fair bit of sweating...

Monterosso

In Vernazza we lunched with a piece of local focaccia, always a must in Liguria, :) before walking on towards Corniglia, our next destination.

Vernazza

After Corniglia we caught the train to Riomaggiore, thinking of reaching Manarola on the next walk, but that was interrupted too, so we just caught the train back to Monterosso for a swim. Then, back on the train to Levanto and the car.

Corniglia

Leaving the Cinque Terre we decided not to take the motorway, but to use the normal road, so when a sign for a Hotel and Restaurant caught our attention we decided to follow it, as it was going towards the top of the mountain. When we reached the place we found ourselves very high up, with great views over the sea. We then asked the owners of the place if they knew where we could go to sleep with our Qubo, somewhere not too far and with toilet facilities... like we hoped, the lady told us we could stop there for the night, so we gladly accepted and remained for dinner, as a way of thanking them for their hospitality. The food was very good and the portions well generous. The place was very quiet and we really enjoyed our time there!

Our stop for the night

 










 

Circular Tour - Orsiera Regional Park

Circular tour: Travers a Mont - Rif. Valgravio - Colle Aciano - Rif. Toesca - Alpe Balmetta - Rif. Amprimo - Paradiso delle Rane

Leisurely walk up to the hut 'Valgravio' (1400m), then very steep up to the ridge where you pass Colle Aciano (2020m). The first third of the uphill was quite alright, a very steep trail in the woods, then we tackled a very rough second section, where you could scarcely see where to put your feet, and the final section really did me in, although it wasn't really that bad... not enough training, surely...

the view climbing up

We rested for lunch just past the pass (Colle Aciano), near the Park Rangers' hut (closed) - time so far: 4 hrs.

Colle Aciano

After lunch we headed towards the hut 'Toesca', that we reached in 1.15 hrs with a few up and downhills...

a spot of lunch - risotto

There we enjoyed a well deserved cuppa and some excellent home made cakes (a bit steep in price, though, at €4.00 a slice... next time, for the same proce, I'll bake a cake myself and carry it with me...).

tea and cakes

After another 1.30 hrs we made it back to the car, in a light drizzle with the sun shining at the same time.
All together (including breaks) it's been an 8-hour walk, pretty hard at times, but well enjoyed at the end of the day.

Lots of rhododendrums in bloom, and plenty of other mountain flowers too, some of them proved to be a nice place to take a nap...

In this hike I tested my newly bought mountaineering boots, that I'm gonna use in Iceland for my next holiday: the result was quite alright as my feet are still all in one piece, just a bit of rubbing round the back of the heel, but that's pretty standard with any new shoe I buy. I wore them through rocks, woods, water, mud and even a patch of snow - it was a good test! I think they will perform well on Icelandic trails.

Whenever I go hiking in the Alps, I get rather frustrated at first, as the ascents are always very long and steep, and so are the descents. The impression you get, every time, is: steep steep steep up, a summit of sorts, steep steep steep down, liked it? ok. Well, no, actually, I didn't like it at all, but that's what you get in the Alps.
Only, at the end of the day, summon it all up, I do enjoy my hikes most of the time. I should have learnt by now, but still I tend to dream of a nice coastal walk or a Lake District fell while I'm sweating away my mountain hikes... I guess I have to make the most of what I have at the moment, though :)

Circular tour: Chiappera - Saretto - Chiappera

Another nice tour, about 7 km long (seen on the map, but not properly calculated). The day was really sunny but the air still fresh. I was a bit crushed from yesterday's walk, so I decided to take it easier today, with no serious ups and downs. The trail was mostly in the woods, passing a couple of "borgate" (tiny mountain villages).

 Chiappera

As I was expecting a tour mostly on asphalt road, it turned out to be quite a nice walk along the sides of the mountain instead.

 The trail on the way back

After the hike, I enjoyed some nicely homemade food and locally brewed beer at the refuge Campo Base, where we've camped for the weekend.

Rocca Provenzale. Circular tour of Rocca Castello

Nice 10.8 km circular tour, started with a nice weather (sunny with fast clouds running in the sky) and ended in the rain. The first part was one of those steep ascents I hate, but,once reached the top of the Rocca (colle Gregury) it was all a nice downhill,with only the first part a bit steep. There were still a few snow patches here and there, but nothing that caused any worry.
The details of the hike can be found here:  http://www.everytrail.com/view_trip.ph
Actually I did all the downhill bit at a rather swift pace as my phone was rapidly losing battery charge and I didn't want lo lose all my recording. As it is, I managed to reach back the car with only a 3% charge left... just in time, I could stick the phone into its charger and upload the hike! :)

Finale weekend -3

Sunday 21.04
I definitely slept better last night. I wasn't overly full as I managed to stop eating after the first of a multi-course meal and also my pillow wasn't as inflated as the night before, allowing my head to rest better.
After a hearty breakfast, as the climbers set out for their climbs, I went to Borgio Verezzi to see the caves there. It's a wonderful ensemble of stalactites and stalagmites, really magnificent. Well worth seeing.

Caves in Borgio Verezzi

As the day was sunny at intervals, I drove back to Finalborgo where I settled on a bench with a book and my diary... and a few tangerines for lunch. After another stroll around the burgh, very nice looking, I'm settling in, waiting for the climbers to come back.

Finalborgo

It's been a very nice weekend, just like a mini-holiday. Quber performing up to its standards, and proving once again really useful. This morning we say a similar adaptation of a VW Caddy, which is slightly higher, so you can make the bed without removing the back seats. Also it's a little longer so you don't have to put down all the front seats either.

Finale weekend -2

Saturday 20.04
The weather hasn't been as rotten as forecasted - actually, it was rather good :)
I walked some 3.5 km to Finalborgo, then another 1 or so to Finale Marina where I had a nice stroll along the beach, that's another km or thereabout. The sea was raging - there was a red flag - and it was really beautiful. I like raging seas. I barefooted back to Finalborgo and visited the Archaeological Museum, then walked my way back to Ca' d'Alice. I did put together quite a few paces today, I'm pleased.
The evening was spent laughing an cheering with the climbing lot - and for once I managed NOT to overeat...

Finale Marina

Finale weekend -1

We set out after work and made it to Ca' d'Alice, a rural guest house where we're gonna spend the weekend, Rosie climbing and I strolling around :-)
Mind you, the weather forecast is rain and thunderstorms... but, what the heck! let's enjoy life, shall we? For the moment we had an excellent home-made meal and we are now relaxing in our Quber before going to sleep...