At Somana, on the Sentiero del Fiume

[The Path of the River]

June 2nd, 2009.

Little waterfall with an inviting pond

Another waterfall

After Somana (LC), up to the first hairpin bend, there's a crossing with via dell'Acqua Bianca ["White Water road"], start-point of a wonderful excursion. Here there are clear indications for homonimous Bed and Breakfast. There is also a parking lot, but it is really small, and when we arrived it was already full. Going back downhill we finally found a space for the car, adding an extra piece of hike on the asphalted road. As soon as we parked the car we met a nice old man who upon seeing our preparations (backpack, hiking boots, knee-pads, hiking sticks and waterbottle) all of the sudden asked, in a kind of teasing tone, "Where are you going at this time of the day?" (as if to say - at 11am isn't it a bit late to start an excursion?). "Eh, we wanted to go up to the waterfall!" - "Ah, the Sentiero del Fiume! That's ok, at least there should be some shade!". Actually good thing that a good part of the path is in the forest, because the sun that day, was really burning. "Be careful!" he warned, "you'll probably encounter some biscie..." [A biscia is a small, harmless grass-snake in italian country sides]. Now, Grandpa was beginning to be a little too much... "Hey, this way you'll frighten my wife!", I say, to lighten the mood, "...then she'll change her mind and she'll not be wanting to go up anymore". "Oh, well...", he smiles, "you have the sticks to chase them away!", he tries, a little clumsily, to encourage her.
To tell the truth, R. was not frightened at all. Grandpa waves wishing us a good hike. We won't meet any terrible monster (anyway, what's wrong with biscie?). Later we will laugh for his thoughtful suggestions.

Unfortunately Maddie recently broke a crossed ligament and that day she was waiting for the operation. Now she is recuperating and, even if everything will be ok, she still has to wait few months before she'll be able to hike again. Thus, this time she stayed home, and Mr. Bentley decided the same for keeping her company. Good thing, since in some points the path would have been impassable for them.

Entering via dell'Acqua Bianca you can find the first signs, with trail marker n. 15B pointing

I, climbing on a point with chains

to "Sentiero del Fiume" that, along with the red dots painted on the rocks, were a constant help to find our way. The asphalted road, after the last houses of the village, slowly descends on a carriage road. Here we met some animals (donkeys and goats) in a corral. Soon the carriage road becomes a small path and in the ups and downs, it arrives to the level of the river. Here it starts the most scenic part of the excursion, that coast the river and crosses it several times in easy fords. Here you find also some little waterfalls flowing in small ponds, so much tempting that i was almost ready to dive in.

one of the many fords

The hike, in some points, then becomes more difficult. Impossible to pass some tracts without clinging to the chains nailed to the rocks for that purpose. To tell the truth it's not that terrible an experience, if not for somebody like me that suffer for dizzy spells. Once one hangs to the chains it is pretty easy, but the cliff, in some points about a dozen meters high, was not encouraging at all.
The hardest part of the climb is when we arrived to the bottom of the wonderful waterfall Cascata di Era. The path is very steep, the top of the cascade, where path n. 15B ends up crossing with n. 15.
Going right from here, within another fifteen minutes we could go to Alpe di Era (mountain farmhouses) where there is also a small chapel. We cut this part and went back to Somana following the yellow dots along path n. 15. This part of the excursion, more flat, is much easier than the outward. This path dominates, on one side, the canyon where the river flows, and in some points it is possible to see the path 15B we covered before, much lower on the other side.

Niche at one station of the Cross

All of the sudden there is a little church with some rooms that volunteers run as a refreshment point, collecting money for the maintainance of the chapel. Thirsty, we stop by for a coke (the one-liter waterbottle has been dried up a long time before!).
After a quick visit to the cool interior of the church we restart our hike. The last part is a very long descent on irregular steps, marked at intervals by the stations of the Way of the Cross (that, going down, we cover backwards). The path terminates on the main road, at one hairpin bend after the crossing with via dell'Acqua Bianca.

The excursion, although long and hard, doesn't have insuperable difficulties, apart the small tracts with chains. The 15B is anyway labeled with a double E (Expert Excursionists). Since the river can have sudden floods, it is not advisable if there is the risk of rain. Because of the frequent fords (we got water till the ankles) it is suggested to wear waterproof hiking boots.

Outward:

Time: 2:41

Distance: 15.5km [9.63mi]

Difference of level: 591m [1939'] (1146m [3760'] uphill and 555m [1821'] downhill)

Altitude: from 343m [1125'] to 934m [3064']

Backward:

Time: 2:06

Distance: 8.16km [5.07mi]

Difference of level: -591m [-1939'] (214m [702'] uphill and 805m [2641'] downhill)

Altitude: from 934m [3064'] to 343m [1125']

GPS track of the excursion.
In red the outward on path n. 15B, in yellow the backward on n. 15.
A: parking lot; B-C: Era waterfall; D: chapel-refreshment

Cumulative statistics of the 5 excursions from the beginning of this year:

Total time: 16:31

Distance: 58.39km [36.28mi]

Difference of level: 3646m [11962']

Minimum altitude: 343m [1125']

Maximum altitude: 1550m [5085']

Pass Pertüs and mount Ocone

After a couple of days with a strong wind, the cold coming from north, Sunday was promising a very clear day.
Maddie and Mr. Bentley were already excited when i was still clung to a nice dream. "C'mon, Fajah, wake up and let's go for a hike!" they incited me shaking my arm with their front paws, dangling tongues and standing ears.
Still snuggling under the covers, i first open one eye, but i close it back all of the sudden, pretending to ignore them. But they insist. Howling and barking they convince me that it's time to start the day.
The sun is not yet risen from behind the mountain, but the sky is really clear. Let's go, then.

Mr. Bentley

I open the door and let them out in the garden for their morning pennies to spend. One freezing wind blast almost convince me to go back to my bed. But the word is done, it's a matter of honor, now.

Maddie

With a quick talk we decide to follow a path that is the natural continuation of the one that climbs up mount Tesoro. Infact if from the end point of that excursion you continue on the same path, you reach, at Forcella Alta, a parking lot in a panoramic view point next to a hotel, a couple of houses and a little lake (frozen) used to water the oxes.
In this point, reached by car (i drove), there is the start point of this excursion. Some people (not really sporting looking) is there to shoot photos and to buy mountain cured meats and cheeses from the usual merchant on his van.
Maddie and Mr. Bentley are already very excited, while i am still a little regretting my cozy pillow... but stop dillydellying now, lets go!
The hike starts on a dirt road that after a few ends up in a wood. Then the path is not very clear, but there are visible signs of red and white paint on the trees. The difficult thing, in this season, is due to the dry leaves on the brushwood that completely hide the harshnesses of the ground under, which thing makes it easy to subside with an ankle between two rocks.
Maddie and Mr. Bentley had the worst of it, and some times they looked almost drown in the leaves accumulations.
Soon, anyway, the woods opens in a nice meadow, where you must coast the ridge next to the valley. Then you go back in another wood (the path now is more clear) where you meet some buildings used in the past for fowling. You reach then a disused convent which

View from the peak of mount Ocone.
From the bottom you can see the lakes of Garlate,
Oggiono, Annone, Pusiano and Alserio.
The highest snowy peak in the background is mount Rosa

little church is being renovated. From there it starts another dirt road that goes down very steep, but we follow the signs towards pass Pertüs (in the local dialect this name means "narrow opening"), and infact after about ten minutes we reach a little bridge that links the two faces of the pass. Here there are some other ruins of structures used in the past for catching migrating birds, activity that is well described on some uselful display signs.
Till this point the path was entirely in a light descent and enough easy, but now it begins the steep ascent to the peak of mount Ocone. Sometimes the dogs aren't able to jump up to the rocks and i have to help them, obtaining in change wide licks as thanks. After twenty minutes uphill here we are finally on the peak. A breathtaking sight. I shot a set of photos and i put them together with Photomerge of Photoshop to create a 360 degrees panoramic picture (click on the photo to enlarge).
It is very cold, every pond we meet is completely frozen, but right for that reason the air is really clear enough to see mount Rosa on one side and the Piacenza's hills after Milan on the other. In the panoramic photo, the peak that look higher, on the left, just after the TV antennas at Valcava, is mount Tesoro.

Ten minutes of rest, Maddie, Mr. Bentley and me, snuggling each other listening an almost deafening silence, contemplating the rest of the worlds, just under there.

The way back on the same path, in the opposite direction.

• Total time: 2:09 (1:22 ro go, 0:53 to come back)
• Round trip distance: 5.3km [3.3mi]
• Difference of level: 20m [66'] (140m [459'] downhill, 160m [525'] uphill)
• Altitude: from 1305m [4281'] to 1325m [4347']

GPS track:
A: Peak of Mount Tesoro; B: Little lake of Forcella Alta; C: Convent; D: Pass Pertüs E: Peak of Mount Ocone

Mount Tesoro

Mr. Bentley

view along the path

There it goes another weekend as a single guy (R. went for a period to her homeland). Saturday it was a cloudy day, and i used it to make some shopping and some works in the house, which maybe i will tell you about in another post. Ah, and i also planned some other works for the day after.
Yesterday morning i woke up early enough and, as a first thing, i looked out of the window. It was still a little dark, but i could see the sky completely clear, in the crisp air. I decided for a change of program, and all of the sudden i called a family meeting.
"Pack mates, did you see what a beautiful day? What about a hike up to the mountains?" - Mr. Bentley started jumping enthusiastically left and right, and with his baritone voice: "Oh yes, Fajah..." (Mr. Bentley and Maddie call me "Fajah" because... Well, let's not start with digressions... maybe i will tell you about this story another time). "Oh yes, Fajah, let's go hiking, you and me, and leave home the stupid girls. We are boys and we always gotta stick together. Then we could also stop for a beer someplace..." (Mr. Bentley is a little male-chauvinist, actually...) Maddie instead doesn't take me seriously, and, irritatedly swinging her eyes goes: "You are really dumb, Mr. Bentley, Fajah is not serious... Majah is not here, and everybody knows you stupid boys give up soon for laziness and you stay all day with your butts on the couch and a beer can in your hands watching the soccer match." (Majah, obviously, is R.).

Maddie at the peak of the mountain

So i took the floor to clarify. "No, no, i am very serious" i reassured Maddie, who begun to wag her tail: "Fo... fo... for really?!?" "For really!" I tell her, and then, to Mr. Bentley: "we ALL go to make a hike... as for the beer, maybe we can speak about it later". Mr. Bentley, a little deluded, but still excited for the hike: "Mmmmh... mmmmh... stupid girls... okay, Fajah"

So, i decide to give up with the home works, backpack on my shoulders, full water bottle, hiking boots, hiking sticks, GPS and photo camera (Mr. Bentley and Maddie, who go much lighter, always look to me with curiosity in this preparatory stage), and go, for a short excursion, just ten minutes by car from home.

Olginate and Garlate lakes
(bulges of the Como lake, at south of Lecco)

With R. and Maddie (Mr. Bentley was not born yet!) i already made this excursion in a snowy day, following then for a much longer distance on a path that, from south, approaches the southern slope of mount Resegone. This time, with the pack, we were happy with the ascent till the little chapel at the top of Mount Tesoro. In my memory the path was longer, maybe the snow did make it much more difficult.
Walking in the snow is really very nice, and it gives a strong sense of silence and peace. In the fall, instead, colors are really touching, from deep green to yellow and red of the leaves, to the brown of the undergrowth, in contrast to the limpid blue of the sky. This path, following the ridge, has views both on the Adda river valley of Lecco, on one side, and Orobie Alps of Bergamo on the other.

It is impossible get lost. The car can be parked in a little lot next to the hairpin bend (shown on the map). The path to take is well marked with arrows to "Monte Tesoro". After a couple of hundreds yards there is a fork on a mule path. This is the only tricky point (in fact we took the wrong way, ending up at a private property). A left must be taken, but just after the fork there is the start point of the path, a little hidden, towards right. The path is partially in the woods, partially on the rocks, til a first peak, where there is the stick for a flag, then it goes down for few feet and then up again till a higher peak with the little chapel of the Alpine soldiers, the war memorial, a little cemetery and a little heliport for the alpine aids. Time for some photos and back at once by the same way.
At noon we were already back home, and in the afternoon i also managed to make all the works i planned. Efficient eh?

other views of the path

• Total time: 1:42 (about half an hour of walk uphill and twenty minutes downhill plus the rest break)
• Covered distance: 3.94km [2.45mi] (round trip)
• Difference of level: 115m [377feet] (214m [702feet] uphill, 99m [325feet] downhill)
• Altitude: from 1301m [4268feet] to 1416m [4646feet]

GPS track
A: parking at the hairpin bend; B: peack of Mount Tesoro; C: Olginate lake; D: Garlate lake