Trekking to the Cinque Terre
Finally comes this long-awaited departure for our little excursion in the national park of
Cinque Terre.
So, we all (me and two friends) head to the station ready to take the train that will bring us to Turin, where then we'll take an inter-regional train that without changes will lead us directly to Monterosso.
We arrive at the station of Monterosso with an hour of delay, along the way we did the usual stops, which we know well, offered by Trenitalia to allow passengers to admire with all calm, landscape along the route.
The weather is beautiful even if slightly veiled, the temperature is summertime and we are well dressed from the end of winter. Now we go to get some infos at the offices of tourism inside the station, on the possible need to pay or not the ticket to travel the high paths. We are not here to walk the famous trail along the coast, but some sections of the High path. The High path is the number 1 trail connecting Levanto to Porto Venere for a total of 36 km but can also be toured by different routes, as indeed we do. The officer informs us that the ticket (equal to 5,40 € for a day) is due only if you walk the Blue Path (the road that runs along the sea), and shows us the starting point of trail we have chosen.
Today we'll make a loop trail starting and arriving in Monterosso, climbing to the shrine of Our Lady of Sovine, then passing through the hill of Colle Gritta, Punta Mesco (tip of a landscape watching area) and finally falling back to Monterosso. They are approximately 10 kms of walk for a travel time of about 4 hours.
So cleaned from some layers of clothing, after having burdened our backpacks we move along the country in search of our path.
Leaving the station behind us we move towards the centre of the country, passing the pedestrian tunnel and taking the road that climbs toward the interior. The trail begins with a stone stairway, near the roundabout placed on top of this road.
We cross then the number 9 path that will lead us, after a climb of approximately 460 metres to the shrine of Our Lady of Sovine, also reachable by car from the paved road that crosses the park of the
Cinque Terre.
As said the trail begins to climb immediately with a steep staircase, proceeding immersed in the typical Mediterranean scrub (heather, broom, rosemary) that, as you climb, leaves room to wood (olive trees, chestnuts, pines). The trail alternates steep uphill sections to gentle lifts in order to achieve after an hour walk, the shrine of Our Lady of Sovine from which you can enjoy a nice view of the Gulf of Monterosso. The trail is 465 meters high, according to the map it appears the highest point reached by our tour.
It's noon so we decide to stop for lunch, taking advantage of the fact that even on the apron of the sanctuary there is a fountain. The only one that we will meet in this round. There is also a bar and a restaurant but, fortunately, there is very little people: silence and peace are great.
At this point we change to the path number 1, the High Path, marked by red and white notches typical of hiking trails, which until Colle Gritta is downhill and coincides exactly with the tarmac road. Despite not transiting many cars is not fun to proceed on tarmac.
We quickly reach Colle Gritta's top of the hill (330 meters) where we find another restaurant.
At this point, the trail proceeds back into the rising woods. Virtually retrieve the share lost down the hill from the sanctuary. For a stretch, you can see (where the vegetation is less dense) the Levante Gulf area, passing by mount Rossini we come close to the hill of Bagari, last point from which the Gulf of Levante can be seen. Once on the hill, we proceed, always on the path number 1, passing under the peak of Mount Vè and after a very scenic stretch until we arrive at the trail number 10. This is perhaps the more beautiful stretch of trail. You walk into false floor and you can enjoy a nice view of the Gulf of Monterosso and of all the
Cinque Terre. As I said we leave the path 1, which continues in the direction of Levante and take the path number 10, until we come to the San Antonio Saddle (314 m) where there are the ruins of the St. Anthony Abbot church. It is very scenic and crowded because of the presence of a school class. Truly this is the only stretch where we met people, throughout the rest of the day we enjoyed these trails in perfect solitude. We did not cross a single person, given that into the train station there was a lot of people, some even equipped by real trekkers. Bah,.. who knows where they will be gone!
Finally, we descend, take the path number 10 that from Punta Mesco takes us back to Monterosso. Even this path in terms of steepness defends itself well, there are also stone steps designed to Samson as both are high.
Satisfied at the end of the trip we relax us on the beach, the water is cold but it is an important relief for our poor feet.
For the night we chose a place in Corniglia, town from where we will start the path of tomorrow. Corniglia is the third country going southward. It's 6:00pm and we just want to go there and have a shower before preparing for the evening. So we go to the station, buy train tickets (1,20 €) and wait for the first train that will lead us to Corniglia, as usual... travelling with about 10 minutes of delay!
From the station, to reach the village of Corniglia (overlooking the sea from his 90mts of height) there are three alternatives: make a nice staircase that has 377 steps called the Lardariana, take the paved road for about one kilometer or take a bus that offers a shuttle service. We choose the second opportunity, steps we have already made in too many people while the van is full like a tram in Turin during rush hour. So, walking on the streets, in a short time we are in the town. Corniglia is an agricultural traditional village, this fact can be deducde from many terraces that are placed around the country, for the vineyard crops. I like it and I'm enchanted by these spectacular enormous rich of lemon-fruits plants. Currently Coniglia, as all countries in the Gulf lives as much with tourism.
As agreed with Mrs. Mariangela, owner of B & B "The Terraces" (www.eterasse.it), just arrived in country we call her and she comes to accept and to accompany us in what will be our house for this night. We follow her in the heart of Corniglia, in this tangle of alleys and streets. The room is a real mini apartment with bedroom, bathroom and living room with kitchen (100 € per night). Very nice. Mrs. Mariangela is very kind and careful, so much that helps us to find a restaurant for dinner (we did not want to prepare food, despite the kitchen available). The country is small, and we choose one of the few available places "da Cecio" (Restaurant Cecio). So after a nice rest we do our beautiful fish-based dinner for the modest figure of about €18 each, including a beautiful slice of delicious cake with pine nuts.
After dinner we make some steps (as if we had not made enough) among the village as we are going to enjoy the night view on the lookout of the country. Then we'll go back home to sleep. Tiredness for the walk of today and for the wake at 4:30 of this morning, begins to be felt.
Trekking to the Cinque Terre
May 16, 2004
We wake up calmly, the country is a jewel in terms of peace and silence. From the window of our residence we can admire the village of San Bernardino.
While I prepare a tea, Michela and Roberta make a quick escape to buy breakfast. Shops are open and the idea ofa beautiful fresh croissant makes us hungry! Once eaten our quiet breakfast, we set our backpacks and start to walk away not without returning at first to the lookout, to admire the view of the cliffs and the gulf in the sunlight. We get back the key to Mrs Mariangela, buy the flat bread and fruit for lunch, and we walk to the church of the town (the church of San Pietro).
Now we are running along a path that leads us from Corniglia to Via Alta (Upper path), so we shall walk a long stretch heading south and leave it, near the Sella Croce, to get off to Riomaggiore. Even today we estimated a 3-4 hours walk.
Our first path, the number 7, is placed separately but next to the church of San Pietro (that today is entirely decorated for an imminent marriage - maybe not only for that) and the path that leads to the church is decorated with the usual posters to dissuade the couple.
The trail climbs quickly, leaving behind the town of Corniglia. In some places, where the vegetation is less dense, you can see a fantastic view of Corniglia and its surroundings, so much that I was delighted to make several photographs. The vegetation is always made initially by the typical italian trees which then gives space to forest of olive, birch and chestnut trees.
Near the point where the trail crosses the paved road, we are reached by a French lady that didn't quarry much well with the reading of maps. In any case until Prato del Monte, where the trail 7/ae ends connecting to trail 1, we walk the way together, then we continue southwards and she northwards, somewhere she will be even arrived, who knows if where he wanted...
Prato del Monte, about an abundant hour of walk from Corniglia, is a plan in the green where apart from the signage of the various routes and a beautiful piece of lawn visited from wild boars there is nothing to report. We take then path 1 in the direction of Porto Venere, and the route continues flat for someparts, slightly dropping , slightly climbing, or decidedly climbing in others.
According to the map we pass Aia and Chi (meeting point of other paths) but no report has proved to be worthy of note. We walk in the woods, in silence and stillness of the forest broken only by the song of birds, in some case the path loses sight of the coast and offers a view on the hinterland of this region. We pass over, without realizing it (note that we had chosen this as a destination point to make lunch) the Monte Capri Menhir. We have not seen this Menhir, maybe we were too committed to walk and chat or maybe signs were scarce, so we walked away. The fact is that we agree we went almost at Sella Croce and back, I'm hot, and we do not talk proper. So it's time to find a nice place in the woods and finally we have lunch sitting on a trunk.
Today, unlike yesterday, we met more people and also cyclists on mountain bikes, perhaps because it is Sunday. We expected, however, such a low turnout on this path!
From Sella Croce we walk into trail 1, said Via dei Mercanti (path of merchants), which leads us directly to Riomaggiore. The path of merchants is so called because it was used by merchants to transport goods through the country. This is a path fairly steep and narrow in some parts. My guide expalins the fact that the merchants had to carry the goods themselves because in some points the trail is so narrow that even the mules did not pass. Even on the front of wild fauna, the only species we admire today are lizards, no kestrels or buzzards cited in the guide and even less salamanders.
Almost reached Riomaggiore, trail crosses the tarmac road connecting the different countries, and here it must be said that even if there are pedestrian crossings, this one just after a curve is not the best because there is no visibility on cars that are near to arrive! In any event, we cross fingers and pass!
Once in Riomaggiore we first enjoy the landscape comfortably sat up on the benches inside the yard of a church, which is placed in front of the final stretch of the path of love, a little crowded. Finally we move in the middle of the bay looking for a point to immerse our poor feet. Weather is warm and we are very tired, a little relaxation before going to the train station, as we desired.
Our train departs at 16:13 and it allows us yet to make a little trip between the alleys of the country before going into the station.
This time train is on time, and we have, fortunately, three seats for us. The sight of the coast during the journey is always fascinating, for us who come from the mountains. Once in Genoa, the train stops. There is a great confusion, some people say that there is an accident that is stopping the line, but we do not understand anything.. As usual, railways are not too swift in communicating to passengers informationsabout its own destiny. At the end we discover that due to the derailment of a train our line is interrupted and consequently trains that use this line would start off with a "not quantifiable delay" (carry-over as expressly said from loudspeaker). What alittle consolation, given that Monday morning we have to be all in the office! We skip this one and the train is finally available again, not without difficulty, to Turin with an alternative path. Finally we arrive in Turin just in time to realise that we have to wait another long hour to take the other train that will take us home.
In any case, we got so much fun; we walked and toiled, but it has really worth the pain: the place is fantastic and I can't wait to see the photos that I shot!