We get an earlier start than usual because the guy is up and about when we poke our heads out to check on the weather. Under way by 8am, we head down the road out of town for a bit and then head off on a dirt road that turns into a path and takes us down through the woods, across a stream, and along another stream/river until we reach Torre d'Passeri. Across the bridge, through town, out the other side. A bit of fun finding the path out of town since there were four roads with the same name, but we get it eventually, head up a hill, along the top for a bit through some fields and then cross the road at a restaurant. Uphill on the other side, past a big vineyard with a fancy looking maybe tasting room (our guess) then up a field path to the small town of Santa Maria del Monte.
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| short break before "turning left at the fountain" |
We have a quick energy bar break in the Piazza, say "bye" to the dogs that have gathered, and head on to Bolognaro. Now we pick up marked paths and head along the rim of the Orta canyon for a bit. Someone makes a smart-ass remark along the way (who would that be?) about hoping we don't have to walk up the other side after we hit the bottom. It's super humid, but not all that hot. It starts to drizzle outside Musellaro. We decide it's probably not really rain, just the next logical step for the humidity and stop for lunch in the little picnic spot in town. So as to not be stupid, we also prepare our packs for rain. After a nice lunch break (no serious rain), we head through town and then down into the gorge. Very nice path down under trees, bridge across at the bottom and then, sure enough, we start walking up the other side.
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| on the rim of the Orta canyon |
Up, up we go, through some very cool rock formations (limestone is great), mostly in the woods, up, up, up. Through a couple more small towns, past some fountains, back in the woods, up, up we go. At some point in the woods G hears a surprised grunt; 10 seconds later a wild pig shoots across the path; 10 seconds after that her offspring follows. We proceed up more, being a bit louder now so as to avoid surprising anyone else. On the ridge (finally!) we have a break and good rest before continuing on. Now we start descending a bit.
On the edge of Riga, we manage to make an early turn and end up on the wrong road. This starts ot feel wrong after a bit, but there's only one road out of Riga on the map, so we continue. We hit the big road after a bit and confirm that we've done something wrong after walking a good distance and not seeing the expected turnoff. Ah well... the road at least gets us where we want to go. After a good long stretch of asphalt, we get to the bridge and decide to end the day on a high note by doing a bit extra and heading down into the gorge.
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| Orfento gorge |
Very nice gorge path with steep walks, waterfalls, bridges, everything you want in a gorge path. As the rain starts we see the first other tourists of the trip. After a bit of enjoying the gorge, the path takes up back up, past some kind of animal park, and to the top of Caramanico Terme. We find the approximate location of our hotel on a tourist guide sign (no data connection for us) and head off. We pretty much immediately allow ourselves to be lead astray by bad signage and spend an extra 5-10 minutes going the wrong way. We correct, find our hotel, convince them that we do, in fact, have a reservation (those are fun conversations) do the shower and nap thing, get a bit of shopping down in town (surprisingly alive compared to the others we've been in so far) and then have dinner and fall asleep. It was a long day.
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