A via ferrata adventure

We’ve been busy so I’m a bit behind with my blogs for this trip. A couple of days ago, we did a lovely route which headed up from the Roman Bridge in the village of Ceniga and dropped back down to Dro. It had several sections of via ferrata… paths with wire ropes, suspended wooden stairways, and stone steps carved into the rock. The views of the Sarca river valley were wonderful.

We cycled to the start of the route and locked our bikes up. The path began by climbing through an olive grove then into the woods. When we reached the via ferrata we put our helmets and harnesses on, then began the first wired section, hoping it wasn’t going to be too exposed and scary.

It wasn’t, and was really enjoyable. The path alternated between open and panoramic stretches and sections in the vegetation. The route was about 7 kilometers long, and had almost 500 meters of height difference to go up and then back down. Thankfully, it wasn’t as hot and sunny as forecast, but we were still glad of the shaded sections of woodland.

The Stentiero degli Scalone that we followed is a historical path built in the early 1900s by the Austrians. It is also known as Percorso alle Cavre. The cavre are trestles that were once used as cable cars for the downhill transport of timber. I can’t believe I didn’t get a photo of one!

We finally reached the top, meandering gently up and down in the woods before reaching Crozolam Park where there was a good viewpoint and picnic area.

The path downhill was tougher than the uphill, mainly because our bodies are getting old, with creaking knees! After an unprotected section we reached via Ferrata dell Anglone. This is an easy via Ferrata with staircases carved into the rock, leading to the base of a large rock wall. We didn’t feel the need to clip into the wires for this, just using them as hand rails for support.

A forest track through olive groves took us back to the road that we followed to Ceniga. Thankfully our bikes were still safe and we were soon back at the campsite. It was a great day out, although we almost broke Dan, who isn’t built for heat 😱 Sorry Dan!

PS We saw dozens of skinks… little lizards with short legs and tubular bodies. The kept scuttling up the rocks as we climbed. John was startled by a snake, basking by the forest path on top of the cliff. It was about a metre long and, we think, an Aesculapian snake.

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