13 – 14 November – Pollino Regional Park
Those preceding the long-awaited excursion in the Pollino massif are feverish days . The calls between the three of us follow each other throughout the week … what equipment to bring, what clothing, food, doubts about the weather, in short, every pretext is good to hear and share the emotions that begin to rise from the depths of each one and what we do struggling to contain. After all, you know … waiting is pleasure itself!
And here we are on Saturday, I work in the morning, I am there .. but it is as if I were not there, the only thought is that … the Pollino. Marco our guide, has already put down with the dedicated applications and with the maps a path that winds over more than 32 km and that would lead us to conquer all the five peaks of the massif, an idea that many would define crazy, unattainable, but in basically it doesn’t matter to us… we are ready to give body and soul to every excursion we try. The passion and friendship that unites us far exceed rationality. We are ready to do anything, and above all we are ready to do it together.
And here we are on Saturday afternoon, off we go! … Two hours by car and we are in Viggianello , a typical historic village of Basilicata , famous for the source of San Benedetto water, welcomes us with distrust, light rain, fog and no one on the street, but that’s okay … we’re there for something else. Time to settle in a small house that we rented just for the night and off to the village to look for a place to have a bite to eat; we stroll through the small and narrow stone streets that bring us back to the last century, witnesses of a past by now gone. From afar we hear voices, laughter and music, coming from a small wooden structure where inside, heated by the heat of two stoves, about twenty people laugh and joke in front of bottles of wine and inviting meals. We sit down and immediately perceive the convivial air that pulls. Wine, good food and lots of fun ..
Here, time seems to have stopped for us, outside that tent we left our fears, our anxieties and negative thoughts that, especially in recent years, each of us carries inside, it seems to have entered a bubble where time and space are relative concepts, the only thing that matters, are the emotions that the three of us share.
We all go to bed at 10:30 pm, we check the equipment for the last time, we prepare the sandwiches that we will take with us during the excursion and we set the alarm at 4 o’clock, so as to start the path early and try to complete the business. And at the appointed time Marco wakes us up with a tune that has been with us for some time now and that for us has become the leitmotif of our mountain climbs … (for those interested, the song isAcross the mountain).
The time to get ready and immediately away from home, let’s take a look at the sky to understand if there will be good weather as the weather used to say that we now consulted daily and immediately we are stunned so much is the beauty of the sky that overlooks us illuminated by the many stars that thank you in the dim light of the country they can express themselves in all their brilliance. We slept a few hours but it doesn’t matter, the joy is great, the enthusiasm skyrocketed, fueled by the sighting of the many animals that we admire from the windows during the trip .. horses, foxes, owls … it seems they were waiting for us to welcome us in their kingdom, or at least we like to think so.
A few kilometers by car and we are in Colle Impiso , about 1500 m above sea level, the start of the path that will take us to our first peak of the day “Serra del prete”. The darkness surrounds us, the air is crisp and the mood is the best, we light the torches, take a last look at the map and off we go. The route starts already uphill, the slope is great but it is only the prelude to what awaits us during the day. We go up in silence, after all it is dark, the mountain is asleep and we are its respectful guests. We keep climbing, the legs respond well, we broke our breath, the climb is smooth… the fast pace. After an hour of walking, nature gives us its first gift, we are close to 2000 m and from a distance the sky begins to lighten, the light of dawn envelops everything, it begins to paint that splendid painting that surrounds us, it does not we just have to stop to fully enjoy its beauty; it is really true that the most beautiful things in this world are not bought, they are given to us, you just have to choose to want to receive them. And you continue to the top accompanied by a cold wind that started blowing as soon as you left the undergrowth; the top is barren, there are only rocks and a few high-altitude vegetation bushes scattered here and there, but the spectacle of the landscape that can be admired from up here is unique, the whole Pollino massif that begins to wake up under the light of the Sunrise.
The climb was challenging, but it did nothing but reinforce our resolve to complete all five peaks, one is done, continue, take the descent on path 920 which will take us back down to Campo Gaudolino . The steep descent winds through the splendid and dense beech forest that ends on an immense meadow, Campo Gaudolino precisely, we are at the foot of the second giant to be conquered, we are at the foot of Mount Pollino . We eat a hearty breakfast, made of yogurt, dried fruit, sweet rolls, again a look at the map and we are on our way again. We enter a dense forest made of beech trees and where every now and then some Bosnian pine begins to peep out , finally … it isthe symbolic tree of Pollino , is found only here and perhaps in some area of Yugoslavia, we are fascinated by it, its beauty captivates us and confirms how lucky we are to be able to live this experience. We proceed at a brisk pace and
soon we reach the summit of Pollinello, here the loricates are the masters, there are of all sizes and of all ages, some are over a hundred years old; we are impressed by their huge roots and the bright colors of their needle-like leaves, here time seems to have stopped and seems to be marked by the rhythms of nature alone. We stop in front of one of these giants, we embrace it, we caress it, we photograph it, always with respect and almost with fear, we perceive its strong but delicate smell at the same time, we are happy, enthusiastic, in a few words we are living and we are living the way we like it.
The slope begins to become important and we adjust our pace and breath, the road to the summit is still long, the path is dotted with pines that seem to distract us, thus relieving us of the effort of the climb. Every so often we turn back to enjoy the landscape that surrounds us from above, everything down begins to become small, the villages, the houses, the lowest peaks, the feeling is always the same, that of being in a perfect bubble, far away from the world. We arrive at the top accompanied by two dogs who have joined us during the climb, the fog begins to rise and suddenly covers everything, but we are at the top, even the second peak is conquered. The time to consume a sandwich – shared with those two dogs – yet another look at the weather, the usual ritual photos, a chocolate,Serra Dolcedorme 2267m .
The path that leads us to our third peak of the day winds along the ridges that extend from the Pollino to the foot of Dolcedorme, a severe ups and downs of rocks from which, however, you can admire small herds of brown horses that graze free and graze at the foot of the loricated pines creating a contrast of colors between their color and the intense green of the trees. We reach the start of the path that will take us to the top, it is about 2.5 km, all uphill, the legs still hold, the breath is there, we stop for a few minutes, the time for a drink, some photos of the horses , the inevitable teased between the three of us and off .. up to the top. The path is similar to the one just traveled on Monte Pollino, only a little richer in vegetation, but always dry and austere. We walk along it at a good pace, surrounded by the fog that rises from below, we want to reach the top soon so that we still have a few hours of light to try to complete our tour of the five peaks. At about 14 we are finally up, we are greeted by the greetings of a group that had preceded us and that we do not know at all, they greet us they call us they welcome us on the top … Fantastic !!! They are boys and girls, all from southern Italy, Calabria and Puglia in particular, we introduce ourselves, and immediately as if we have known each other for some time we begin to eat and toast, to share the things that everyone has brought with them … but above all to share joy and emotions. It is incredible to notice how the mountain has the almost cathartic power, indeed I remove the almost, to bring us back to our natural dimension, to a human dimension made up of sincere relationships, relationships and emotions.
It is as if the climb were the necessary path to free ourselves and relieve ourselves of all the superfluous and useless that our society imposes on us. we are greeted by the greetings of a group that preceded us and we do not know at all, they greet us they call us they welcome us to the top… Fantastic !!! They are boys and girls, all from southern Italy, Calabria and Puglia in particular, we introduce ourselves, and immediately as if we have known each other for some time we begin to eat and toast, to share the things that everyone has brought with them … but above all to share joy and emotions. It is incredible to notice how the mountain has the almost cathartic power, indeed I remove the almost, to bring us back to our natural dimension, to a human dimension made up of sincere relationships, relationships and emotions. It is as if the climb were the necessary path to free ourselves and relieve ourselves of all the superfluous and useless that our society imposes on us. we are greeted by the greetings of a group that preceded us and we do not know at all, they greet us they call us they welcome us to the top… Fantastic !!!
They are boys and girls, all from southern Italy, Calabria and Puglia in particular, we introduce ourselves, and immediately as if we have known each other for some time we begin to eat and toast, to share the things that everyone has brought with them … but above all to share joy and emotions. It is incredible to notice how the mountain has the almost cathartic power, indeed I remove the almost, to bring us back to our natural dimension, to a human dimension made up of sincere relationships, relationships and emotions. It is as if the climb were the necessary path to free ourselves and relieve ourselves of all the superfluous and useless that our society imposes on us. they greet us they call us they welcome us to the top… Fantastic !!! They are boys and girls, all from southern Italy, Calabria and Puglia in particular, we introduce ourselves, and immediately as if we have known each other for some time we begin to eat and toast, to share the things that everyone has brought with them … but above all to share joy and emotions. It is incredible to notice how the mountain has the almost cathartic power, indeed I remove the almost, to bring us back to our natural dimension, to a human dimension made up of sincere relationships, relationships and emotions. It is as if the climb were the necessary path to free ourselves and relieve ourselves of all the superfluous and useless that our society imposes on us. they greet us they call us they welcome us to the top… Fantastic !!! They are boys and girls, all from southern Italy, Calabria and Puglia in particular, we introduce ourselves, and immediately as if we have known each other for some time we begin to eat and toast, to share the things that everyone has brought with them … but above all to share joy and emotions. It is incredible to notice how the mountain has the almost cathartic power, indeed I remove the almost, to bring us back to our natural dimension, to a human dimension made up of sincere relationships, relationships and emotions. It is as if the climb were the necessary path to free ourselves and relieve ourselves of all the superfluous and useless that our society imposes on us. and immediately as if we had known each other for some time we begin to eat and toast, to share the things that everyone has brought with them … but above all to share joy and emotions. It is incredible to notice how the mountain has the almost cathartic power, indeed I remove the almost, to bring us back to our natural dimension, to a human dimension made up of sincere relationships, relationships and emotions. It is as if the climb were the necessary path to free ourselves and relieve ourselves of all the superfluous and useless that our society imposes on us. and immediately as if we had known each other for some time we begin to eat and toast, to share the things that everyone has brought with them … but above all to share joy and emotions. It is incredible to notice how the mountain has the almost cathartic power, indeed I remove the almost, to bring us back to our natural dimension, to a human dimension made up of sincere relationships, relationships and emotions. It is as if the climb were the necessary path to free ourselves and relieve ourselves of all the superfluous and useless that our society imposes on us. relationships emotions. It is as if the climb were the necessary path to free ourselves and relieve ourselves of all the superfluous and useless that our society imposes on us. relationships emotions. It is as if the climb were the necessary path to free ourselves and relieve ourselves of all the superfluous and useless that our society imposes on us.We go up .. but while we go up we go down in ourselves!
We stop for a while at the top with our new friends, the atmosphere is festive, friendly, we exchange information on the route, on the experiences we have had and on what to do, yes he laughs, we are happy. There is Francesco a professional guide, there is a nice math teacher with his wife, there are Giulia and Martina , two very cute Apulian girls in their twenties, who, although visibly tired, burst out with joy and vitality from all pores. … in short, all different … but up here all the same, all very small compared to the mountain … all more real, all more human.
One last thing remains to be done, the signatures and the dedication on the summit book, an unmissable appointment for every hiker, Luca and Marcothey entrust me with this task, in reality they know very well what I will write… they are the words of a famous mountaineer that we feel ours, they have entered us and now they accompany us in every adventure. If you want to read them, if you are curious they are there … on the summit book !!
We spent a lot of time up here, we know that we no longer have the necessary hours of light to complete the other two peaks … but after all, what does it matter here, it is good, it is fabulous, the company is beautiful, the view that as far as the eye can see it stretches over the whole massif takes your breath away. Brief meeting between the three of us and we decide to return, we expect another 10 km to go up to Colle Impiso , in front of us there is Passo delle Ciavole to descend and then the Piani del Pollino to cross. We take yet another steep descent
of the day, we are no longer alone, now the group has grown, we will make the way back together. The steep and slippery descent ends in a magnificent meadow where three huge loricate pines are the masters, behind them the other splendid peak that we had set out to climb, Serra delle Ciavole ; we just admire it from below covered with pine trees, it almost seems to call us, invite us to climb, but we don’t have time, or rather we could face it at night, we are equipped and we would also have the recklessness to try, we know well however that it is better not to risk it, after all it is a place that we know little about and we must respect it. After all, we have already done a lot during the day.
It takes us a while to convince Marco of this but in the end we take the road back that winds through meadows – where wolves and wild boars are the masters at night – and dense, dark, majestic beech woods. The last two hours of walking require the artificial light of the torches and in the dark the mountain manifests all its severity and its mystery. The adrenaline and enthusiasm for the three of us are still high, we do not feel tired despite the more than 20 km covered, many of which are steeply uphill, we are not yet at the end of the route that we are already thinking about the next exit.
Everyone in his heart thinks of the next half, Gran Sasso in winter, the Sila , the Dolomites . We just have to
decide, everything is fine, just do it … and just do it together.
To be continue
Mario, Luca and Marco
