The Path of Peace to the Doss of Death
After a poor night’s sleep induced by our neighbours’ noisy cat we were looking forward very much to a stroll in the mountains with our Italian friends. We had arranged to meet them at 8:30 at a place called Pieve di Bono. Pieve di Bono is an idea not a place, unfortunately. It is a group of villages and we drove way past the car park and carried on, unaware of our error, for some miles. After this minor problem we met them and drove together to the start of our stroll.
Today’s stroll is not well marked and none of us had any experience of this particular path so we visited the mayor (sindaco) of the area first, in order to get advice about where to start and where we might make mistakes. He was on the scaffolding of his house supervising some major rebuilding but came down to pass on his wisdom.
The sentiero della pace marks the front held by the Austro-Hungarians in WW1. When we strolled along the Sentiero at Rio Caino the other day we could see the enemy trenches along the hill opposite. Today we were on the other side of the valley.
At the end of the forest road there is a very austere building. This was the old fortress commanding this part of the front for the Austrians. There is a small car park from which to set off upwards.
The views from the fort are fabulous and we hung about looking over the edges for quite a long time before setting forth.
After wandering about in woods for the first part of the stroll we got into clear air at about 1800 metres. This is about as high as trees can grow here so we are always pleased to leave them behind. The open ground was filled with fabulous blue flowers which my friends assure me are Gentiana Germanicus.
The trenches are still very much in evidence but are losing definition as the sides become less steep and the bottoms less profound. This ground has obviously had quite a lot of disturbance as there are nettles and brambles everywhere where there are the remains of fortifications. The meadows around the trenches have all been mown in order to keep the fine grass in check. The down side of this attention to the terrain is to provide a layer of incredibly slippery hay. I was treated to a surprising slide on my backside by these unforgiving dry leaves.
The real footpath is quite serpentine in nature but we went straight upwards once the top came into view. One of our companions said that the footpaths here are not well marked as this discourages the casual visitor who might disturb the delicate balance of plants and animals in this beautiful and fragile place.
- Picnic at the top
Having enjoyed a picnic and explored the top of the mountain we thought that a group photo would be a good thing. After a few dismal attempts we came up with the perfect solution. One of our number, an electronics person called Lorenzo, found the perfect place for the camera. Lorenzo is not the tallest man but, by giving him a boost to place the camera on top of a communications box, we may have a group photo. We may not have a group photo as the thing may have gone off before we got back to the group. Only time will tell.
We should have attempted this move before lunch.
It was so pleasant for us to be guided. To have no responsibility for our route or whether we were on a proper path. It was also very odd to retrace our footsteps. For so long we have only moved in one direction and have lost the instinct to remember how to get back home.
Our fellow strollers did not know this particular path but all have a deep knowledge of all of the mountains around us. Paulo, in the photo above, is pointing out some of the peaks, I do wish that my memory was better for this sort of thing.
The summit of Dosso dei Morti is, more or less, a ridge. This topography gives stunning views down to the valleys on either side. Apparently there is a huge lake down there somewhere although we couldn’t see it today.
The hill is home to various large mammals, a type of small goat and boar among them. The evidence of these mammals was to be found everywhere. The ground was like a ploughed field in places as a resut of the attentions of the boar and loads of trees were missing bark as a result of close encounters with the goats. Seeing the trees so short of bark one wonders how they survive.
Arriving back in Ponte Caffaro we had enough time to get a shower and so on before setting out for some delicious gnocchi at a small village festival. I am just getting used to driving again and so it has been odd today driving our right hand drive car to Pieve di Bono and a friend’s left hand drive car home from Roncone.
A great day out in all respects.
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