We don’t EVER like to accept defeat, but our desire to stay alive won against our desire to climb the Sassi. These trails beat us not once, but twice, (and then again a year later!)
We were hiking In the Apennine Mountains in Italy, and the trail that beat us was in the Parco Naturale Regionale del Sasso Simone e Simoncello. This national park borders regions of Emilia-Romagna and Tuscany in the area of Carpegna and boasts two Sassi, standing proud above the trees. Sasso translates as “stone”, but these Sassi are less stones and more free-standing monoliths/mountains/bluffs that dominate the view from afar but are quite innocently hidden by trees from the trail.
The two Sassi both posed tracks which we thought only a mountain climber (with spikes and youth) would be able to climb. With no inclination to climb anything requiring spikes, and with our youth only a memory, we decided to just let the Sassi win.
The Sasso trail lulled us into a false sense of accomplishment by starting out with a beautiful, meandering, tree-lined and autumn-leaf covered trail.This trail wandered prettily under the trees, with dappled light falling gently through the canopy,
We followed the trail until we came to a fork marked by one of the notoriously inaccurate Italian hiking signs. Being wise to the ways of Italian hiking signage, we stood for some time trying to decide whether to follow the beautiful trail, or head off into the unknown as the sign indicated. We decided on the path to the right which seemed to wind up towards the Sasso Simone. The path quickly become more of a goat track with each step. We clambered rather than walked, holding onto shrubs to stop ourselves sliding into the treetops far below. We were both pleased and a little scared to find a mountain climbing wire had been permanently bolted to the side of the path to help with the ascent and descent. We made it to a flat shelf where we sat and ate our picnic lunch on the edge of all the world, looking out at the second Sasso – Simoncello.. The path continued around to the other side, and we hoped, to a reasonable path leading to the top of the Sasso. Instead, we found ourselves on the edge of a path that lead nowhere except a sheer wall of rock. The climb was made more precarious with a howling wind that promised to sweep us off the side. We gave up and re-traced our steps, looking back at the Sasso that beat us.
At least it only beat us half way up, which was better than our attempt at the second Sasso where we didn’t even come close to half way.
The second Sasso was directly opposite the first and seemed much, much bigger from afar. In hindsight, the two Sassi may actually be the same size but not parallel. According to our landlady, there was a 360 degree view from the top and we love a great view! Along the same tree-lined trail, we then followed a path off to the left side which indicated access to the other Sasso. (This indication was done by way of arrows drawn on a national park sign by hand – we should have known better). We heard voices ahead speaking in Italian but thought nothing of it as sound carries. The voices belonged to a group of young men who were all chatting and laughing. Now we know they were laughing both because they had made it to the top, and because they could see we were foolish enough to try it for ourselves.
We thought we would try to use the path they had just apparently come down. We should have been warned by the fact that the “red and white” trail markers had become “red” trail markers. I’m not sure if the authorities marked the trail in red or if some intrepid hiker used the red markers as a form of breadcrumbs to find his way out again. At the time the track was narrow but beautiful, meandering between moss covered rocks under the canopy. We had no idea what was coming.
The path seemed to wind up the side of the Sasso. It was super steep and narrow, with loose rock, plants holding on by sheer determination and leaf litter making it difficult to know where to put your feet. We started up the path, holding onto shrubs and rocks (which would come away in our hands and roll down the path and over the edge. I was afraid that was where we would end up if we didn’t find something solid to hold onto). Andrew climbed further up the trail than I did. I gave up when my left foot was above me and my right foot was sliding below me, with nothing to grab hold of. I decided to back down the path on my hands and knees, or I would end up doing the splits all the way to the bottom. Andrew followed a little more gracefully but no less disappointed.
The Sasso beat us and we never knew how good the view was from the top. I’m nearly 100% sure there must have been another easy track that we missed, that would have had us meandering up the side of the Sasso with panoramic views on all sides.
A year later, we walked past the Sassi junction of trails again, to see if there was indeed a more simple access to the top. We walked around and around and couldn’t see another path. While we were doing this, yet another group of young, fit Italian men made it to the top and could be seen waving and shouting in triumph. Damn it! Maybe you have to be fit, young and Italian to climb the Sasso. Maybe there’s a secret code written in Italian that we of meagre Italian skills will never decipher. Whatever the reason, the Sassi beat us and we will never know the glory of standing on the top, or the wonder of a 360 degree view over the mountains and valleys of the Apennines.
