Stage 25b: Sarzana to Carrera Avenza. Ancient ruins, (a ruined ancient?). (Part 2)

The ruins of the Roman port of Luni, rather disappointingly presented 

with poor explanations, no facilities and excruciating translations into English, 

were the venue for my lunch, after which I passed the amphitheatre, and unexpectedly found a stamp at the ticket office.

On towards Avenza, a long stretch beside the railway line bringing me to a graffito homage to Francis Bacon, 

and time, while waiting for the train, to notice the marble quarries, started by the Romans, which have altered the contours of these mountains through the subsequent centuries.

Since Piacenza, my right foot has been troubling me, and I feel like an ancient ruin myself, necessitating some reluctant adjustments to my itinerary, as anything longer than 17 or 18km is becoming uncomfortable. However, with the major portion of this attempt on the Via now achieved, and only two stages remaining after tomorrow's transfer day, completion of my target seems doable.

Stage 25b: Sarzana to Carrera. Ancient ruins, (a ruined ancient?). (Part 1)

What was mostly a flat section started with a climb, after an exceptional pistachio croissant in Sarzana, and a brief look at the lower of two fortresses.

At the top of the climb was another fortress

And following this I managed an entire loop of about 2km before finding the fortress again

Eventually heading along the right track down along flat minor urban roads for most of the day, and often walking beside the same canal as yesterday for good stretches, I enjoyed the cooler air which some overnight rain had brought.

Stage 24: Aulla to Sarzana. I see the sea. (Part 2).

At some point on this descent, I spotted this wreck, now reused as a waymarker for the Via.  And then I saw the sea.

I ventured off the Via at 11am into the narrow, winding, stepped streets of Ponzano Superiore, another hilltop town, its houses piled improbably on top of each other, and stopped at the church for some shade, food and rest.

Just above the town I took the shot of the huge container facility at Santo Stefano di Magra, which I know the Bro would have taken.

And then on, with a few sneaky climbs springing up when least expected, down a flaking shale path, through the ruins of Brina Castle, which used to guard the Via, 

And on until reaching the valley bottom and the crystal waters of the Lunense Canal, with plenty of little fish visible.  

It's a long hot haul of 3km from there into the main square of Sarzana, where I greedily downed a vanilla milkshake, then headed to the station, caught a train in the wrong direction and had an hour's wait before the ride back to rain-dampened streets in Pontremoli.

Stage 24: Aulla to Sarzana. I see the sea. (Part 1)

Two very long climbs through woods today;

the first out of Aulla, up to Bibola, perched on top of a hill. It was only 8.30 when I reached it, but I was already streaming with sweat. On towards Vecchietto, aware that another, longer climb awaited me. Was it that hill, I wondered?

Despite the arduous climbs, there were some gorgeous views.

Then into the crumbling charm of Vecchietto, 

followed by a 3km gruelling climb, mercifully in woods, before the crossroads of Quattro Strade, where many trails meet, and finally the trend was downhill for the next 10km.

Stage 23: Filattiera to Aulla. Carved walnuts, tadpoles and Insect Alley. (Part 2)

The well-kept village of Filetto, where a much-needed coffee and brioche was chugged down, is worth a visit.

Just before Filetto, I spotted these tiny figures carved out of walnuts, and being sold for donations to the two living popes, but as they probably don't really need much financial assistance, I forebore a contribution.

See also the impressive walled village of Virgoletta, 

after which there was some climbing to be done, into a long wooded stretch winding through gentle hills. For the last 3km, I was assailed by a squadron of flies, midges and mosquitos, despite another application of repellent. Then a descent over slick cobbles to this waterfall,

and a sudden glimpse of mighty mountains.

Finally to this impressive castle at Masero on the outskirts of Aulla, noting in passing that the tourist office which it houses closes every day at noon, just before one might expect pilgrims to start arriving, looking for a stamp.

A baking last 2km into Aulla on nasty roads, and up to the station, where I downed a pint or so of cold milk and a delicious lemon millefeuille.

Stage 23: Filattiera to Aulla. Carved walnuts, tadpoles and Insect Alley. (Part 1)

After lower temperatures in the mountains, it was back to the upper twenties and into the thirties today, although for most of the day I walked on broad lanes through trees, with little variation in height, along the side of the broad Magra valley. Filattiera has new and old towns.

There were streams to ford, like this one with big tadpoles,

and others crossed on bridges.

oops! technical ineptitude!

I've just discovered that I haven't properly created the YouTube videos that I've provided previously in links.  If you clicked on them, you will have been told they were "private".  I've now changed that, so you should be able to see and hear them all now, like this one of frogs outside Nicorvo on 11 May which won't appear in that post as it got completely snarled up 

Apologies.  I recommend that you at least go back and watch the ones on the Po on 17 May.

Extra WG moment for train fans

I know it's not steam....

Newsflash: extra WG moment

Splendid piece of mouldering WG today.

Stage 22b: Previdè to Pontremoli. I'm glad I'm not a mule.

I was sad to leave my hosts this morning (see the previous post), after a jolly evening with my four hosts and members of Riccardo's family. I took up the path on the doorstep, and, at first, it wove along narrow grassy shelves through orchards, and the neighbouring hamlets.

There were bridges over small streams (there's been very little snow or rain this winter), 

and soon some steep climbing, and for most of the day the path followed old cobbled mule tracks, 

winding through woodland, now steeply up, now vertiginously down. My heart went out to those mules of old, clambering up or pitching down, under heavy loads, and I was glad of my day pack.  

This stage is the demanding back end of the walk down from the Cisa Pass, and I would strongly recommend breaking it in two, if you are carrying a full pilgrim's rucksack; it's fine as an exhilarating 11km to Pontremoli, but after the preceding climbs and descents, I'd suggest it would be the last thing you'd want.

It's also goodbye to the alpine heights, a last lookout over a muggy valley, before the coast starts to appear in the next few days.

Once ensconced in my Airbnb palazzo, and my luggage delivered, Riccardo suggested a local restaurant, which I went to, and discovered him and his family already eating, and they kindly invited me to join them, so it wasn't quite goodbye, with their excellent company to enjoy again.

Eremo Gioioso: a special place.

As you can see from the photos in the "Previdè" post, this last place I stayed, nestled in the southern Appenines, is magical, and deserves more than a passing reference.

 The original owners, Marco and Marzia, took seven years to rebuild a ruined 1,000 year old building, to a very high spec, and have turned it into a wonderful halt for pilgrims. The Via goes directly past the front door. They've brought it right up to date, keeping lots of the cool stone and wooden beam character, excellent plumbing, and providing great meals using local produce.

Now they want to move on, and, over the coming year, Lara and Riccardo are taking over.

It's the best place I've stayed as a pilgrim (although Angela Bianchi's Residenza dei Mille in Pavia is a close second).

All four of them embraced me immediately as part of the family, and it was a wrench to leave. I have promised myself and them that I will be back; there's fantastic gorge swimming to be had there, but I truly felt in my three days of walking while based there, and while in the hamlet itself, that I'd found that liminal space, between this world and some other realm of consciousness that my aforementioned chum The Pilgrim describes, but I've rarely experienced.

Stage 21b and 22a: Berceto to Previdè. I should've trusted that deer. (Part 2)

Finally I reached Monte Valoria. At 1,229m, it's probably the highest point from here to Rome, and a stunning panorama, looking back towards the north first. (Oh, and there's that power line again, and a motorway and tunnel if you look closely).

Then steeply down through beech wood, the floor adrift with wild garlic, 

and so to the Cisa Pass where the Via enters Tuscany.

That wound through yet more beech wood, the path now clearly marked at every twist, morphing into conifer, and eventually came out at the Paso del Righetto.

Then about 3km of very steep mule track down into the valley, and across an alarmingly swaying suspension bridge, before a final steep climb up to the village of Previdè, and the Eremo Gioioso, (jolly hermitage) which is a beautifully restored stone building directly on the Via (with a pilgrim oasis), where I have been superbly hosted, to which I must return, but must also leave tomorrow.

Stage 21b and 22a:. Berceto to Previdè. I should've trusted the deer. (Part 1)

Some more incredible views and wildflowers today.  

The Via exits Berceto on a tree-lined street.  

The town is worthy of more attention than I gave it; yesterday my hosts were waiting for me, and this morning I was keen to get into the woods again.

It was a day of detours and mishaps; I lost the lead for my power pack, I forgot to pack my insect repellent, and I almost left my packed lunch behind. Some days seem full of such minor irritations, like finding my rucksack straps have got twisted, or I need to take my pack off for a third time in five minutes, or I can't quite reach behind me to get the suncream out, so I have to stop again, or a stone has leapt up into my boot from nowhere, or my phone's somehow lost 25% of its power in the first half an hour. Such a day was today.

Despite that, the route once again took me up steep woodland paths, through hazel and sycamore to begin with

then steadily climbing on rutted clay on the Monte Valoria variant, which was recommended by my host and British pilgrims on my first night. At one point the path forked, one branch leading steeply up, the other straight on. As I stood trying to work out which to take, a dark brown doe appeared straight ahead, and stood there looking at me for a few seconds, as if to say: "This way". Then she stepped into the woods and dissolved into the trees.

I ignored her and went straight uphill, on what turned out to be a pointless, but rather pretty, if very steep, 2km loop back to the path. I should've trusted that deer. But it did allow me to provide something for the WG gang to admire: this fascinating stretch of high voltage wire which sang and snapped above me for the first part of the day.

Stage 20b and 21a: Bardone to Berceto. Wild flower meadows and woods.

A stiff pull up from Bardone, but I was soon walking in woods, looking back down across wild flowers to the Taro valley.

The paths wound up and down, sometimes extremely steeply, through the dense woodland which hugs the mountains.

Then, suddenly, you'd come out on an open ridge to vast views across the valleys.

The species are diverse; I've seen walnut, chestnut, hazel, oak, cherry, birch, elder, acacia, and the ubiquitous poplar, as well as several I can't identify. There was a long stretch of conifer, just before Cassio, where my tracking skills were tested, as the path was not signposted, and some foresters had usefully shoved cut branches over the path, completely obscuring it and creating an obstacle course, which I nonetheless managed to negotiate successfully.

Through Cassio, the halfway point,

And on past an ostello, where I found a stamp, the Via now merging with the main road, now veering off through more woodland, and singing "Climb every Mountain" as I crested yet another steep hill.  

Just outside Berceto, there were fantastic views across alpine meadows bursting with long swaying grasses and swathes of wildflowers, and my inner Julie Andrews was duly satisfied. 

I met a giant of a man on one of these high meadows, who had walked for five weeks from the Netherlands and is heading to Rome.

Into Berceto, to be met by my hosts, and a drive on switchback mountain roads dripping with bright yellow laburnum trees in full flower.

This was a hard stage, although it was a cooler day, but a really beautiful one, and certainly in the top five of the Via since the Alps.