Monte Greco from Passo Godi

Saturday, 1 October 2011

Route description

Monte Greco is the highest summit of the Marsicani; it is an isolated peak within a group of minor summits of little aesthetic interest.
To the east of Monte Greco we have the summits of Le Gravare di Sotto, Toppe del Tesoro and Monte Pratello.
To the west, instead, we find Serra di Rocca Chiarano and Rocca Chiarano; to the south-east the group is closed off by Monte Chiarano, a low hill in front of Monte Greco itself that we could easily consider a continuation of it. To the north-west, instead, we find the wide Piano delle Gravare, which slopes gently down towards Scanno.

Of the many ways up Monte Greco, you can do a loop that rides along all the western summits of the group: Serra di Rocca Chiarano, Rocca Chiarano, Monte Chiarano, Greco and the small summit (if we want to call it that) of Serra Le Gravare.

It is a loop of about 20 km for very well-trained legs, one that calls for endurance on your feet but not too much power to cope with the ups and downs.

We recommend the loop in late summer, when the air is cooler, avoiding the hottest spells.

At Passo Godi you leave the car in the large car park in front of Rifugio di Passo Godi.
You head towards the short drag lift that climbs the slopes of Serra di Rocca Chiarano.
You bear slightly left (that is, north-west), heading for the metal structures that stop avalanches coming down from the summits above. You reach the ridge directly, with a climb of about 500 metres. Once on the ridge the route will certainly be simpler and more intuitive. Beyond the ridge we can see the Piano delle Gravare, the Piano Polverino below the distant Monte Pratello and its ugly ski lifts. To the south-east we can see the pyramid of Monte Greco standing out sharply in the middle of the valley, as if dominating all the surrounding summits. It has to be said that, precisely from an aesthetic point of view, Monte Greco is a summit that in summer looks decidedly anonymous. Almost lost among the endless humps of the Gravare plateaus, it seems a peak without character. Perhaps its appearance is more interesting in winter, when the snow cover helps to bring out its soft profile. Its aesthetically most interesting side is certainly the north-eastern one, where its rocky slopes drop sheer to the Piano di Antone Rotondo below.

From the ridge we reached by climbing directly from Passo Godi, as we said, the route immediately becomes intuitive. You follow the very long ridge line, taking in every high point and the summits of Serra di Rocca Chiarano (2262 m) and Rocca Chiarano (2175 m). From the summit of Rocca Chiarano you descend almost without a break to the Valle Pistacchio, from which you can see the summit cairn of Monte Chiarano (2178 m). After the long ride along the ridge this up-and-down may already feel like a rather hard effort. We still have, however, to climb the nearby Monte Greco. Once at Monte Chiarano you change direction, heading north-west, and climb along the soft ridge line to the summit where, at last, stands the summit cross of the coveted Monte Greco (2283 m). Thanks to its central position in this stretch of mountains you can take in, in full, the line of the summits of the Mainarde and of the mighty Marsicano group to the west, and to the north-east the outline of the Majella, which through a trick of perspective looks less imposing and massive than usual.

The return to Passo Godi closes the loop via the Serra delle Gravare, a short, soft little ridge that comes down from Monte Greco towards the Piano Le Gravare. The walk carries on across the plateau, keeping the long Serra di Rocca Chiarano on our left. From here it is wonderful to look at the imposing faces dropping sheer onto the plateau and the jagged line of the massif. We head firmly north-west towards the Valico dello Scalone (1926 m), over which we will cross to find the view of Passo Godi again. Already near the Stazzo Matruccie (a stazzo is a shepherds' stone enclosure) we can clearly make out the Valico dello Scalone and very clear signs of path on loose rubble.
From the pass you will come down on very clear signs of path (the path known as Y2), which will take you back without hesitation straight to Passo Godi, closing the loop where we had left the car at the start.

The story

This loop, which I had dreamt up more than a year before, essentially had the aim of collecting the summits of Monte Greco and Chiarano. To do it I was waiting patiently for all the necessary conditions to come together, so that out of this plan would come a marvellous hike and a great day.
Back from the Maldives, I was hardly in the mood to head off into the mountains; with my eyes still full of the marvellous Indian Ocean, I nonetheless decide to do this loop. At the last moment I contact a few friends to sound out the chance of a hike together, but with so little notice I realise that a refusal is practically a certainty.

In the end I decide to go out alone, a moment that for me could simply be considered a catharsis, the definitive turning point in my way of going to the mountains.
Leave late, move calmly, enjoy the day without rushing, get home late, in no hurry. With this attitude, which Max would call “Slow Walking”, I decide to shape the whole day. I stop all the time, I give time to photos and I walk slowly.
This will come in handy during the day to see me through the imposing 20 km loop.

I haven't walked in the mountains for six months and I can clearly feel I have lost my fitness. But these months and the holiday in the Maldives have given me back all the peace of mind to face this and other long adventures.

“Stile Alpino – Storie di Uomini e Montagne” (Alpine Style – Stories of Men and Mountains)  is the epoch-making change in my life: I choose to rediscover the mountains through the eyes of people, of the friends around me. Mountains are a place of nature of boundless wonder but also of frightening desolation, and for this reason they remain an utterly inhospitable place. Living the mountains through a companion's gaze is certainly the best way to give meaning to the desolation of the summits. After six months of sabbatical rest I decide to go back to the mountains to think about “man”, casting a look “inside” and “beyond” to sound out the questions of “meaning” in life. Stile Alpino as a travel diary that speaks of Men and Mountains. This first hike of mine is a return to the origins: I start again from myself, observing myself in my frailties as in my strengths. I discover how boring walking alone can be, without being able to exchange a word, a gesture, a glance with a companion in adventure.

I covered 20 km across ridges, summits, boulder fields, tall dry grass, knowing that beyond the look I can cast into the depths of the psyche, deep into my own spirit, tomorrow... I will cast my gaze into the eyes of other men and women who can give meaning to these boundless mountains...