Wednesday, January 21, 2004
My first real outing in the mountains, in a completely new environment, was the trip to Monte Scalambra. When I started going up into the mountains I had fairly clear ideas. First of all I had to learn to get to know the lower peaks of the Apennines. First of all it was for me a matter of safety, and secondarily a matter of ambition. You reach the higher peaks of the Apennines step by step.
Monte Scalambra is a mountain you can also reach by car. A paved road that starts from Serrone leads practically almost to the summit. But my goal was not the peak but rather the training. I decided to climb from Piglio. It was in fact a climb of over 700 meters of elevation gain.
The Start of the Climb
I leave the car near a wide open space just after the Villa Florence building. You go back up the road on foot, passing beyond the private road of "Simenoni Coppe"; just after the bend we come across a stone wall that marks the edge of a settlement. We climb the paved road on the left and continue until we reach a mule track. Along the mule track my inexperience keeps me from seeing a trail marker that is barely visible. After continuing pointlessly along the mule track I am forced to turn back and find the fork again. On the wall uphill the trail begins and makes its way into the woods. The trail is very little trodden. Only a few hunters still walk along it in search of wild boar.
The Wrong Clothing
I am dressed in a heavy jacket and a pair of jeans. A rough outfit for this kind of hiking. There is a biting cold in the air and yet, closed up in that jacket, I am sweating like never before. I can't take off too much because underneath I have a sweatshirt and a t-shirt that by now have become soaked with sweat. I choose to go more slowly so as to sweat as little as possible. The backpack is one of those that were popular in the early two-thousands, the kind with a single shoulder strap. It's the worst of the worst. My shoulder aches and it keeps throwing me off balance as I walk...
The Encounter with the Hunter
I lose the trail; it was obvious it would happen in a territory so little frequented by hikers: the signage is scarce and the trail tracks very ambiguous. But I have figured out where the summit is, so I keep going among little rocks and steep meadows.
Suddenly I look up and find a hunter acting as a lookout. He is sitting on a large boulder, looking at the view. I realize I risked a shot of buckshot in the backside... then, laughing, I tell him … I got lost... he advises me to whistle...
As I continue I think that this man is a true mountain dweller. Apart perhaps from the habit of hunting, which I don't fully share, nonetheless he had been there for hours waiting for his wild boar. He was there without panting, without effort, he seemed to be in his element.
I understand that here, before feeling the mountain under my skin, I will have to sweat quite a bit... because the mountain is not just simple, planned athleticism. The mountain is something more. There are those who live in the mountains and know its virtues and faults. I am still a beginner. A greenhorn, an unfledged little fledgling who still has to learn...
The Snow and the Summit
At 1300 meters the snow begins to appear. The last stretch of the climb is pure joy for my eyes. I don't have gaiters and my shoes keep filling up with snow but … I am happy to find myself in this environment. When I come out onto the ridge the view opens up onto the Monti Simbruini, which at the time I barely knew. One above all, however, I manage to recognize. It's Monte Viglio... I already sense that this will have to be my next peak. An intuition that would come true a few months later.
At the summit there is a young man warming up a cup of food. He is dressed to the nines in a heavy ski suit. I envy him without knowing that it is completely wrong clothing.
He has a bearded face and is a few years younger than me. He has a striking resemblance to Messner, so much so that I think his presence here is just a joke. He is likeable and his little dog follows him everywhere...
We talk about how we made it to the summit and decide to go down together, a companionship that would make the long way back lighter.