Stia to Badia Prataglia Wednsday May 20

Stia to Badia Prataglia Wednsday May 20

                                                                   Current Day                                Trip to Date                            

Miles Walked                                                20.1                                            97.4

Feet Climbed                                                4450                                           12,460

Songs of the Day: "Time Passes Slowly" by Bob Dylan

"Time passes slowly up here in the mountain

We sit beside the bridges and walk beside the fountains

Catch the wild fishes that float through the stream

Time passes slowly when you're lost in a dream"

What a day!  I believe this was the most strenuous overall walk that we have ever done.  From a pure distance standpoint, we have walked more than 20 miles only a handful of times, but never when we had a climb of almost 4500 feet combined with a descent of 3000 feet.  Of course, the statistics are inflated a bit today because we got lost on several occasions and put in several extra miles and extra climb as a result....we look forward to the day that we don't get so lost!

We were fortunate that the weather  today was near perfect for hiking- mid 50's to low 60's and overcast.  It sprinkled on us a couple of times, but nothing serious.  Ironically, it started pouring just after we checked into the hotel around 4:30.  

Of the 20 miles we walked today, I would guess that perhaps 1 mile or less total was on flat ground.  Everything else was either going up or down, sometimes steeply so.  We had one stretch of about 1.5 miles that went straight up the mountain.  A true calf killer!  When we finished the hike, we had a feeling almost like you would getting off a boat-  a sort of equilibrium challenge from not being on level ground combined with tired legs.

About 3 miles after leaving Stia, we entered the National Park of the Casentinesi Forest.  This is a huge park and two Italian regions intersect in this park: Tuscany and Emilia Romagna.  We will only be hiking through the Tuscany portion. This park is a true national treasure.  Many of you readers have plans to travel to Tuscsny.  If you get a chance, I would r commend this area for its incredible beauty.   

The entire day tomorrow will be spent in this park, hiking to Chiusi Della Verna.  The walk will be similar to today, with lots of climbing, only a bit shorter.  

The scenery today was simply spectacular, through a very dense forest.  Along the way, we came across significant numbers of huge trees that were tipped over from the roots.  We also saw a number of trees that were tipped to their side and looked like they could fall any moment.  We were a bit concerned that a tree might fall over on us! The lady at our hotel told us that they had a tornado in March that ripped up a significant number of trees.  She said this was highly unusual for this area. 

The forest was initially pine trees and then mostly beechwood trees.  In honor of this, for Song of Day honors, I considered the only song I know with the word Beechwood:  "Beechwood 4-5789" by the Marvelettes. This was a sort of lite pop song from the early 60's. I discovered today that Marvin Gaye was a co-writer of this song.  But somehow, it just didn't seem appropriate for the day.

Here are some photos from the day.  As you would expect, a bunch of photos of the forest!

We met our first fellow hikers last night- a German couple who were staying at our hotel.  But, they are a little behind us, and we will likely not see them again.  Otherwise, we have not met any other hikers.

Health update: a lot of sore muscles and some tired feet.  But nothing that a couple of Advil and a bottle of good red wine won't take care of! 

Sports Update: San Francisco Giants win their 4th game in a row, beating the much hated Los Angeles Dodgers! But, the Dodgers remain firmly in first place (for now).

We are the only guests at a fairly large hotel here in Badia  Prataglia.  This is the offseason for this area, not yet summer.  The lady running the hotel told us we will be the only people at dinner tonight!