A glorious day in the mountains!
We quickly rejoined the Via Francigena and it took us up and over, with wonderful views. We found a statue of a knight and a bear before the road dropped into the valley then continued to climb. In one hamlet we saw three pilgrims resting on the benches - our first fellow walkers for this Via. The deviation by the river was closed so we continued up on the road, finding a very welcome fountain and bench at Bardone. It was quickly followed by two more, in the same hamlet!
Finally the Via left the road and plunged uphill on gravel in shade, then alongside a pasture before entering the forest again.
At the top we descended steeply, sometimes on a single track. It was shady and we went through some small hamlets.
After a while we rejoined the road, which is the wet weather and cyclist Via Francigena, to take us into Cassio for lunch.
Rejuvenated, we headed out on the road, with great views of a rock formation in the valley, the Devil's Jumps. We deviated on an off road track briefly before burning up some kilometres on the asphalt. At Cavazzola we reached the 1000 kilometre mark of our walk, and celebrated with the traditional ceremonial selfie (or 2).
For the last 8 km we followed the off-road Via Francigena. There were great views, grassy paddocks and steep descents. We arrived at our lodging just after 6pm, in time to use the washing machine before dinner.
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| Shortly into the day's walk we came across this pilgrims' rest area |
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| Wonderful views opened up as we climbed into the hills |
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| A short but pleasant descent |
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| We do love coming across Roman remains. Here it's a Roman villa at Roncolongo |
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| A closed dirt track meant an extended climb on the asphalt alternative |
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| Approaching Bardone on the Via Francigena |
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| The climb to Bardone |
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| A welcome water fountain at Bardone |
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| About to leave Bardone as a few walkers and cyclists come in |
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| More climbing after Bardone |
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| Scenic walking on this stretch of the Via Francigena |
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| A tricky downhill bit |
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| Casola |
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| A bit more climbing. There was quite a bit of climbing today. |
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| Lunch in Cassio |
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| The hostel in Cassio |
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| Australian long-distance walker pointing out the Devil's Jumps rock formation across the valley |
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| The Via Francigena was again very well signposted |
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| A grassy descent on the way on from Cassio |
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| Sweeping views on the descent from Cassio |
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| Ceremonial selfie - 1000km into the walk. A Via Francigena marker on one side of the road . . . |
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| . . . and expansive views on the other |
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| Via Francigena approaching Berceto |
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| A grassy section of the path |
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| A minor obstacle |
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| Berceto in sight after a long day's walk |
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| The entry into Berceto |
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| Berceto |
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| Via Francigena pilgrim statue at Berceto |
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| Bits and pieces |
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| Bird |
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| Day 50 - Map |
Day: 50
Distance: 31.99 km
Walking time: 6 hrs 56 mins
Elevation gain: 1318 metres
Cumulative distance: 1008.75 km
Congratulations on passing 1000km!🏅
ReplyDeleteThank you! One step at a time...
DeleteWell done 🏅You are both amazing and some of those hills 😮💨
ReplyDeleteThe views make it all worthwhile!
DeleteAh yes, remember the wooden sculptures, and the steep, steep road down. Congrats on your 1000km, looking good you two. Wendy
ReplyDeleteWe were thinking of you today when we did this! Hope you enjoyed revisiting it.
DeleteWell done guys. Richard
ReplyDeleteThanks Richard. Now for the next bit...
DeleteMassive achievement!! Epic! And a 32 km day to top it off.
ReplyDeleteWe were quite tired but definitely a day to remember!
ReplyDelete