Hiking on the Aurunci Mountains: Mount Ruazzo’ peak (1314 mt – 4311 ft)
Topic : Useful Information
Itinerary:
Mount Ruazzo (Italian Alpine Club (CAI) trail n. 56) via Mount Mesole and Fosso di Fabio
Starting point:
Acquaviva’s mountain refuge and local spring – parking space for cars
Height difference: 520 m
Difficulty: Medium
Time way in: 2 hours
Returning: 1,45 hours
Winter has come. Time to pull on the hiking boots and heads off to experience the gorgeous Italian landscape of the Aurunci Mountains.
This time we have chosen to climb Mount Ruazzo (1314 mt. – 4311 ft) a peak right in the middle of the southern Aurunci Mountains at less than 10 kilometers inland from the sea of Gaeta’s Gulf. The ideal starting point is from the little medieval village of Maranola, 15 minutes drive on the hills above Formia, where a narrow rural road (Via Redentore) takes you up to a good starting point for excellent walks along ridges on which old paths offer spectacular panoramas of sea and mountains.
Maranola is the first of a number of small, timeless rural villages on these mountains that make a remarkable contrast with the busier, livelier seaside towns of the southern Lazio. Yet while the beautiful, white sand beaches lure the summer crowds, these mountains remain wonderfully unspoiled, dotted with whitewashed stone villages. Small, hidden valleys, hills and pastures among the mountains are grazed by horses, cows, goats, sheep and wild boar inhabit their forests. This is especially good walking territory, criss-crossed by many ancient shepherds' trails.
A great plus point of exploring our mountain itineraries of South Pontino is that, like everywhere in Italy, you'll be hiking in epicurean land which will give you the opportunity to sample excellent local, fully organic mountain delicatessens and wine. A great idea is to prepare or buy a pack lunch with home made bread sandwiches and the typical local products by strolling in the historic centre of Maranola to find a small ‘salumeria’ (a small deli-shop).
The drive to the starting point will not take more than 15 minutes drive from the village on a rural road where a fantastic panorama of mountains and sea starts to unveil while you drive further up the hills. The landscape on the way is also charming and gentle, with view of this generous vine and olive countryside surrounding the South Pontino’s hilltop villages. At the very end of the rural road there is mountain refuge of Acquaviva where starts the hiking trail n.56 numbered by the Italian Alpine Club (Club Alpino Italiano or CAI; www.cai.it) and leading hikers to the peak of Mount Ruazzo. Acquaviva is also one the most well-know local springs, a sort of benchmark for the local shepherds living scattered in the valleys all around. The area outside the refuge is a good point to enjoy a healthy bite of the mountain specialties like the local Marzolina cheese or home-made ham before starting the excursion.
Horses at Fosso di Fabio
Some of the local guides and excursionists consider Mount Ruazzo to be the most beautiful peak on the Aurunci Mountains: the hiking trail to reach the summit is a cosmogony of all one may wish to see and admire in a unique karst landscape of caves, deep caverns with stalactites and stalagmites and forest. On the surface, clints, grikes, gorges, and swallow holes are common features here on the way to Mount Ruazzo. Some patches of woodland here become wild as only an old living forest can be interrupted by little valleys and plateaus with ancient white rocks. Much of the Aurunci Mountains history is recounted by these rocks which often hide ancient fossils from the seabed which million years ago’ covered these mountains.
These and other man-made handiworks make us to understand and appreciate how much these mountains have to recount to the eyes of the expert observer. Days out hiking on the Aurunci offer an extraordinary coexistence of natural, historical, environmental and monumental treasures. The ancient network of shepherd's tracks links wide areas from these mountains to other areas of south Italy through the regions of Abruzzo, Molise, Campania e Puglia.
The shepherd's tracks have been used for many centuries for the same purposes thus preserving their features. Nowadays, many of the old routes are protected as a nature and history monuments. After leaving the car in the open car park of Acquaviva the hiking trail goes north climbing through the woods which covers this side of Mount Ruazzo. After 15 minutes hikers will reach the amazing ‘Ciauchella’, an almost 300 meters (over 900 ft) deep natural sinkhole. Deep sinkholes are common in the karst landscapes of the Aurunci Mountains. The "Ciauchella" was created and excavated by million years of water's erosion and is charmingly impressive with the threatening beauty of its depth and dark abyss. The cave can be explored inside only by expert speleologists.
Soon after passing the Ciauchella the trail starts leading to the mountain’s summit. The path carries on to the peak of a lower mountain of Mt Mesole (1062 mt – 3484 ft) and still towards north-west until Fosso di Fabio, a karst plateau with numerous sinkholes; it’s not unusual to admire small herds of horses left free to roam and graze for most of the year. Here on the plateau the trees are sparse and the forest is not as thick as at the beginning of the trail. Fosso di Fabio is plenty of smaller sinkholes often covered by shepherds to avoid loosing their animals. Here, at the edge of the forest is a completely different world apart from the busier and lively coast. At Fosso di Fabio all is immersed in a quiet and dreamlike silence wrapping the trees and the rocks with only the sounds of nature surrounding the excursionists.
Following the path further up hikers will reach one of the ridges with some of the most beautiful view on the Aurunci. From Fosso di Fabio, the trail goes first towards south-west for few hundred meters and after turning on the left it leaves free the hikers to reach Mount Ruazzo’s summit without indicating a compulsory pathway. Once on the summit the view is even wider ranging from Mount Circeo promontory to the Gulf of Naples and Capri and Ischia Islands. The summit offers an amazing view on both sides of the Aurunci with the sea on the front and the mountains behind.
The simple and timeless beauty of Sciro’s Valley (La Valle di Sciro)
The Pontine Islands are visible far away almost blending with the horizon line and Gaeta’s Gulf and Formia appear almost within the range of your hands. On the left the green and fertile lowland of Garigliano River unveils in all its length. Looking behind, slightly on the right towards Itri, you will see the ancient Sanctuary of Madonna della Civita. The medieval town of Gaeta is hidden behind Mount Tuonaco, but we believe that is on that mountainside that there is the real wonder: Sciro’s Valley (La Valle di Sciro), a small secluded valley hidden among the higher peaks just above the sea.
In this little wonder, the air of sea blends with the aromatic scent of the wild mountain herbs and plants. The white rocks, eroded by time, resemble magically the shapes of sea waves riding to the wind; in the lower side of the valley, the rocks display fossils of seashells, witness of a faraway past under the sea. The feeling transmitted to the soul is of greatness and tranquility. There’s a magic feeling of an ancient peace. This little, hidden valley is a lost, bucolic world often described in the classical world of the epic history and myths of Greece and Rome. Few goats under the rays of a winter sun seem to increase the timeless feeling of being back into an ancient time.
The feeling is suddenly interrupted by the white jet trails of an airplane crossing the clear, blue mountain sky. At the end of the valley you can still see an old, large snow-well. In the past these manmade wells were needed to save the winter snow which became precious ice, preserved under a thick layer of leaves and sold in the coastal towns. That was the time when fridges and ozone’s hole were still to come…
The long, winter shadows of the evening are fast to reach the mountains and are the signal for us to descend back to the village while the sound of a bell far away in mountains accompanies us on the way home.
In this video we show you the amazing scenery from the peak on Mount Ruazzo in the middle of the Aurunci Regional Park , Victor Foglia in a short interview explaines the location and the view . We hope that you enjoy the scenery.
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