| Newsletter January 2009
Undiscovered Italy: Hiking on the Aurunci Mountains ; Sciro’s Valley
Topic : Itineraries
| |
| 
Driving itinerary from the town of Formia to the village of Maranola, and on to the mountain refuge of Acquaviva
| |
|
Itinerary :
Hiking track from Acquaviva Mountain
Refuge to Sciro’s Valley (1,050 m altitude)
Mountain Valley of Sciro (Nearest points of reference Italian Alpine Club (CAI) mountain trails n. 56 and 55) to Mt Ruazzo and Mt Tuonaco
Sciro’s Valley max length: 1 Km
Sciro’s Valley max width: 0.6 Km
|
Starting point :
Gaeta’s marina Via Lungomare Caboto – 20 minute drive to the mountain village of Maranola plus a 25 minute drive from Maranola village to Acquaviva’s mountain refuge (805 m) and local spring – parking space for cars
Acquaviva’s mountain refuge and local spring – parking space for cars
|
Height difference: 350 m approx.
Time way in: 1 hour
Length of the path: 0.75 Km approx.
|
Difficulty: Medium
Returning: 45 minutes
|
The itinerary from the village of Maranola
Winter is still in its peak but sunny days are still here on the Aurunci Mountains Natural Park. Even if mountainous weather can change within the blink of an eye, the sunny days, fresh, pure air and the prospect of beautiful mountain scenery with views over the sea invite you to pull on your hiking boots and head off to experience the spectacular Italian landscapes of the Aurunci Mountains.
A short and easy drive from
Gaeta
will take you to the medieval village of Maranola. Maranola is a small and ancient mountain village from where the view over the gulf of Gaeta is magnificent. The population of
Maranola
, like the other hillside villages of southern Lazio, has traditionally relied on a rural economy. The village survived through the centuries as a small settlement of shepherds, small hillside farmers and craftsmen of wood and other mountain forest products. The production of wood charcoal was flourishing up until the mid 18th century, involving the majority of the village population until production stopped completely by the 1930s.
The local production of
olives and extra virgin olive oil still plays an important role in the community and in the neighbouring economy. The hillside roads leading to the mountain territory over Maranola and to the nearby villages of Trivio and Castellonorato offer a beautiful and gentle view of terraced fields where
olive trees
abound in a countryside overlooking the sea.
 Click Here to see the Photos of the Newsletter
|
|
Map - Driving itinerary from the village of Maranola to the mountain refuge (yellow line)
Hiking trail to Sciro’s Valley from Acquaviva Mountain refuge
(dotted yellow line)
|
|
From this small village a narrow mountain road (Via Redentore) takes you from Maranola to the mountain plateau of Acquaviva with a mountain refuge and a natural spring. Along the mountain road the captivating rural scenario features charming terraces of vegetable gardens and olive trees. After a 10 minute drive higher up, the countryside becomes rolling pastureland and mountainous fields dotted in the winter shades of yellow, greens and browns typical of these mountains.
Drinking spring water at Acquaviva
After driving for about 25 minutes there is the mountain crossroad of Campone. Here the mountain roads take different directions (to Acquaviva, Campone, Campello, Mt Redentore, Pornito and Canale). The mountain terrain on the left leads to the mountain refuge of Acquaviva where it is possible to leave the car.
Outside the mountain refuge there is a typical old cattle trough and drinking fountain; closer to the refuge a hole in the rock from which one can drink the pure mountain spring water of Acquaviva. Right over the hole there is a thick black pipe feeding the water from the mountain to the hole and the cattle fountain.
Ever since we saw the first pictures of this hidden valley it was love at first sight and we asked around to the local people how best to reach the place. The official CAI (Italian Alpine Club) mountain guide displays two hiking itineraries (
Mt Ruazzo- CAI trail n. 56
and Mt Tuonaco trail n. 55) that can be used to reach the Valley of Sciro. Both itineraries are officially recognised by the CAI and take between 2 and 3 hours to reach the area near the valley. A few months earlier, one of the local shepherds we met at the cattle fountain told us of a shortcut: we could follow the water pipe up to the ridges on the very top of the mountain flank above the Acquaviva refuge. Remembering his advice, we readied ourselves to verify his claim and head to the gorgeous Valley of Sciro.
Click Here to see the Photos of the Newsletter
|
| 
Hiking trail to Sciro’s Valley from Acquaviva Mountain refuge. The forest is silently wrapped by the clouds | |
The path in the Aurunci Mountains’ forest
The valley is encircled by mountain ridges which hide its oval shape from anywhere else other than an aerial view. Hence, unless someone climbs up to those mountain ridges, the valley remains completely isolated with virtually no human presence other than a few local shepherds, and once in a while, a few excursionists. These lower mountains of the Italian Apennines lack the popularity of the Italian Alps in the north and you do not find as many hiking groups as on their higher northern counterparts. In all our excursions on the
Aurunci Mountains
we saw no other hikers along the way, a lucky thing in a way to enjoy and discover these places in all their authenticity and silent magnificence.
|
|
The outcome is, however, that in most places these mountains do not have official and well-marked hiking trails.
Remember to fill up a bottle with fresh mountain spring water before following the water pipe heading into the dense evergreen forest of Holly Oaks (Quercus Ilex) covering the eastern flanks of Mt Ruazzo (1.314 mt). The wild surroundings and
thick vegetation
make our excursion through this path in the forest unforgettably fascinating.
With plenty of trust in the word of the shepherd and with a bit of our own mad initiative, we start up a path not on any map - simply following the water pipe into the forest. We keep climbing among the forest of holly oaks well prepared to get, if not lost, at least baffled just in case the shepherd’s tip was wrong. In any event the map is indicating that the hidden valley should be right above us and straight ahead in the direction following the water pipe.
The forest of oaks is sometimes interrupted by open patches covered with large white stones and lower bushes where the beauty of the view over the sea and valleys around becomes visible. Big bushes of perennial wild sage, oregano and rosemary grow along the path, making these open patches of mountain a natural crossway of wild plant scents.
Suddenly the weather remembers that after all it is winter and that we are at about 950 m above the sea. Within minutes the warm sun that had accompanied us until the mountain refuge disappears and we are left climbing in a cold mist-shrouded forest. The forest becomes almost ethereal, the silence broken only by the sound of our footsteps on the dead leaves and slippery humid terrain.
The climb is demanding but not impossible, even for people who are not at their fittest. The signs left by the passage of several animals are well visible in the forest: goats, horses, cows and wild boars create their own paths to reach the pastures higher up towards the valley. The forest on the flank of this mountain offers an ideal habitat for the wild boar (Sus scrofa) which is often seen during excursions. Sometimes we see large, chunky mushrooms on our way.
|
|
Sciro’s Valley – Hiking in the nature of the Italian pre-Apennines
Thirty minutes later the black pipe disappears into the ground but the top edge of the mountain’s flank becomes visible above us. At around 1000 m altitude the paths disappears and we must follow our instinct to find the easiest way to the top edges through large white rocks. About fifteen minutes later the last trees covering the steep flank of the mountain open up to a vast, magnificent view all around. We begin feeling the ‘presence’ of the valley and forty-five minutes after leaving Acquaviva’s cattle fountain we arrive at our destination. At the same moment in which the valley appears there is the realization that the hard work of climbing the mountain are well worth the effort.
|
Sciro’s Valley appears |
| The valley’s open space is a bucolic Eden of peace and nature.
The valley is a spectacular ancient book of geology recounting the history of hundreds of millions of years ago when these mountains were covered by the ancient sea called Tetide.
What impresses us is the feeling of remoteness: the valley seems to be a wise and silent witness of ancient events with so much to recount, from stories of the earth with primordial fossils of seashells and fishes imprinted to the white rocks similar to giant waves appearing from the ground. The view evokes stories of long forgotten
Italic civilisations
from land and sea and the
ancient Romans
. The grasslands bring to mind stories of woodsmen and shepherds living here from generation to generation for millennia until today. These feelings are evoked by the silent wisdom of the valley.
The silence is broken only by the deep squawks of a raven (Corvus corax) flying in the sky and echoing over the valley and the barren peaks around us.
We raise our eyes to the sky in the hope of spotting one of the
many raptors
living on these peaks. The most common raptors on this side of the Aurunci Mountains are the peregrine falcon, the buzzard, the sparrow-hawk and goshawk nesting in several locations nearby. The Aurunci Mountains Natural Park offers to excursionists the opportunity of interesting
encounters with nature
. Although these pre-Apennine mountains are about half as high as the more famous Alps in the north of Italy, the landscapes are just as beautiful and with a much more Mediterranean sort of natural beauty. What you do get in this milder, lower-altitude mountains are flanks covered by Mediterranean forestland with miles of grassy pastures, often with sunny treeless ridge tops. This is the land of mountains with limitless panoramas on the
Mediterranean Sea
and
its islands
which the Alps do not offer.
With so much nature, silence and peace around, it’s hard to believe that such a secluded and peaceful place like Sciro’s Valley lies only less than 6 Km as the crow flies from the lively port of
Formia
on the South Tyrrhenian Sea. By walking around we can just imagine the beauty of Sciro’s Valley in the springtime blooming. Its fields will be carpeted with wild herbs and flowers including many types of
Mediterranean wild orchids .
Climbing a bit higher on the northern side of the valley there is the summit of Mt Ruazzo. From here the small valley is visible in all its length from north to south up to the peak of Mt Tuonaco. From Mt Ruazzo, Sciro’s Valley reveals in full all its magic, silent magnificence: Behind the Tuonaco the view of the sea is one with sky and the horizon is just an invisible line in the sky blue.
Click Here to see the photos of the Newsletter
|
| 
Rays of sun appear in Sciro’s Valley for a few minutes | |
After a good walk in the valley we choose to eat our packed lunch and drink our Acquaviva spring water under a leafless Hop Hornbeam tree (Ostrya carpinifolia). We were charmed by the company of a small herd of goats appearing from nowhere and grazing not far from us.
The sun reappears for a few minutes but it soon disappears again reminding us that night falls faster on the mountains. It’s the signal for us to go back to the find the forest path and head back to Acquaviva where we left the car. The solitary pre-Apennine valley continues to boast its beauty in silence among peaks and clouds and its presence accompanies us on the way home.
|
|
Go to the newsletters' archive
Search with this topic
Subscribe to the South Pontino Ezine
Refer a Friend
back to the top
