Day 1 Pizzo to Monterosso ….13.5 miles 2,400’ of elevation gain. Huh? Yep, 2,400’ count ‘em. We did 😊

I knew the early section of this hike was going to be challenging given that we started with an 800’ climb out of Pizzo. But, I had planned, originally, that we would only hike five miles that day and spend the night at an agriturismo (a working farm that has a B&B side hustle) and attack the trip to Monterosso on day 2. Had confirmed reservations and all. Then, four weeks out I get a message from the property “We’re going to be closed “ huh? Ok, the only plan b was to roll days one and two into a single day as there is nothing on the path between Pizzo and Monterosso except that property. So, 13.5 miles of nothing between A&B. Not my favorite hike but not anything I had not done before.

So to start our morning we had to clear the ridge leaving Pizzo. +950’ over 2.5 miles. Not easy but not impossible either. With William leading the way we chewed that up like a champ.

We moved into an agricultural area of olive groves and recently plowed fields for soybeans.

The olives were interesting in that some groves were apparently ripening so nets were placed on the ground around the trees to catch the fruit.

From the ridges with the olives we descended through a wash out to Lago Agitola.

During the descent I slipped on some loose chert and fell scraping my elbow badly enough to draw blood. So, washed it with some water from my hydration pack and carried on.

The good news is the lake, though drought stricken was lovely. The bad news was that we’re we now at an elevation of 149 ft above sea level so we had given back all the elevation gained during our ascent out of Pizzo

In the distance one can faintly see our goal for the day the village of Monterosso. It is a cute little (1.500 pop) community with lovely people but more on that later

What isn’t shown is a series of ridges that we had to cross laterally which meant up and down two five hundred foot grades plus a final ascent into Monterosso Just being honest, this kicked our butts but we finally made it to the palazzo d’orologio or the palace of the clock. Enough for now. More on Monterosso tomorrow.