Day 3 Soverato here we come plan a, plan b and ultimately 13 miles and another 1,400’ (430m) climb and we’re finished…or at least I’m finished :-)

Posted bylouscuderePosted in2022 Calabrian Hike, HikingTags:, , , , , , ,

It was a beautiful morning to leave San Vito hiking near/along the Beltrame River.

Clear blue skies looking back at Monte Acido
More Olive groves. As time went on we realized that Calabria is in the middle of a terrible drought.
As we took the split in the trail, we past the structure that at one time was the railroad station for San Vito. There is no longer train service to San Vito.
A waypoint marker showing we have 21km to go
This was the only point on the hike where we accidentally got off the trail
Will and Stephen heading up the trail…during our unscheduled sojourn
At the bottom of this gorge is the river
Will and Stephen just before we figured out we were off trail.
Back across the river
Back on the trail with the river on our right.
Moving uphill towards Pettrizzi

So, my grand plan was to hike to Petrizzi which was a climb of 600′ (185m), call a cab and ride to the B&B in Soverato. That didn’t happen. When we asked a bar owner if he could call a cab he shook his head no and said you might try to google it. Not a good sign.

So, after a few minutes of resting and a bottle of cold eater later, we went to climb the next 800′ (246m) over 1.5 miles (2.5K). Folks, as many of you know I really don’t like to hike up hill. But, if we were going to get to town, “shanks mare” was how we were going to do it.

A view across the Beltrame river valley
After an arduous climb out of town we caught our first glimpse of the Ionian Sea
This was shot from the peak of our climb the sea is in the center background and appears to be higher than the closer land. A cool optical illusion.

This is the point where I realized I had screwed up and unfortunately taken Stephen down the road with me. That morning, confident that we would be picked up in Petrizzi, I had only loaded 1L of water into my hydration pack and suggested that Stephen might want to do the same. All of the sudden, no water. Not good, not good at all.

Another shot from the peak showing just how far we had traveled
And the downhill slog begins

So, the good news is we are going downhill, 2000′ (615m) downhill. The bad news is no water except for a drop or two that would accumulate as the pack drained such that one could just wet there lips. The views were outstanding though.

Will and I taking pictures of Soverato. Still a long way down and a long way away.
A long and winding road

Now, anyone who tells you walking downhill is as bad as walking uphill either has bad knees or has never walked any appreciable distance uphill lol. Having said that, 2,000′ down is a long way down and on a warm day (upper 70sf 21c) with no water, not the most pleasant experience.

At the bottom!

Finally, we made it to the bottom of the mountain. I had hoped we would run across a little minimart or something to snag some water but no luck and we trudged on.

Under an interstate
And down a road in a settling sun, the mountain we had crossed is in the background
Finally! the Ionian sea

As we reached the sea, hot, tired and thirsty I was reminded of the old seaman’s saw “Water, water, everywhere but not a drop to drink”. The last mile we had to hike along the beach in sand, no boardwalk. If you have never done it, hiking in sand is a royal pain in one’s third point of contact. We finally made it to the Kiss Kiss bar, our last stamp for our trekking passport. As we staggered in I asked the young waitress for “due litre l’acqua, naturale per favore”. Once served, that two liter was consumed by three men in about three minutes. The hike was over but not our trip. More to come gentle readers 🙂

Published by louscudere

Just a pilgrim on a camino

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