Petralia Sottana Day 2 - Walk 2 Into the High Places

What a differnce a day makes. We awoke to clear blue skies with nearly zero clouds. The temperature promised to be at least as warm as the day before and the winds would be far less intense. A fine day for our first full day in the area of Petralia SOttana. After a decent, though not great, Continental-style breakfast (food is fresh but we are finding ourselves unimpressed by the breads) we gathered up our gear and struck out from  the hotel just before 09:00 to do a walk that our Inntravel notes say is about 14km long and features about 700m ascent and descent. The first part of the walk reprises the last bit of the walk we did the  previous day. The treat being once again at the Roman aqueduct where we could see the waning moon through the milenia-old arches.

At this point we turned left and after a short time on a paved road (going right would take you to Petralia Soprana) we reached what would be the start of the real meat of the walk. A cobbblestone road wound steadily up into forests of what I believe is part of Parco  della Madonie. At this point the forest seems to be a pine forest but as we climbed that changed to perhaps one of cork trees. Along the way we picked up a four-legged companion Mom would dub Scout.  Scout would hang with us, more or less, for about 10km.

Our road climbed steadily and we enjoyed the lovely morning.  Soon Maggie and George caught up to us. It turns out we are not the only people on an Inntravel walking trip. They’re doing the same thing we are: we just did not meet them until about 4km into the walk.  Up and onward .  We were making good time and, in fact, were perhaps lulled into complacency as we almost missed the sharp turn of path 10 into the woods. There is a tiny, hard to spot  sign but you better not blink otherwise you will miss it (some of us did; Mom did not).

The notes are really quite good. They warn that the path becomes indistinct and confusing. THey are right. I think it is a trail but it is one made solely by the traffic that walks it. It is not a built trail. It is more akin to a human version of a game trail. Maybe not that bad but hardly good.  We actually had some  confusion finding our way to the steep swithback that would lead to perhaps the standout point of the walk on a very windy grassy plateau.

On the plateau the trail vanishes but the directions were good enough that we were able to spot landmarks, tiny posts and cairns as well a copse of  trees, to make our way across without trouble.  Though windy it was still a lovely early afternoon and a great place for lunch before we joined up with path 25 for the trek down back towards the Roman aqueduct.

Path 25 has some gnarly steep bits but overall is essentially a two-track through ever-descending pasturelands. It is nice enough. We strode past numerous cows and in time were back where we started our climb. The last descent, along the path we had trodden now twice, seemed to last too long. Between that last bit and the steep town street my quads sure hurt. Still and all a very fine first full day.

Stats: sunny and warm. I am not sure I believe my thermometer saying it was in the mid-70s but then it was in the sun all day. The winds on top were strong but otherwise pretty much a non-issue. We walked 14.7km taking 6 hours to walk and about 45 minutes in breaks. We ascended/descended 634m.

Photos.

1. Me and the aqueduct. Look carefully and you might spot the waning moon through the arch.
2. Petralia. Soprana in the distance.  We are probably not to far from the start of the final push up the switchbacks to the plateau. It is late-morning and the weather is superb.
3. On the windy plateau. From left to right: Maggie, George, Dad, and Mom. I do not see Scout but he is trotting about. In just a few hundred meters we found a spot to settle down for lunch.
4. We are descending along the track back towards the intersection. We probably are about halfway to that point. We are not sure what that steam-like stuff is. Is it even steam? Is it a volcanic vent of some type. Are is it something more prosaic like dust by some human activity.