Getting High in Petrognano

It all started at our front door. Trail No. 6, a new addition to the Mt. Pizzorne trail system, right at our front door.

Well, not quite at our front door; it starts at the church, five meters to the south of our front door. But meters are something you quibble about as you near the end of the trail after a long trek and not at the beginning. Right?

Bill and I met up with friends Saskia and Doug at 7:30 am to explore the new trail from beginning to end before the inferno blast of the mid-afternoon sun. We quickly scoped out the map on the sign post at the bottom of the hill below the church and the bar, a bit uncertain about what trail No. 6 had to offer at its other end, other than a tangential connection with trail No. 5 [also new to Mt. Pizzorne this spring]. From what we could tell, trail No. 5 was there to entice us as the path to take back down the hill, only to end up west of Petrognano in Sant Andrea in Caprile with an uninviting three or four kilomenter walk back home.

Undeterred by our uncertainty, we decided to commit to the the upward climb with the expectation that the 4.5 kilomenter hike would take 2.5 to 3 hours and once completed, we would retrace our steps on trail No. 6 to return to Petrognano rather than be tempted by the westward pull of trail No. 5. The next task was to look for the red and white trail marker and get on with the task at hand.

The climb for the first 20 minutes or so was quite steep. Even Bill, with 20 plus years as an aerobics instructor was responding to the strain with a heart, lungs and sweat glands all kicking into heavy action. [I might add, our espect for the half dozen or women in their 70s and 80s who live in Petrognano and walk this part of the path each day to and from the alimentari to shop for daily groceries was already great, but grew greater still.]

The reward for making the initial, steep climb was that the already appealing view of the valley below from Petrognano just gets exponentially better. In less than 200 meters of walking, we were catching a glimpse of the Mediterranean, speculating about seeing the towers of San Gimiangno or all the way to Volterra on the clearest of days, and spotting our friends' houes on the hillside or in the valley below.

The trail was great. It provided generous, gently inclined, but almost horizontal stretches interspersed with steep climbs. Best of all, most of the time we enjoyed a full canopy of trees to provide a cool shade. While the trail itself was mostly cleared of obstructions, there were enough stretches that had enough small rocks to make sturdy shoes more than just a welcome comfort, but a necessity. Every so often we would come upon a clearing in the brush that would open up to yet another panoramic view of the hillside and valley below, as well as all of the surrounding mountains.

It helped to be moving as a group, as the red and white trail markers served more as puzzles to keep us alert than to than to actually guide us confidently up the mountainsie. My recommendation for future adventurers is to pack cans of red and white spray paint along with th water, sweat cloth and a camera. Feel free to tag a rock or a tree here or there along the way; it'll only serve to improve upon the work the commune's trail blazers started!

For some, it may make sense to use the clock rather than a specific desination as the gauge to determine how far you will travel up the trail. One hour or so of hiking up the hill would produce some great views, snacks from raspberries, blackberries and plum trees along the way, and the feeling that comes from a good hike.

But we wanted more. We wanted a destination. We wanted the whole mountain and the feeling of crawling to the top. We wanted to feel we earned the lunch break that was promised when we returned to our home base in Petrognano -- five meters from the church.

About two-and-one-half hours into our upward climb on trail No. 6 converged with trail No. 5, as promised by the map, and signs started pointing us upwards toward the mountain's top and the town of Pizzorne. The vegetation changed. The temperatures cooled, a bit, even though the tree cover disappeared. It took another hour of trekking, but we finally arrived at our desination and strolled through the village of Pizzorne, permanent population 21 and 842 meters above sea level.

The architechture changed along with the climate. The houses and vacation homes assumed a more Alpine character; high contract to the Italian/Mediterranean look that dominates life only dozens of meters lower in elevation. Residents also appearedto be taking a "keeping up with the Jone's" approach to landscaping -- packing their properties full of every kind of Hydrangea you could imagine.

But these attractions were in stiff competition for our attentions because the focus, after more than three-and-a-half hours of hiking, had sifted to to arriving at the center of the village and the welcoming tables, chairs, coffee, water and food at Aldebaran -- Bar, Pizzeria, Tratoria. We were late for breakfast pastries and a bit too early for lunch, so we settled for panini, coffee, water and a torte. And, the rest room breaks.

Whether by foot or by car, Pizzorne is worth the visit, as is Aldebaran. Lunch is a special treat -- and don't miss the chingale. For all of the talk about wild boar in the mountains around Lucca and the special fuss made over chingale, our best experience with this local specialty has been at Aldebaran. Plus, Pizzorne is just a lovely spot; tranquil and also so different from Petrognano and San Gennaro, just a short distance down the hill as the crow flies.

Amazingly, the trek back to Petrognano only took one-and-a-half hours, aided by the fact that we lost track of the red and white trail markers! We started by following the trail markers, leaving Pizzorne on the same path that guides us there, but about a half hour into our return we realized that no one in our little pack could find a tree, rock, stump or sign post with a trail marking. So, we just went with our instincts and followed whatever path seemed to be going downward.

It worked. The path soon converged with a rugged and rutted dirt road that eventually becme a gravel road and then a blacktopped road. Thankfully, we also re-entered the tree covering that by this time of the day was desperately needed to provide a shield from the increasing heat of the early afternoon sun.

As it turned out, this was the same road, via della Case Alte, that climbs the mountain out of Petrognano. It also reconnected us wih the long lost trail No. 6, allowing us to slip back down into Petrognano alon via di Petrognano and to our house at via di Petrognano, 45 -- seven hours later about five meters from the beginning Petrognano's and Mt. Pizzorne's new trail No. 6.