Happy Trails

In the fall we saw a lot of hikers coming through our area.  Huge oversized backpacks, assorted gear and walking sticks.  Some carried one walking stick.  Some had two – like ski poles. 

There are many hiking and trekking trails through this area.  There is the Grand Apennine trail – Grande Escursione Appenninica (GEA) which traverses through the central Apennine Mountains that form the “backbone” of the country.

Another well-known trail that runs through this area is the pilgrimage trail of St. Francis of Assisi – running between La Verna – the site where he received his stigmata – and the town of Assisi.  It follows the pathways taken by St. Francis as he walked the hills in search of spiritual growth and spreading his message of simplicity.  

In this area you hear all kinds of tales of St. Francis and his life of soul-searching.  Many involve his befriending of the forest animals.  When the locals tell these stories, they tell them as if St. Francis were a good friend that just visited yesterday.  If you visit Gubbio, the townspeople will happily recount the story of St. Francis and the wolf.  I like that everybody knows these stories.

Now that spring /almost summer is finally here and the weather has improved, we are seeing more and more of the backpackers walking down the streets again.  Since the Tau trail and the Apennine trails overlap through this area, we never know which one they are following.  Sometimes I just want to call out to them and ask.  With those heavy backpacks and sticks, are they recreating St. Francis’ life of spiritual discipline? It looks like self-inflicted punishment.

We actually have encountered several groups of hikers. They are always fun to meet and chat with.  One couple from Austria had left their camera memory card at home and needed to buy a new one.  The little market here of course did not have one so I offered to drive them to a store in Pieve and back.  Another time, we saw a couple wandering around town and looking quite lost, so we asked if we could help them.  They looked exhausted and needed a small hotel to stay in and a place to eat.  We offered up our suggestions and pointed them in the right direction. That couple was from Munich, Germany.

Small encounters like this make the day interesting.

The trails appear to be well marked with red over white bands painted here and there for the Apennine trail and yellow “T”s or Tau’s marking the St. Francis trail.  These indicators seem to appear every 100-200ft. and often you will see a directional arrow underneath the mark.  You can find these symbols everywhere: on trees, fences, walls, rocks, telephone poles and guard rails. I picture a cinghiale running through the woods with a red and white mark emblazoned on its side.

The “trails” change form frequently:  sometimes steep mountain road, sometimes paved, sometimes gravel, or a path through forests of pine and chestnuts, or sometimes just a dirt lane through farmer’s fields and rolling pasturelands.  These climb up the hills and mountains, and then drop down into the valleys. They proceed along through olive groves and pass by streams and rivers.  They wend past ruins and ancient churches.  They weave through medieval stone villages, some long abandoned and through bigger towns now bustling with traffic.  Rifugios or huts offer sleeping shelter along the way. 

These hikes are for serious trekkers, not day hikers like me – especially not with those monstrous backpacks. 

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