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| Ghost Dog Sherpa at the Hermitage |
The Hermitage of San Bartolomeo is a short, 5km hike in the Maiella National Park. The trail starts just outside of the small village of Decontra, near Caramanico Terme, and gently undulates over open lands filled with the sounds of bees and birds and with views north into the mountains of the Maiella. We parked in Decontra proper, and walked north along an auto road for ten minutes to reach the trails.
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| Auto road leading north out of Decontra |
Upon arrival, we were greeted by a friendly little dog who wound up walking with us to the hermitage and back to our car... essentially spending 5 hours of his day serving as our guide and companion. We dubbed him "biscotto."
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| K with Biscotto |
One of the highlights of the hike, besides the hermitage itself, is that you can see one of the stone structures once used by Abruzzo shepherds for protection from the elements.
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| Shepherd hut |
The trail itself is fairly easy to follow, marked by signs of various sorts and red and white trail blazes. The only challenging part comes at a gorge, where the trail descends steeply down into the gorge and up the opposite side.
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| Trail marker |
The descent proved a little slippery, but was well worth the effort as the trail crosses a river below at a pleasant spot. We spent a half hour or so exploring the various rooms of the hermitage before returning to a nice picnic spot on the side from which we came that looks down into the gorge.
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| Picnic spot with trail marker overlooking the hermitage |
Once we returned to the car, biscotto - who had followed closely the whole day - suddenly disappeared. So we changed his name to "ghost dog sherpa."
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| Ciao Biscotto. Ci vediamo a presto! |
The route to the hermitage can be found on the Maiella park map by Edizione Lupo. As with all maps, the route numbers are subject to change because the park's are in the process of reumbering trails.
