We managed a "frog march" bushwhack up a steep slope from the Sangro River to connect to the real trail without backtracking. Once on track, it proved pleasant walking up a gradual, forested slope.
After the forest walk, the path enters into open meadows with nice views of the surrounding mountains. The contrast of the verdant green with whitish-gray mountains and a cloudless, bright blue sky made for a spectacular visual experience. Since it was a weekend, we found a large number of people on the trails - including Equi-trekkers and birdwatchers.
The guidebook let us down again at mid-morning when we got off track and wound up having to retrace our steps - one hour later - after a failed uphill bushwhack. Fortunately, we had packed one of our favorite Italy trail lunches of tonno balsamico. The lunch respite in the warm sun gave us the energy to continue.
By early afternoon, the temperature had increased substantially and we had to cool off by dousing our heads and bandanas with water from this nice old fountain near Colle Jacollo, the high point of what was a fairly flat hike.
The "mascot" of the Parco Nazionale d'Abruzzo, Lazio, e Molise is an amiable, seated bear, which we found in various places along the route. Here, it is stenciled on one of the easy-to-miss route markers along our trail.
The loop hike connects Villetta Barrea, our starting point, with Civitella Alfendena, pictured here. From the colle, the trail descends downhill past an apiary and gradually through the town. It becomes quite hard to follow at the other end of Alfedena. We had to back track several times before finding the route leading down to the lake.
After descending from Alfedena, the trail ends at an auto road bridge crossing Lago Barrea, a man-made lake created by the damming the Sangro River. Once across the bridge, we headed west to loop back into Villetta Barea. The guidebook directed to look out for a large "equestrian center" that did not exist. We gathered that the center probably once stood on the site of what looked like a recently-erected playground and park.
My favorite part of the whole hike was the last stretch into Villetta Barrea, where the route became a paved river walk along the banks of the Sangro River. We stopped to enjoy the spot with the last of our day's snack foods.
