Monte Mileto, October 7, 2012, Parco Nazionale Della Maiella

Crossing False Summits to Monte Mileto

After nearly two weeks of hardcore hiking, Monte Mileto provided a much-needed respite. Though a 6,000-footer peak hike, the trail follows modest grades the entire way and takes only a half day. After surviving a 12-hour day on the trail a few days before (in which we got lost and nearly ran out of water,) Monte Mileto was just the type of hike that we needed.

Most of the elevation is gained in the car, as the trail head departs from the ski area at Passo San Leonardo, a noted terminus for Maiella hiking trails. In Italy, we rarely encountered other hikers during the week. But Sundays are a different story. Fortunately, the Italian hikers all took a longer, more popular hike along the ridge to Monte Morrone. This left us alone on the ascent to Mileto.

A gradual grade track through a beech forest eventually emerges out of tree line. Cairns then mark the trail up and down several false summits before reaching Mileto proper, which is marked with a cairn and a painted rock with the very faint name and elevation painted on it.

K at False Summit 1, Amaro Range in Distance

From the peak, we expected to be able to see Sulmona but the vista is blocked by topography below the summit. The most dramatic views proved to be to the west, into the heart of the Majella National Park and the towering Amaro Range, the highest in the region.

Mileto summit indicator

Peak: Monte Mileto
Elevation: 1902 meters (6,240 feet)
Route: Up and back, via the recently renamed Q4 trail from Passo San Leonardo  
Distance: 7 km (4.5 miles) miles roundtrip
Conditions: Partly sunny, 55 degrees F