Allamuchy Mountain and North Allamuchy, November 11, 2013, Allamuchy Mountain State Park

Looking south from the Allamuchy Ridge

The 10 mile hike to the summits of Allamuchy and Allamuchy North - two peaks on the NJ 1000K list - had all the makings of a pleasant - and non-strenuous - ascendant adventure. Well-graded trails, mixed woods, glacial rocks, ruins, multiple wildlife sightings, and total solitude with not a single hiker, biker, or hunter on the trail. The only problem - the incessant road noise from nearby I-80. You can't hear it so much in the valleys, but at the higher elevations on this hike the din is outright loud.

Parking Area off Tranquility Farm Road

I pieced this hike together using limited details that I found online and the official state park map. The trail head can be found north of Hackettstown just off Route 517. Once across I-80, look for a small brown sign that says "trailhead" and make the next right on an easy-to-miss a dirt road called Tranquility Farm Road. The parking area and trail head are at the end.

Summit

Following good blazes, we took the Orange (Switchback Loop) Trail to the Purple (Cardiac/Ditch) Trail to the Allamuchy Mountain ridge. I have no idea why it is called "cardiac" as the trail is very tame the entire way up. The Geodetic Survey marker on the Allamuchy summit is embedded into a rock outcropping at the true summit, which you reach by taking a short spur trail off of the Purple Trail.

The White Trail to Allamuchy North

From the summit, the Purple Trail descends to the White (Waterloo) Trail which we took to reach the Allamuchy North. Though blazed, the White Trail can be a little tough to follow as it descends to a low point and then turns southeast, passes the Green Trail, and starts to climb again. On the border of land owned by the Boy Scouts (evident by their overkill of no trespassing postings), a spur trail with an old wooden sign reading "Ice Cream" comes in from the right. This is the trail that takes you to the Allamuchy North summit ridge. It skirts Boy Scout lands the entire way to the top, so be sure that you stay on the trail or to the right.

Descending from Allamuchy North on the "Ice Cream" trail

For the return, we took the White Trail all the way back to the parking area... passing the intersection with the Purple Trail which we had come down on earlier in the morning. The final stretch of the White Trail, located just before the parking area, took us to within sight of the ruins of a late 19th century estate. The ruins are strange, profane, and a little eerie... probably why they made it into Weird New Jersey.

Profanity House in Allamuchy State Park

Peaks: Allamuchy and Allamuchy North
Elevation: 1,240 and 1,222 feet
Distance: 9.7 miles, out and back/partial loop
Route: Orange Trail, to Purple Trail, to White Trail, to Ice Cream Trail
Conditions: Partly Cloudy turning Cloudy, 40 degrees F

Lago Vivo, October 26, 2013, Parco Nazionale d'Abruzzo, Lazio, e Molise

Since we had spent most of the trip exploring the Maiella and Gran Sasso, we made the resolution that our final hike would take place in the third big park near Sulmona - the Parco Nazionale d'Abruzzo, Lazio, e Molise. Although we have not spent that much time in this park, I always enjoy it when we visit. It contains the headwaters of the Sangro River, which runs south and then east to the Adriatic Sea passing the home town of my Italian ancestors. Our destination - an up and back to a lake called Lago Vivo.

It took about an hour to get from Sulmona to the trail head, located at a hair pin turn in the road from Alfadena to Villetta Barrea. It can be a little difficult to find the right spot. The key is look on the road map for the last hair pin turn before the road enters Villetta Barrea. That's where you find the trail.

From the parking area, the trail is well marked as the "K6" and follows a 4x4 road along a level grade. At a small water supply building, the trail up to Lago Vivo joins from the left (south). On the map, it is marked as the "K5."

The old K5 markers are old and faded...

... and have been largely replaced by blazes indicating that the trail is now called the "K4." Another case of an outdated park map causing us havoc.

From the junction with the K6, the tree-covered K4 trail proceeds up through a ravine with spectacular wooded cliffs on both sides. At one point, we heard the faint sound of cow bells. As we ascended, the sound grew louder and louder until we came face to face with an unattended mule hauling a heavy load of firewood coming right towards us. Apparently, villagers use the park to stock up on their supply of fuel for the coming winter. That explains the steaming piles and buzzing flies on the lower reaches of the trail. We had been cursing equitrekkers for the mess.

After we completed what turned out to be a substantial amount of elevation gain, the trail exited the trees and into a large open meadow with spectacular views of craggy mountain peaks.

Our destination for the day - Lago Vivo - really should be called "Lago Morto." At this time of year, the lake wasn't much more than a big brown mud patch.

Despite the let down, the other surroundings were absolutely stunning and we decided on an extra long lunch break. K also opted for a power nap... Exhausted from the climb, she looks like she got flattened by a steamroller a la Looney Tunes.

Monte Siella, October 24, 2013, Parco Nazionale del Gran Sasso

Descending from Monte Siella Summit

It's always pretty depressing when we come to the final days of our visits to Abruzzo. When we first arrive, we marvel at all the time that we have and all of the things that we want to use that time to do. Then, in what seems like minutes, we are talking about how to maximize our final days before turning our attention to packing for the return. This year, we decided to make the Campo Imperatore the location of one of our last big hikes.

The Campo Imperatore is a grandiose, high elevation plain surrounded by the huge mountains of the Gran Sasso National Park. It's the home to the Corno Grande and a bunch of other jagged peaks that are evident from most points on the Campo.

We decided to climb Mount Siella, the smallest of the Gran Sasso peaks on the Club di 2000 m list. But in the Gran Sasso, "small" still means 6,500 feet! The trail starts off from the large car park at Fonte della Vetica, which also serves the approach trail for the very popular Monte Camicia. Getting on track is a little tricky. The idea is to locate the rifugio building at the far end of the parking lot and then follow a path leading into the woods to the left of it. The trail through the woods goes to Sirella; the trail to the left of the woods goes to Camicia.

As always, I needed the map and compass for way finding as the red and yellow blazes were faded and very inconsistent. The Gran Sasso map calls the trail that we were following "242." But we didn't see a single number the entire day. After a short distance of traveling to the northwest, the trail suddenly turns at a near right angle and then heads due west. It's a easy point to get off track.

After the shift to the west, the trail leaves the pine trees and goes up fairly steeply via switchbacks with amazing views back to the Campo and Monte Bolza on the other side.

It then arrives at an open meadow below the summit ridge. From the meadow, a long diagonal trail (sparsely marked) takes you up to a col between Monte Siella and Monte Tremoggia.

The col provided a nice picnic spot out of the wind and we enjoyed our fourth panini di porchetta of the trip - a new record!

Although the blazes are too faint to follow, it is easy enough to find the Sirella summit by walking along the summit ridge to the west. The summit is marked by a large cairn and stick. The view to the south reveals the long auto road that we drove on to reach the parking area far below.

Peak: Monte Siella

Elevation: 2027 meters (6,650 feet); Gain: 1,312 feet

Distance: 6.5 km (4 miles ) roundtrip, up and back

Conditions: Sunny, Windy, 65 degrees F

Blockhaus and Monte Cavallo, October 21, 2013, Parco Nazionale della Maiella

K on the P trail to Blockhaus

This short, high elevation hike beginning at La Maielletta - a ski area on the north end of the Amaro Range - allowed us to experience two peaks on the Club di 2000m list without having to undertake a big uphill day. But since you have to drive up all that elevation, it took forever to drive to La Maielletta from Sulmona.

From the parking area at La Maielletta (which doubles as massive antenna complex serving the surrounding area), we headed up an older, poorly maintained auto road that a sign said was only for persons with disabilities and emergencies. At points, you can leave the auto road and follow a faint, poorly marked track through open meadows. But the gist is to get to the point that the auto road ends at a small parking area. From here, a short, paved path leads past park benches to a covered Madonna statue and a sign marking this as the P trail to Monte Amaro.

From the Madonna statue, it is steeply up through squat pine trees to the summit of Blockhaus - a distinctive, flat-topped peak containing the remains of a "block house" fort. Alternately, you can skip the summit by following another trail from the Madonna shrine that skirts the north edge of the summit and rejoins the trail down from the ruins on the opposite side.

Unlike the bright blue, cloudless skies that we'd been having all week, this hike saw fast moving clouds one minute and mostly sunny skies the next. As the trail followed a ridge line around 7,000 feet in elevation, any openings in the clouds meant amazing vistas all the way to the Adriatic Sea.

The alternating clouds and sun made for a pretty eerie experience. At times, we could only see a few feet ahead as we made our way along the ridge to Monte Cavallo. At first, we thought that this rocky point was the summit...

... and the outdated signs didn't help much with way finding either. But once I brought out the map, it was easy to determine that the summit actually sat a little further along the trail and off to the west. The trail that we were following didn't actually go there.

A short bush whack through small pines revealed a sizable cairn with a stick jammed into the top. Monte Cavallo at last! In this view to the north when the fog had lifted, Blockhaus can be seen in the background. We found a great lunch spot nearby and enjoyed a long, peaceful break at what seemed the top of the world.

Though a pretty cool hike, the highlight of the day came on our drive back down from La Maielletta when we spent a good 15 minutes trying to get through a shepherd's flock that had chosen the auto road as its means of travel. That's driving in the Abruzzo for you.

Peaks: Block Haus and Monte Cavallo
Elevation: 2140 meters (7,020 feet) and 2171 meters (7122 feet)
Distance: 8.5 km (5 miles) round trip, out and back
Route: S trail to Monte Amaro
Conditions: Fog, 60 degrees F

Monte Mileto 2 (loop), October 20, 2013, Parco Nazionale della Maiella

Perched high above the village of Pacentro and overlooking the valley surrounding Sulmona, Monte Mileto is one of the most accessible high peaks of the Maiella's Morrone mountain range. We had climbed it as a half-day hike in moderately cloudy, windy weather once before, but decided to do it again on what was an absolutely gorgeous autumn day.

From the restaurant at the Passo San Leonardo ski area (where signs say "private parking" but everyone parks there anyway), we followed a faint track from the right side of the restaurant on a diagonal up to the tree line. Once in the forest, the track intersects with the well-marked Q3 trail which goes from Pacentro to Monte Morrone. Turning right on the Q5, the trail winds up through wooded switchbacks and soon opens onto a small meadow. Here, it is important to look out to the left for the Q4 which you take to the Mileto summit. It's easy to miss.

The Q4 is an easy trail to climb as it follows a 4x4 road much of the way up. Starting in the trees and then emerging into open space with wide open views into the Maiella park below, the only challenging section is a narrow, steep track along loose scree when the trail departs the 4x4 trail and skirts the edge of the mountainside.

Eventually, the well-marked trail turns to the northwest and off of the 4x4 track. From here, cairns lead over two false summits before reaching Mileto.

We recognized the true summit from the year before, but I can see how it might be difficult for first time trekkers to figure it out. Having no summit cross, plaque, or wooden sign, the only way to know you are at the top is to have tracked your path on a topographic map or find the small flat rock on the summit that very faintly marks the name and elevation of the peak. There's also a large cairn on top, but the false summits have them too.

With warm temperatures and little to no wind, the summit also proved a great place for a post-lunch nap.

The other way to know you are on Mileto proper is that you have this view down into a col containing two partially-abandoned rifugio buildings. We decided that this year we would turn the hike into a loop by heading down to the northernmost rifugio and connecting with the Q3 trail, which we could take back to Passo San Leonardo.

The descent to the building took longer than expected - which posed a problem when it became evident that K's paltry half sandwich had provided too few calories to sustain her for the trek. Further, the trail markers are pretty poor requiring use of the building itself as a way finder. At the rifugio, it is fairly easy to find the Q3 - as long as you know that it enters from the southeast.

Almost immediately, the Q3 enters into woods and is tree covered for the entire descent. Following a very moderate but consistent grade, it made for a very nice contrast from the open ascent on the Q4. As it turned out, the ideal route was the loop direction that we had selected. The climb up the Q3, though moderate, would have been an extremely long slog uphill for many hours. It was nice that we had chosen it for the descent instead. Still, several snack breaks were required to make it back to the car... further evidence that a full trail lunch is always necessary in the Abruzz.

Peak: Monte Mileto
Elevation: 1902 meters (6,240 feet)
Route: Loop trail, Q4 trail from Passo San Leonardo, return on Q3  
Distance: 9.5 km (6 miles) round trip
Conditions: Sunny, 70 degrees F

Valle Gentile, October 19, 2013, Riserva Naturale Regionale Monte Genzana Alto Gizio

A day removed from the trek up Monte Amaro, I needed a hike with the benign name of Valle Gentile, or "gentle valley." I found this loop hike by studying the map of the Monte Genzana Alto Gizio Nature Reserve located just south of Sulmona along the SS 17. Not as heavily used as the region's three national parks, the reserve suffers from faded, sometimes missing, trail markings. On the other hand, it is also always devoid of people.

We parked the car at the trail head for trail 8, located on a dead end road to the west of the SS17 south of Sulmona and near the exit for Rocca Pia. The same road services the trail head for the hike to Monte Rotella. You can barely make out Valle Gentile on the weather beaten sign.

The trail starts off as a 4x4 road that ascends gently and gradually. We soon passed trail 10 entering from the left and continued on to the intersection with trail 9, which we took up and into the valley. There were some weird things along the way, like "no hunting" signs that had been uprooted and thrown into the bushes, discarded ceramic sinks and bathtubs, charred remnants from large bonfires, and stuff hanging from trees...

Like these chains...

Despite the unsettling features, trail 9 soon became incredibly pleasant as it gained elevation slowly over a moderate grade and alternated between tree-covered sections and open meadows with views of Monte Amaro in the distance. Navigation-wise, the only tricky part came where you must switch back at roughly 90 degrees and onto trail 10, which leads up above the trees and into a wide open meadow...

... And the picturesque Fonte della Spina, our picnic spot for the afternoon. Since it was market day, we had bought along a couple panini di porchetta which we had purchased from our favorite vendor, Porchetta Lucchese, the first thing that morning.

After the fonte, trail 10 becomes very hard to find due to the absence of any blazes. I needed the map and compass to follow what was clearly marked as an official trail on my map of the reserve. Going due east, we soon came to Stazze Le Mandrelle - consisting of a small building and spring - but then needed a while to search around for the return route. The key here is to go towards  the lowest point in the meadow northwest of the stazze. Once you reach the lowest point in the meadow and enter into the trees, the trail markers appear.

From here on, trail 10 became well marked and very easy to follow. It descends through the forest the entire way, with a nice section winding through a small gole with tall cliffs on each side. Eventually, it connects with trail 8 - the trail that we came in on - which we took back to the parking area. A great combination of forests and open land with panoramic views covering moderate elevation gain, the valle gentile is definitely on our list for a return visit.