This post is also available in:
Italiano (Italian)
Pieces of the Italy Trail
Monte Cucco is along the Sentiero Italia, which is a trail composed of a set of (connected) paths that crosses the Alpine arc and then descends along the Apennines, essentially traversing the ridge of Italy, and then includes continuations in Puglia; Sicily and Sardinia.
It would be a dream to do it all, as it is almost 8,000 km for 500 stages; I do bits of it now and then.
Climbing Mount Cucco had been at the top of one of my lists for some time. What list?
I have so many lists, grouped by type, of trips or small trips I want to take.
Going up Monte Cucco was in my more specific plan to do as many parts of the Sentiero Italia as possible, as well as the more general plan to visit lesser-known parts of Italy.
I don’t deny that one of the motives for so much interest was because I liked the name, and being able to say I was going to bunk.
Twice I had to cancel reservations because of bad weather, and even that time we were coming from a series of bad weekends or at least not good enough for solo treks.
In May 2024 I was finally able to go with 3 nights base in Nocera Umbra and planning three treks but also tours of towns I did not know in Umbria (Nocera itself and Gualdo Tadino) and Marche(Sasso Ferrato).
What do vampires have to do with Mt. Cucco?
In fact, the Monte Cucco Park, though less renowned than the nearby Sibillini Mountains, has its own following, partly because it is an important area for paragliding, climbing and caving.
But so much so that on Saturday’s beautiful trek, I encountered more foxes (one, running through one of the many wonderful meadows crossed) than people or vampires in 7 hours of walking.
I often reflect on how many beautiful places are little frequented while the very fashionable ones, too much.
Can vampires be considered people?
Because of my aversion to garlic (what battles with my mom, who would even put it in my milk with cookies because it’s good for you!); and also because of my sympathy for Count Dracula, the protagonist of Bram Stoker‘s novel, I always joked that I thought I had been a vampire in another life.
On the second Sunday trek; partly because it was a public holiday, partly because it was a loop tour and more well-known, I met people, quite a few too.
Meetings and dialogues climbing Mount Cucco, a stage of the Italy Trail
This was the dialogue with a lady crossed as I descended and she ascended a fairly steep piece:
I stop and move to the side so I let her pass
Thank you ma’am, very kind
No, please, I’m only doing it because then I have an excuse to stop
Ah, feigned kindness!
Yes, I hope to meet someone else
Then if you want I’ll come back up so you refer for me
However, if I crossed many people here in the sense of humans, of vampires nothing, it was just impossible.
In these three perfect days (also considering the journey through the beautiful hills of the Marche region and lodging and food, with agritourisms where you could still eat great while spending the right amount), I was also terribly lucky in experiencing a sight that had never occurred to me before; whole forests full of wild flowering garlic. The exact name is bear garlic. The photos do not render the magic, but it was one of the walks I will remember most in my life.
Home travel On the road into central Italy, marriage proposal (Italy and Vatican)
Previous stop Getting lost in the woods, trail 00, between Emilia Romagna and Tuscany
Next stop Traveling the Via degli Dei, from Bologna to Florence
Trips taken, travel stories divided by continent
Anecdotes, divided by type in travel narratives
Countries visited in my travel stories
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.