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Getting lost in the woods, it’s not always bad
Getting lost in the woods, is an experience that everyone should have in life.
Getting lost happened to me even in the Kuala Lumpur subway, so let alone in the Apennines. In the Casentino Forest Park I usually use the 2 official paper park guides with the best trails. In general I don’t like to use apps, however the trails are well marked and I don’t get lost, almost never. Almost, but sometimes it’s nice to get lost. Trail 00 is my favorite. It coincides at length with the Italia trail and basically runs along the ridge border between Emilia Romagna and Tuscany and then Umbria and Marche.
At the end of June 2020, I had decided to spend 3 intense days trekking in the Badia Prataglia area in the province of Arezzo, then on the Tuscan side, sleeping in a campsite. The idea was to complete the preparation for the Via degli Dei that I would do the following week. On the first day I managed to do a short loop in the morning, and in the afternoon I started another one that seemed particularly easy, even as a route, so much so that I tackled it somewhat superficially.
The woodland fairy
I realized I had taken a wrong turn, but I decided to keep going until I found myself in a clearing from which several paths started: I had arrived on path 00. As was my wont, I read all the signs there. Sitting on a boulder, I noticed her out of the corner of my eye; she always held this against me because she is not used to being ignored.
I more or less understood where I was, but not how I got there and what the way back to the ‘car might be. I always walk around with a photocopy of the individual trails I need, I could have used a more overview, and it just so happened that the chick sitting down, was fiddling with a map, for that reason alone she was an interesting woman to me. I don’t know how but most women don’t even understand my passion for maps and charts; probably in another life I was a pirate looking for treasure buried a few feet from a certain tree.
I approached, took off my cowboy hat and mirrored glasses, and smilingly admitted: I was lost. Apologies to all the others, but she became the most beautiful woman I was fortunate enough to date. Unfortunately, of how much I liked her she was never convinced, even though I called her the woodland fairy. The months that followed proved that we were not compatible character-wise. But still, for this encounter, I can only reiterate how fortunate it is sometimes to get lost in the woods.
We were in Prato Penna, on the ridge of the Apennines, a significant point on the 00 trail, 3 hours from my home but also from her home because she actually lived just 10 minutes from where I live and was also alone in the same campsite as me.
Getting lost in the woods, rules to avoid it
The 00 trail is easy, always straight, and it is also beautiful because of that. That time it was fine for me, and not only for the encounter, but actually you have to be careful. Especially if you don’t have an app, after a while when you no longer find the red and white Cai signs, the rule is simple: turn back! The premise is that unmarked trails should be left to the super-experts, I almost never do them and always try to get an idea of the route before setting off; also assessing the difficulty.
ps with what became my fiancée, months later we toured southern Italy together, alternating between camping and hotels, but it was quite different there.
Home set of travel On the road into central Italy, marriage proposal (Italy and Vatican)
Previous leg Trip to Lazio; the bidonara girlfriend
Next leg Italy Trail: no vampires on Mount Cucco
Trips taken, travel stories divided by continent
Anecdotes, divided by type in travel narratives
Countries visited in my travel stories
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