I woke early this morning around 630am to ensure I could get away by 8am leaving 10 hours of daylight for the walk, lunch and exploring as I combined 2 days into one. This was set to test me today:-

• Stia to Comaldoli rated hard; 18kms with 1000m of steep climb and 600m of descents
• Camoldoli to Badia Prataglia (BP); rated moderate; only 8.4kms but 550m of climbs and 500m of descents.

I reached some major endurance milestones today:-

• 42km of walking, thats a marathon
• Fitibit award for climbing the equivalent of 500 flights of stairs (the highest challenge they have).
• My second 50,000 step day

Overview of the Walk

Stia to Camoldoli

It was a cold morning; started off at about 11 degrees but I was soon down to Tshirt and shorts as the walk began.

The walk from Stia started off with a steep climb, past small farms before heading into the forests. Along the way, I passed villages (Lonnano), found an Etrusacan ruin site and a monastery of Franciscan nuns. But most of the day was spent in the forests. The forests are magical; the way the light streams through the beech and pine forests, the fascination of the different types of mushrooms, moss covered trees and ancient ruined buildings. And then every now and again you pop out and there would be an amazing view.

There was some serious climbing today but I actually found the descents more challenging; with the climbs you can stop and catch your breath, but the descents, particularly where the path was rocky, steep and covered in loose stones is hard. You tend to have to take small steps and its hell on the legs (knees and feet).

On two occasions we climb above 1200m and it was cool. Signs warn of snow and rain and you could imagine it could get inhospitable up there.

But of great interest on the first stage was the Monastic Community of Camoldoli. The community applies a rigorous interpretation of St Benedict, has been around since 1023 and has separate facilities for hermit and community monks. There is a store that sells artisan herbal products but is was closed over lunch so I kept moving. It is very private and unfortunately, I did not see any monks from behind the wall but I did find a vantage point to take some snaps.

Not many people to see today, but there was great scenery and … more mushrooms … some ripe apples to pick and the challenge! Wildlife – 2 squirrels only today. There are plenty of places where you can see the wild boar have been digging but they keep their distance.

Overall it was a very pretty walk through the forests.

The descent to Camoldoli was tough and I needed both lunch and a rest. I found a great place overlooking a little river and ate reading “Freakonomics’, eating a ham pannini and a cup of herbal tea. I was enjoying myself but then realised it was 2:20pm and Badia Prataglia (BP) is 3 and a 1/2 hours away. My feet were aching and I used an extra pair of socks for the next stage.

Camaldoli to Badia Prataglia (BP)

I looked at the guide book and no surprises the walk commenced with a steep climb for 3 kilometres (If I am honest it was a little bit challenging to pick myself up) had 3 kilometres of undulating walk before finishing with 3 kilometres of steep descent.

The walk was hard passing through beech and then pine forests. This was more a grit your teeth and suck it up walk, but I enjoyed the upper session where the vegetation included a lot of fern forests and the Beech trees were starting to turn orange/yellow losing leaves as we head into autumn. Again, parts of the forests are magical.

My beer at BP was great, since going to Sardinia I have taken a fancy to their local lager which is sold here, spiritual stuff.

The hotel and dinner was also great, even if we could not communicate very well. Loved the fresh salad, wild boar tagliatelli, boar and potatoes and pancetta. Cleary, I am on a diet. (I kept nodding as she asked me what I wanted!).

Tomorrow is another hard walk day (18 km, 7 hours, 1200m climb and 100 descent) but to add to the challenge rain and cold weather is forecast:-