Middle-aged flash packers

What happened to walk 2 I hear you ask? Walk 2 was a gentle stroll along the Orfento Gorge in Carmanico Terme, a spa town here in Abruzzo. It was lovely and a great way to allow our very tired legs to recover. I’ve posted some pictures below.

Today, Steve’s mission was to hike up Corno Grande, the highest point in the Grand Sasso national park. (2912m). Obviously my presence was required too.

The park is almost 2 hours drive away. It was a very long and tortuous drive but some of the views were amazing. The weather was glorious (as it has been all week) but a little windier than usual.

We had checked the mountain weather forecast before we left so were anticipating a day of sunshine with the odd bit of cloud in the morning.

As we drove up to Campo Imperatore, the sky darkened and the wind got up. By the time we reached the walk start point, it was howling a gale, cloud obscured the summit of Corno Grande and I was desperately searching for my fleece. What the???

Absolutely no go. The wind chill at the top was in the minuses. We just weren’t equipped for the weather plus we would have been blown off the top. Thank you mountain weather forecast. Could you have been any less accurate?

Still, every cloud has a silver lining and on the drive up I had spotted a spectacular castle on the top of a bluff. In prat’s walking book, there was a hike from Santo Sessanio to the castle and back on a circular route.

A much shorter hike but very spectacular. Some of prat’s paths didn’t exist but we’ve learnt now to keep to the red and white trails and all will be well.

Afterwards we had a wander around Santo Stefano. It suffered in the 2009 earthquake and also from people moving away from the area. It is now being regenerated and it was interesting to see the amount of restoration being carried out.

So all in all it turned out to be a good day and Corno Grande is there to be climbed another time. As for the weather forecast however…..