Madonie, Sicily: Pizzo Carbonara
Pizzo Carbonara (1979 m), the second highest summit in Sicily
after Etna, can easily be reached along marked trails from
Piano Battaglia in the Madonie Regional Nature Park.
We bought the 3 € hiking map in Cefalù, but it gave a more general
information about hikes in the Madonie, not detailed info about specific
itineraries. We did some research beforehand and concluded that it is best to
do the hike counterclockwise. The trail number was 551, and clearly marked
white/red.
|
Meadow in Piano Battaglia
|
|
Trail551 leaving Piano Battaglia
|
|
Good markings to Carbonara
|
At Piano Battaglia parking there was a map showing the trail passing
underneath the summit with a short un-marked path to the top of Piano
Battaglia. We soon found out that this was incorrect because the marked
trail 551 took us directly to the summit.
From the parking, we crossed a flat grassy meadow, heading northeast, first
along a dirt track then a good trail. It soon turned to northwest
alternating in the woods or in open terrain. We walked past a signpost
saying “Pizzo Carbonara” 1 h, trail 551, then dove into another
verdant wood. Higher up, there were more and more open areas. The trail was
little frequented on the day of our hike. We saw more deer than humans! The
relatively easy climb continued a bit more, and we turned north before the
summit became visible in front of us.
|
Pizzo Carbonara 1h |
|
Trail551 to Pizzo Carbonara
|
|
Approaching Pizzo Carbonara
|
The 551 trail went straight to the mountain top. We had a 360° panorama in
spite of some haze. In addition, the nearby summits were almost as high as
Carbonara.
We descended first heading west, then south where the 551 trail again ran
through both some picturesque woods and rocky limestone terrain.
At about 1900 m elevation, we suddenly came to an intersection. A red and
white marked trail forked sharply to the right, again no signpost, but we
knew to ignore this and continued south.
At about 1730 m elevation, we came to another intersection (no signposts)
where white and red marked trails separated (7 on the terrain map). We
correctly thought that the right-hand trail descended to the lower parking
by the S113 road. We forked left (east) and headed towards Piano Battaglia.
The trail merged with the S113 road 500 m before our starting point. This
trail was not shown on the map at the parking.
All in all, it turned out to be a great hike in pristine nature. We were
even able to take some photos of a herd of deer .
|
Pizzo Carbonara summit
|
|
Pizzo Carbonara view southwest
|
|
551 trail leaving Pizzo Carbonara
|
|
Deer near Pizzo Carbonara
|
|
Coast seen from Carbonara trail
|
Climb: 400 m
Distance: 7,7 km
Duration: 3h 15
0 comments:
Note: only a member of this blog may post a comment.