4.9 km to summit
12.5 km total
218 m start
736 m max
680 m gain
4 hr 30 min to summit
6 hr 49 min total
Interesting hike to reach two very panoramic summits and enjoy the blooming May nature of this great forest.
Not very long in itself but took much more time than expected, given the already considerable heat and the 350m unmapped off trail I managed to complete through thick undergrowth (mostly brambles, of course; machete saved me a lot of sweat and bruising).
For the most part this route follows decent trails or even wide roads used by rangers. Other parts, mainly towards Monte Conchioru, get unmarked and very restricted by the plants regrowth, signalling very rare human passage. On the upper parts it becomes evident how goats or boars get here more often than humans, and a proper trail completely vanishes between dozens of animal paths branching to nowhere. For the last part this meant looking for the path of least resistance going up and do some scrambling as the rocks started rising from the ground of the forest. In more than one occasion this meant scrambling up some meaningless rock just to see that the actual summit lied elsewhere like 200-300 meters away (happened two times while I was completely exhausted and sunstroke). Amazing, I loved it all.
routefinding, bushwhacking, buggy
trekking poles, mountaineering boots, GPS device
vygodski
Sounds great. I wasn't joking the other time about the secateurs (forbici da potatura), really, by the way. I used to take a roncola and sometimes you do need that if you get really stuck, but rather than all the exhausting thrashing about with your arms in brambles, I find just snipping with the hand tool works best.
nicadsardinia
Hi vygodski! You are absolutely right, for me the forbici work best 90% of the times as you really need to place just a few precise cuts on some overhanging thin branch/bramble to open up a decent passage. For the remaining 10% a large blade is ideal for when you are facing what I call large dried branches "hands" extending laterally: it works wonders for those as with one slash you make them all "explode" away; in a few occasions also it is needed with live thick branches, mainly hard oak ones, that you could not just flex away as they remain pretty stiff. This time I had to outright cut out a few of them with many chops as they were right in the way, going horizontally full of ramifications and leaves obstructing the only possible passage.