The first photo of the day is perhaps not very picturesque. But it shows two sides of the Italian mountain experience. There is the rusty car, carelessly left on the side of the road and now overgrown with brambles. But there is also the wooded ridge disappearing into the blue distance behind it. As in so many other places, the fringes of civilisation are litter-strewn. It's not until you get further away from human habitation that you can enjoy the scenery without these "ornaments".
The road below is the E78. It follows the valley of Torrente Meta so it is surprisingly level all the way to the province border.
Once in the forest, things are very different. There are no expansive views but in many places primroses and violets compete for space. I also saw a lot of Corsican hellebores. The red and white mark on the tree means that this is an official sentiero.
The rain during the last few days filled up all streams and in some places it was hard to know what was a stream and what was a sentiero. In this place the sentiero crosses a stream by a little water fall. I wish I could have recorded the sound.
Coming closer to the tower. The scrub oak is holding on to its leaves on either side.
A tree is in full flower by the farm where sentiero 85b meets the road. There was also a peacock on the farm. I had heard it's call all the way down from the torre. Peacocks sound like a cat meowing into a concert grade sound system.
This is the same tree from the road. It shows up beautifully against the dark trees on the hillside.
While I was walking the road back to Borgo Pace, it turned sunny. This black cat was taking a nap on the roof of a shed by the side of the road. It woke up when I took its picture.
