Location

Parchiule, Les Marches, Italy.

I drove to Parchiule and walked from there on sentiero 89 along Torrente Val Pellico. When it started going uphill, I turned around and then walked a bit on sentiero 90 until my feet hurt too much.

Parchiule is very out of the way. From Borgo Pace which at least is on the E78, I drove for half an hour on the generously potholed road that leads to Parchiule and a few other mountain communities. Yet it is an important place because there is a small shop there. It is marked as a resupply point on my walking map.

There is also an apparently thriving charcoal industry here. It is something of a two-edged sword because when all the trees are removed from a slope, erosion sets in and not much will grow on it. Certainly not trees.

Click on the images to see larger versions.

In Parchiule Torrente Auro flows through the village. This is the view from the bridge that leads to the sentiero. Note the flowering trees on the right.

Three torrente come together in or near Parchiule. This is Torrente Val Pellico. Sentiero 89 follows it until it comes to Ranco Fabbri.

At Ranco Fabbri there were several water falls. This is one of them.

This picture is taken from above Ranco Fabbri, just before I decided to turn around. The map showed that sentiero 89 followed the top of the ridge and I was worried about being trapped there without any shelter in case there was another thunderstorm.

Back down in the valley, I found this lamium growing in a stone wall.

On sentiero 90 you can see this torre. Surprisingly it doesn't have a name on the map. The barren slopes are a byproduct of the charcoal industry.