Tom`s travels: Catena del Sengio Alto (08/05/2020)

On a nice sunny Friday, my brother, dad, and I decided to head to the Sengio Alto, a group of mountains belonging to the small Dolomites set between the more famous Pasubio and Carega. After reaching the parking place of Rifugio Campogrosso, which is also the base for the hikes heading to the Carega, we started our hike by heading east of the Sengio Alto, intending to walk counterclockwise around these peaks. As we started our walk we noticed how the tip of the mountains, particularly those behind us in the Carega, were still holding some snow. After following the main road, named the road of the King after King Vittorio Emanuele inaugurated it in 1918, we reached a simple suspension bridge. In 2008, in fact, the road collapsed following a landslide, and thus there was no way to reach the northern part of the valley. A few years later, in 2016, instead of rebuilding the road with another chance of losing it because of another landslide, a simple suspension bridge was built for pedestrian traffic. The 105m long bridge is a marvel to look at and an exciting attraction to walk on. Due to its nature, it swings slightly as one crosses making it a thrilling way to experience crossing the valley below. When it had first opened, flocks of people would visit nearly every day, but luckily during our visit, it was just us three, complicit the travel restrictions of the coronavirus. Once we reached the other side, after further walking, we reached the Pasubio Ossuary, a monument erected in 1926 and dedicated to the fallen of the First World War. The ossuary sits on an outcrop that overlooks the Venetian plain, and is in fact visible, on a clear day, from nearly everywhere between Vicenza and the mountains. The monument was close and so we decided to continue onwards reaching the Pian Delle Fugazze shortly after. This alpine pass set at 1163m serves also as the border between the regions of Veneto and Trentino Alto Adige. Here we began following trail number 170, which would lead us back to the car concluding the circle round the Sengio Alto mountains. The first part of the trail was not so easy as it meandered steeply uphill through the forest and rocky terrain. Once we came out of the trees though we were welcomed by an incredible view over the Carega mountains covered in snow. Here we decided to sit and have lunch with the sandwiches we had brought from home. After eating we put back on our backpacks and continued along the trail always having the wonderful view to our right. The Sengio Alto, just like its neighbors Carega and Pasubio, was one of the main theaters during World War I and is thus filled with tunnels, trenches, and artillery positions. We passed some of them on our way and reminisced how the soldiers must have lived and felt during that terrible period. As we neared the end of our walk, the trail heading down through the rocks and in open land where a myriad of beautiful flowers gave the landscape a blue, yellow, and white hue. Among the fields we were even able to spot some chamois happily enjoying the fresh green grass but who immediately scattered once they spotted us. Just a few more minutes of walking eventually led us back to the Passo di Campogrosso, where we had parked the car, happy after this nice hike in nature without any other person around.