Tom`s travels: Lessinia (17/05/2020)

On a nice sunny weekend my dad, brother, and I decided to head to the mountain plateau just north of Verona known as Lessinia. After just over an hour's drive we reached the small hamlet of Malga San Giorgio; once as the name suggests a mountain hut used during the summer months and now a group of modern apartments used during the winter period for skiing. We left our car there and started the hike which would take us around the northern part of the plateau. As we followed the main path we were greeted by herds of cows enjoying the fresh green grass and plants that were beginning to sprout at this altitude. We were in fact at about 1500m above sea level and a beautiful array of different colored flowers could be seen. At one point we deviated from the main path and followed a smaller trail winding its way up the hilly terrain on the border of the crests that divide the region of Veneto from Trentino. On the other side of the valley below came jutting out the immense figure of the Carega mountain still snow-capped. As we walked along the crest we encountered some artillery positions from the first world war with some holes and tunnels dug into the rock functioning as trenches. As we continued onwards we spotted some marmots hiding among rocks and a group of chamois who scattered as soon as they got scent of us. The wildlife was plenty and awake most probably due to the fact that there had been very few people in the past months because of the lockdown. After passing by Malga Gasperine, a small isolated mountain hut, we descended down a nice grass meadow and approached an area where the remains of some world war I fortifications were located. At one point as we scouted the area my brother yelled he had seen some ticks so we quickly ran back to the trail hoping none had jumped on us. We checked our legs but didn't find any so we decided to continue onwards. Here we passed through a nice rocky terrain with high walls and deep vegetation. Then we came out once again in the open meadow and started our ascent towards Rifugio Castelberto. Not long after we reached the rifugio, which due to the restrictions was still closed, and continued on to reach the nearby viewpoint. The panorama from there was amazing, spanning the whole Adige valley with the towns of Ala and Avio below. The mountains in the distance created a nice backdrop from some pictures and led us to stay there long enough to enjoy the spectacular view. Then we decided it was time to start heading back, this time following the main road which leads directly to Malga San Giorgio. The way was easy, relatively straight but quite boring, even though we always had a nice view of the plateau towards the south. In some parts, we were even able to spot Lake Garda far off in the distance towards the west. After nearly three-quarters of the way, we then chance upon a small hole dug right next to the path. At one point a little head came out, sniffing the air, and then the whole body. It was a nice fat marmot who was probably not so scared of humans and more used to getting served food by them. The hole was in fact too close to the path and the marmot seemed not to care of our vicinity. We tried getting as close as possible without scaring the little guy and ended up being just a few centimeters away. We took some pictures and thought to feed afterward but figured out we were out of anything edible. We then waved goodbye to the marmot and continued onwards towards our destination. Right before reaching the car, we came upon a beautiful spot that granted us an amazing view of the Carega mountain shining in the late afternoon soon. The wind had picked up so we were happy to reach the warmth of the car and end this great hike in Lessinia.