Rings on the Alaco
What is our perception of Nature? Over the centuries, the answer to this question has influenced man’s relationship with his surroundings. This course will allow us to reflect on that connection and its evolution.
Route info
MUNICIPALITIES AFFECTED: San Sostene (CZ)
DEPARTURE: West Alacolato Dam Service Buildings, San Sostene (CZ).
ARRIVAL: East Alacolato Dam Service Buildings, San Sostene (CZ).
PATH TIMES: about 3 hrs. between strand A, about 6 hrs. between strand B
DISTANCE: 8 km betweenmo A, 12 km betweenmo B
LEVEL: 224 m
MAXIMUM ALTITUDE: 1,222 m above sea level.
MINIMUM AL TITUDE: 876 m above sea level.
DIFFICULTY: medium-high
Share
Description
Challenging, circular trail that offers two possible solutions in the return section, one of 3.8 km (route A) and the other of 7.7 km (route B). We reach the “Lacina” basin by driving along SP 43 from Brognaturo (VV). Passing a residence and a sports hall on the right, we turn left at the fork that will lead us toward the dam and reach its service buildings located at the end of the paved road. We take the road to the left of the building and leave the car at the west entrance. The dirt road starts just behind these buildings. We begin our walk by going up the small natural-bottomed road and, at the first fork in the road, turn left toward the Lacina basin. At the next fork we continue to the right up the lane that runs along the lake fence. A challenging section begins completely uphill in a forest of first pine, then beech mixed with fir. In about 40 minutes we will reach a paved road just below Mount Circello and defining a T-junction with our direction of travel. We continue to the right and in about 20 minutes we will come to a picnic area with a fountain where we can stop. Having resumed the path, we can opt for two possible solutions for the return journey.
Short route A
Mount Trematerra Ring
After a short stretch, just 5 minutes from the drinking fountain, we will be able to notice a small barracks on the right among the pines. Immediately after a crossroads from which a return road starts downhill on the right, now with a natural bottom, which descends with several hairpin bends reconnecting to another dirt road, reached a clearing, we take the dirt road to the right among the beech trees and continuing the road becomes a path that skirts what must once have been cultivated fields. We travel the last few miles that will take us back to the east side of the dam buildings.
Long route B
Mount Portella Ring
Following the road, just 15 minutes from the picnic area, third intersection on the right, we take the first dirt road. Begin a ridge trail on Mount Portella that will give us splendid views of the south side of the town of San Sostene and to the east of Mounts Farina and Lia. The walk, first through pine forest and then among chestnut trees, will be mostly downhill and will rejoin section A at the clearing from which the path that skirts areas now uncultivated starts and will take us back to the east side of the dam buildings.
A SITE OF COMMUNITY IMPORTANCE: THE LACINA
At the beginning of the route after just one kilometer up the slope of the valley, a beautiful view of the Lacina basin with its lake will open up before us. This habitat-rich site is one of the SCIs of the Serre Park as one of the few southern upland wetlands and one with a high concentration of rare species, more than 300, with relict range and distribution limits, and of these about 26 percent are rare.
BROOM OF SPAIN OR OF THE CHARCOAL BURNERS
On our right, before the small road embarks on a steep ascent and later on the B section of the return journey, the broom makes a fine display in large concentrations with the vital yellow of its flowers that sprout all summer long. The ecotype of Calabria is Spanish broom or odorosa, which is characterized by the rich and intense fragrance of its flowers that are in high demand in perfumery. This species is the hardiest and is also the one that provides better quality fibers making manufacturing, in the past, one of the main supports of the local economy for Italian-Albanian communities. Protagonist of the Corpus Christi feast in terms of the beauty and abundance of its flowers, we find it in the “infiorate” that cover the streets of many of our towns.
WIND AND ENERGY: WIND POWER
Pollution is one of the problems that most persistently and with ever-increasing force weighs on the entire planet. Alternative energy sources have been talked about for years, and this will be an opportunity for us to see one of them up close. We are talking about wind power, which with its white giants lines the ridge road along which our walk passes as well as many points on the horizon. Wind power is a renewable, clean source that does not need to occupy large areas in addition to allowing the economic revitalization of otherwise marginal areas. The wind farm on the Alaco alone is estimated to supply energy to about 70,000 households. The constant increase of such parks has the consequence of irreparably disfiguring our landscape in addition to the damage it does to birdlife due to the barrier effect that forces flocks to take longer turns during flights and takes away their territory.
In any case, supporters or detractors of such energy will not be able to remain indifferent to the impressive advance of this technology.
RURAL CONSTRUCTION: "U PASTILLARO"
The chestnut tree, in the past, has been of very high importance as a primary source of food for humans, livestock and wildlife. In so many parts of Calabria, the complex physical conditions of the land have caused the cultivation of chestnut trees to develop consistently and significantly, so much so that it characterizes the agrarian landscape and rural construction itself. Along the B section of the return journey we will find examples of this construction in structures used in the past as drying houses: the “pastillari.”