The Vagabond Hiker

Hiking, trekking, and climbing the world

Sardinia Walking Week

Before you say – “oh, another post from Italy”, I should make it clear that Sardi consider themselves apart from “mainland Italians,” with their distinct culture, traditions, and language. While many tourists come to Sardinia to bask on sun-drenched beaches or to emulate the sybaritic lifestyles of the glitterati on the Costa Smeralda, there exists a completely different aspect to this island. As well as helping to preserve the traditional lifestyles of the locals, the dramatic mountains and gorges of central Sardinia make for some fantastic walking, and my KE Adventures trip highlighted some of the best easier day hikes on the island.

Our group of fourteen diverse clients included eight Americans, by far the most on any of the nearly 20 KE trips on which I’ve been. In addition to four Brits, our group also had a Belgian and a Pole to give it a bit of international flavor. This was a center-based holiday where we stayed at a charming, locally-owned hotel outside the town of Dorgali, located in the center of the island, between the east coast and the Supramonte mountains. One website’s summary I think accurately describes the latter:

The Supramonte is a vast limestone plateau that extends in the province of Nuoro within the towns of Orgosolo, Dorgali, Urzulei and Baunei. It is an immense rugged and wild massif, made up of caves, forests, canyons. . . one of the wildest areas of the island. Over 500 sq km of rocks and mountains that form vertical walls, sinkholes, caves, [and] underground rivers.

https://www.perfectsardinia.com/destination/central-sardinia/supramonte/

Below are some photos I took last month. Decide for yourself whether the central Sardinia coast and mountains live up to their billing!

View of the Laniattu Valley on the Day 1 ascent where we traversed Monte Tiscale, a rather modest peak.
A gnarled juniper
The Nuragic complex of Sa Sedda e Sos Carros, a bronze age village high in the mountains. Their ancient culture was interesting, but lacking a written language means much of our knowledge of them is simply speculation.
On Day 2 our walk went from our hotel in Dorgali to Cala Ganone on the coast. Here is a view west towards Monte Corrasi (left), which would be our objective for the final day.
View of Cala Ganone and the Mediterranean Sea on Day 2.
An Autumn Crocus (Colchicum lusitanum). It was too late in the season for many flowers, but I’ll share photos of a couple we saw.
One of our (innumerable) group photos. I often felt apart from them as not many were regular hikers, causing excessive stops each day due to a lack of fitness for about half of them.
A gorgeous old juniper (Juniperus phoenicia)
Red squill (Charybdis maritima), whose blooms signal the end of summer
Coastal view on Day 3, where we hiked from Cala Ganone south along the coast to Cala Luna.
An ammonite fossil. The limestone which predominates on this portion of the island is fossil rich, though most are found away from the well-trod paths.
Spiaggia di Cala Fuili. Along with Cala Luna, access is only by either foot or boat. I won’t share any photos of Cala Luna. While beautiful, even mid week in September it was absolutely rammed with boat people. Perhaps 8 AM on a rainy December morning would be an ideal time to visit?
Monte Bardia from my hotel room balcony in Dorgali. This would be my objective on our mid-week off day.
View from the Parco del Carmelo towards Dorgali at the beginning of my ascent of Monte Bardia on Day 4.
Some of the numerous domestic goats we saw on the ascent. One other hiker joined me on this hike.
Another view of Dorgali from our ascent route
View from near Passo Ghenna di Silana on our Day 5 descent to the gorge known as Gola di Gorropu
Holm Oak (Quercus ilex) on our misty descent
With some of our group descending into the gorge
A view of Gola di Gorropu as the mist begins to clear
Entering Gola di Gorropu. There was a ticket booth as this gorge has been monetized for tourists. It provided some fun scrambling for those of us so inclined.
Day 6 was the culmination of our hiking week: the summit of Monte Corrasi, high point of the Supramonte. Here is a view of the town of Oliena on our ascent.
European yew (Taxus baccata), now a protected species in Sardinia
Monte Corrasi summit view east towards Dorgali and Monte Bardia (center)
The Vagabond Hiker on Monte Corrasi, view west
A summit pano from Monte Corrasi, also towards the west

I’ll leave the reader at our high point as the rest of the trip was literally and figuratively down hill. I caught a rather bad cold from a client that persisted for nearly two weeks and from which I am only now recovered back in St George Utah.

I do have some “odds and ends” photos from the Alps this past summer that are interesting enough (to me at least) that I will share them next month as a final blog post for 2022. Until then, enjoy the wonderful autumnal weather wherever you happen to be.

The Vagabond Hiker

Trekking the High Tatras of Poland and Slovakia

Hard on the heels (so to speak) of trekking in Bulgaria, I flew to Krakow, Poland to begin my next trekking adventure. The Tatra mountains represent the last high mountains in the Carpathians, and from a Polish perspective are divided into three parts: the Western Tatras, the High Tatras, and the White Tatras. Our week-long KE Adventures group focused on the most interesting of these, the High Tatras. We hiked for three days in Poland, after transferring by public bus to the mountain town of Zakopane, and afterwards transferred by private bus to Slovakia for three additional days hiking. The Slovakian trekking included an ascent of Mount Rysy, ironically the highest point in Poland. Enjoy the photos highlighting my week in the Tatras!

Willow Gentians (Gentiana asclepiadea). We saw these nearly everywhere in the forests. The weather was poor on the first day, so most of the few photos I took were of flowers!
Siklawica Waterfall in the mist on Day 1. Our trekking this day was in two distinct parts; this waterfall hike, a short transfer from Zakopane, was the first. As it was a Sunday, the trail was packed with tourists despite the bad weather.
The second portion of our first day trek was a path that from another valley headed towards Roztoka Hut, our lodging for the next two nights. The rains had swollen the streams we encountered.
On Day 2 we first hiked up to Morskie Oko (Fish Eye Lake), a popular tourist destination, from Roztoka Hut.
A view from above Morskie Oko on Day 2. The weather was slowly improving, but mountain vistas were nonexistent.
Siklawa Waterfall, the second highlight of Day 2
One of Nicole’s photos of Siklawa Waterfall. It is obvious which of the two of us is a professional photographer! More of her photos later on. . .
Stream Roztoka on our descent back to Roztoka Hut
A mountain church (left) seen on our descent route from Roztoka hut to the roadhead, in another valley from where we had ascended the prior day.
Sunrise on Poprodske Pleso, Day 4. We had transferred to Slovakia where we spent two nights at a basic hotel on this lake. I took this photo from my balcony.
Day 4 was our summit day of Mount Rysy. We started hiking through the forest and sub-alpine ecosystems. Here is a Monkshood (Aconitum napellus)
Delphinium verdunense, Day 4
Adenostyles alliariae, also Day 4. So much for the flowers, Now the climbing began. . .
Mount Rysy from Frog Lake. Rysy is the highest point, in the center of the photo. There are actually two summits, one in Slovakia and (the lower) one on the Slovak-Polish border.
Another view of Frog Lake, with Satan Peak in the background. We climbed to a col above the lake, with some cables to assist us in a couple of sections. Note the hikers in the extreme lower left for scale.
Rysy hut (2250m) the highest hut in Slovakia and in the Tatras. We stopped for a long break here before the final summit climb.
Clouds attempting to cross Polish-Slovak border near the summit of Rysy. Definitely this week Slovakia was the sunny side of the Tatras!
KE summit group photo on Mount Rysy’s Polish high point (2499m), with some extraneous people present as the summit was rammed on this relatively fine weather day in late summer. I and a few others next climbed Rysy’s true high point (2503m) in Slovakia, far less crowded and requiring a touch of scrambling.
The Popradske Pleso Hotel, seen as we walk back to the road-head on Day 5. In addition to large dorm rooms, there were a limited number of ensuite double rooms. I upgraded for privacy and to escape the snoring.
A stream as we headed back towards the road-head. Rysy in the morning light is in the background.
With Nicole on Velka Svitovska. The second part of our Day 5 hike included a train transfer and then a gondola lift before the second hike, to Green Lake. It proved another long day, but not nearly as arduous as the Rysy climb the previous day.
The Vagabond Hiker waiting in the shade for other KE clients on the hike to Green Lake (Zelene Pleso). Our group included several who were not regular hikers, and the overall pace was SLOW. Completely different from the week before in Bulgaria!
The Green Lake bowl where we stayed for our final night in the mountains. It was a long descent, tough on old knees.
Martin, seen on the descent to Green Lake. A part of this route had cables for assistance, though I avoided them altogether. Martin has been on nearly 50 KE trips, putting my 18 or so to shame!
Arriving at Green Lake and Hut
A photo of Green Lake photo taken by Nicole taken near sunset on Day 5.
View of the High Tatras from Green Lake in the early morning of Day 6, also courtesy of Nicole. Between earplugs and Aleve PM, I overslept the wonderful morning light. Fortunately, Nicole did not!
Triangle Lake, one of the White Lakes, on our last day’s descent in the White Tatras. We had left the High Tatras behind for something completely different.
Alpine Pasque flower (Anemone alpina). One usually only sees the seed pods this late in the year. Perhaps there is a cooler micro-climate here?
A typical White Tatras view, we descended this valley back to the roadhead.
A small gorge on the descent to Tatranska Javorina, the end point for our week’s trekking.

As this blog posts, I will be in Finland for a few days on the Baltic Sea near Helsinki. While I won’t post directly from my city break trip to Tallinn and Finland, I am planning as many as three more posts over the coming weeks before my return to the States. Stay tuned!

The Vagabond Hiker.

Trekking the Ridges and Summits of Bulgaria

For my second KE Adventures trip of the season, last month I flew to Sofia, Bulgaria where the one week trip began. This fantastic week of hiking encompassed the two highest mountain ranges in Bulgaria, the Rila and Pirin Mountains, split three days in each range, where we summitted the highest peaks in the country and enjoyed some fantastic ridge walking. While only totaling 42 miles for the 6 days of hiking, with more than 18,000 vertical feet gain this was a more challenging week than I had expected. Our strong group of eleven, ranging in age from 19 to 69, accomplished everything with aplomb.

I took most of the photos that follow with my Panasonic Lumix, except the first day’s hike and the flowers, where I used my Samsung A52 camera, and the few photos with me, which were obviously taken by others. Two great early morning photos from near Dark Lake (Tevno Ezero), the location of the only hut we stayed at, were taken (and likely photo-edited!) by another client. Enjoy!

The Rila and Pirin mountains are the highest – and by far the most rugged – in the country. Along with the Rhodope Mountains, they occupy much of the southwest of the country. (By Ikonact – File:Bulgaria-geographic map-bg.svg, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=24850742)
Our first hike was to the summit of the highest mountain in Bulgaria, Musala, in the Rila mountains. This photo was taken near the trailhead, at the top of the cable car. Despite the poor weather, as it was a Sunday the trail was crowded.
View from above Musala Hut, a bit more than half-way to the top.
Musala (2925m) summit cairn and flag. No views were had in the rain and fog.
Spreading bellflower (Campanula patula), one of many bellflower species I’ve seen this summer, taken during the hike up Musala.
Our second day of hiking in the Rila mountains was the first of two days traversing near the Seven Lakes. Here is one of the lakes, shown with the near-ubiquitous fireweed (rosebay willow-herb).
Vista of two of the Seven Lakes. Fortunately, the weather improved during the week.
View west towards Musala from the Green Ridge descent from the Seven Lakes on day 2.
Viola, possibly a hybrid. Gorgeous with the water droplets.
Crossing a brook in the forest on descent from Green Ridge. Lest you think we were always above tree-line!
Our third day featured the most challenging hike in the Rila mountains, the ascent of Maliovitsa Peak. Here our KE group is seen ascending from the head of the valley.
The Vagabond Hiker on Maliavitsa summit during our leisurely lunch stop. The valley we ascended/descended is seen here.
Mount Maliovitsa (2729m) summit view with lakes, taken with my Samsung
The famous Rila Monastery, where we stopped for a cultural infusion during the 3 hour transfer to the Pirin Mountains – after we had climbed Maliovitsa. A long day indeed!
Our first of three days hiking in the Pirins was from Vihren hut at Lake Bezbog to Dark Lake (Tevno Ezero). Here some of our group are seen ascending from an unnamed lake. Our guide, Rossen, shirtless, is leading across this lateral moraine.
Scarlet avens (Geum coccineum)
Mark, one of our more serious hikers, resting on a ridge. We traversed several during our three days in the Pirins.
Early morning at Dark Lake (Tevno Ezero). The first of two landscape photos NOT taken by me. The hut we stayed at was not hygienic, and is to be avoided. We could have combined the two days into one big day with a chairlift to near the start of the Seven Lakes, though the amazing dawn light at Tevno Ezero would have been missed (by those up early enough).
Stream near Tevno Ezero in the early morning. Sadly, NOT mine either!
Popovo Lake view during our long descent on our second day in the Pirins.
A hummingbird hawk-moth (Macroglossum stellatarum) on a thistle. It even sounded like a hummingbird! After long struggles to get a decent photo of this moth, I realized why I prefer wildflowers.
Mullein (Verbascum longifolium). We saw scads of this statuesque flower on our descent from Tevno Ezero.
Two of our group descending along a stream on our penultimate day
Our last and most spectacular day of hiking in Bulgaria, a traverse of Marble Ridge and Vihren Peak. Here is a herd of chamois we encountered on our ascent towards Vihren Col.
View from the col towards Kutelo Peak 1. Marble Ridge is on the left here. We did a mid-level traverse on the left side of the near ridge to attain Marble Ridge.
Rhaetian poppy (Papaver alpinum), one of my faves. I saw only a couple.
The Vagabond Hiker leaning back and relaxing, with some of our group on Marble Ridge. We were in harness with ferrata-style lanyards, a first for several of us.
On the summit of Kutelo Peak 2 with Marble Ridge behind. Several “ants” on the ridge are people.
Vihren summit ridge view, our next objective. Though not technical, it was a fine scramble from Vihren Col, seen here.
Vihren summit group photo, our guide Rossen in front and me at the top. At 2914m, it is the highest point in the Pirin Mountains and the 2nd highest in Bulgaria.
After the week of hiking, the rest of the group caught an early shuttle the next morning for the 2+ hour drive to Sofia. I relaxed at Molerite Hotel in Bansko with lunch as I had an evening flight to Krakow.

Currently, I am back in Aosta, Italy for a few days before a quick trip to Tallinn Estonia and Helsinki. One blog post done and one to go! Stay tuned for some photos from the Tatras of Poland and Slovakia.

The Vagabond Hiker

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