Miles Hiked 2.25
Elevation Gain 900 feet (approximately)
Here we go with another day hiking the steep steps of the Blue Trail through the five villages of Cinque Terre. Today, I’ll be finishing the trail. The start will be in Vernazza, which is where I finished yesterday.
I caught a train in Riomaggiore and reached Vernazza a little before noon. Like yesterday, I’ve had nothing to eat since the night before. This time, however, I decided to grab a sandwich or panini as the Italians call them. The village was already teaming with tourists, but I found a small take away store (we call it take out) and bought a panini. As luck would have it, I found a nice bench overlooking the small harbor, so I plopped down and enjoyed the panini. When finished, it was time to get on the trail and enjoy Italy’s own version of a Stair Master.
The trail was easy to find, and so up I went. Today is Saturday, and there are many more hikers out than there were yesterday. A few of them were crazy young women wearing sun dresses and sandals. Park rules (yes, this is a park) stipulate you can’t be on the trail without proper footwear. Lucky for the sandal wearing women there are no park rangers. Actually, that’s not entirely true. There are rangers who collect 7.50 Euros at certain waypoints on the trail. They caught me yesterday and again today for two separate toll payments. Yuck, but I digress. Anyway, I’m guessing at least one of those sandal wearing women has a jammed toe at the very least the day after.
On American trails, etiquette requires that there not be any large groups hiking together. Not here. I encountered several. It is a real problem when there is a very narrow stretch of trail, and you meet a large group going the other way. Talk about traffic jam.
The views made it all worthwhile, though. When you get high up and look down on the Ligurian Sea it’s amazing. The same goes for the villages in the distance.
This part of the trail was short in distance compared to yesterday’s hike. I was quickly approaching Monterossa al Mare; although the trail was still high up in the mountain. While hiking the villages, you literally have to go to the summit or close to it and then go down the other side. There’s little to no part of the trail that stays at elevation and goes around the mountains.
So, going down to Monterossa al Mare meant a lot of steps and a lot of people. A line formed with two old ladies in front. Suffice it to say, I could take a siesta in between steps as the ladies held on for dear life descending those steps. Finally, there was a section where I could pass everyone in the 15 person line.
Monterossa al Mare was now close, and I reached town in about ten minutes. My reward was two scoops of gelato, a seat in the town piazza and some well earned rest before I caught a train back to Riomaggiore.
If you’re interested in reading more about this section of the trail, the below text was taken from the Cinque Terre website.
The path number 2: Vernazza – Monterosso
It is the most challenging stretch of the Sentiero Azzurro and indicated as 592-4 (SVA2). We must take Via Ettore Vernazza, exit the village and begin to climb towards the cemetery, which runs alongside. You pass over a bridge half hidden by vegetation and dry stone walls. The mule track is steeply uphill: you will soon reach a height of 150 meters on the Costa Mesorano terrace. From this moment on, it will continue, with a slight up and down, to the precipitous descent towards Monterosso. It runs along the terraces, where, among the dry stone walls, the wall lizard, one of the most widespread species, takes refuge. We enter the Mediterranean scrub that occupies some abandoned lands. The vegetation is very varied, there are the holm oak, the strawberry tree, the lentisk, the arboreal heather, the broom, the juniper. The mule track becomes narrower and the ground can become slippery. Caution. Go past the Molinaro stream and reach an equipped rest area. Heading into the Acquapendente valley, you pass a humpback bridge: we are at an altitude of 140 meters. Still a slight climb to overcome the last ridge, then the descent begins along an uncomfortable but safe concrete stairway, built on an ancient path that runs along the high walls of the gardens. We head towards Punta Corone where we see a large military bunker. Shortly after the path forks, a stretch reaches the town passing behind the town hall and arrives in Piazza Garibaldi, the other will follow the coast until you reach the promenade. Travel time: 2 hours Difficulty: Excursion Length: 3.6 km. The overall height difference of the trail is 280 meters.
ATTENTION: transit on path 2 is subject to the payment of a toll ticket.
