Via Del Sale

In mid-August my good friend Leo and I made a trip from near Milan to the coast of the Italian Riviera. By foot. We walked about 100 kilometers in just under 3 days. It was an amazing trip, much of it made along the crests of the hills/mountains that divide the coast from the Padanian plains. The trail we took was used for centuries to bring valuable salt back from the sea to the people living in the plains. Mostly by mule. It's not really utilized much anymore, except by some hardcore trekkers. We were hardcore for the 3 days. The first night we slept at the top of Mount Chiappo, which was really cold for the middle of August, especially in our light sleeping bags. We could actually see the sea from the top, although it was still around 70 km away at the time. It would be the last time we would see the sea until the last afternoon. After reaching the peak of each mountain we had to climb over, there was another peak waiting to be conquered. Only on the last afternoon did we finally see our destination. My knee wasn't very happy on the last day, though. It gradually gave me more and more problems, and in the end we had to take a bus the last few kilometers, as I could barely walk. It wasn't the climbing that gave me trouble, but the descents. They put alot of pressure on my ACL and it couldn't take it in the end. It's taken me about a month to get back to normal. Funny how sometimes you think you can just go on forever, but the body often reminds you that it is not indestructible! Just to add shame to the situation, Leo had no knee problems, even though less than a year ago he had surgery to repair a torn up ACL! I guess on the positive side that shows how the body is able to recover given time and rehab effort. The trip was fantastic, though, and all along the trail at the lower elevations we feasted on blackberries. Yum.