Ascend to the Santa Croce Sanctuary

September 9, 2024 - from the itinerary:Make a pilgrimage to the pretty white Santa Croce Sanctuary, perfectly situated at the base of the Sasso della Croce. Starting from the town of San Cassiano (5,250'), hike uphill on a paved road passing timy hamlets and age-old barns along the way. A gravel trail gradually ascends through the prine forest, affording great views of Santa Croce and the picturesque Val Badia. At the church you'll have time to look around and revel in the vistas before walking to "Ranch Andre", a traditional farmhouse converted into an inviting lunch spot. After lunch, take a different trail back down into town and enjoy an evening at your leisure.

Planned activity: 5-6 hours/7 miles hiking with 1,935'elevation gain and loss

Actual activity: about 3 hours of actual hiking time, about 8 miles hiking with 1850 elevation gain/1575 loss.

Weather: rainy and cool in the morning, clearing as the day went on. I turned out to be a beautiful hike.

Let the birthday begin! I didn't realize that today is also N. Korea founding day.

Breakfast was a lovely buffet. I had cake and bread for breakfast. Vail and John gifted me a small jar of Nutella for the occasion. 

We had a short drive to the hike start. It was still pissing down. Our guides were very civilized and decided we should wait in a cafe, have a coffee and cake and wait for the the rain to abate which was expected over the next hour. Everyone knew it was my birthday, so we had a wee celebration and lemon drizzle cake before hike!

We still needed rain gear at the start as we wandered uphill on roads through the town and into the mountains

to a farm with the traditional barn and drying area. We had diverse rain gear, from Vena's poncho to Larus' skirt. Vena was probably the driest of any of us with her poncho, but she looked like Quasimodo and twice as wide as a tractor-trailer.

along kept gravel paths, past a mill, and the weather gradually got better

and after about 30 minutes of 30% grade inclines, we made it up to the top of the hill and the sun was out making it a glorious day. Several in the group decided not to hike today due to weather - I was glad I decided to come!

We continued along a forested trail up to the church we followed the stations of the cross. Starting with a rememberance to a local saint who had ties with buddhism

We had several influencer shots along the way, and shots of influencers taking pictures of influencers....

Tea was at a church where Vena gave me a Timtam birthday biscuit to have with my tea! and some lovely views

The church was interesting because it was old (1600?) and used by the devoted to ask for help from God on various issues in their lives. There were many requests on the walls asking for help with, or thanking God for help with their issues, like things with legs, or being able to pass a needle eaten by a child...

We were there at noon when they rang the bell

The trail to lunch had some lovely views of the mountains and you could even see the cross(es) at the top

We had one stop at an ant hill where Paulo bravely showed us the ant response to predators - these ants bite. The response is a smell, which I couldn't really smell.

We had lunch at a refugio with interesting ceiling fixtures. They also had some goats. We had a group shot outside. I include the menu below, too. Desert was a local crepe sort of batter, cut up with powdered sugar - it was delightful! My pasta with venison was a bit too gamey for my liking.

After lunch we started down to the pickup point. It turned out to be a great hiking day

Other drama going on:

We didn't have a kettle or any tea making supplies; whereas, others did. I did get us a kettle, but they didn't bring any tea with it. Thankfully Lisa had a tea stash. Those who did have a kettle and tea had a very bizarre tea ball - what does it remind you of?

I bought a round of drinks before dinner and got a prosecco

We had dinner on our own and went to a recommended pizza place where they were going to make us a special tartufo pizza (truffle pizza). Turns out tartufo is also a desert. Of course the gals created another birthday extravaganza for me which forwhich I was grateful - This was one of my best birthdays I can remember!