Top of the World
It is not a difficult hike and is perfect for a pleasant day in nature. Ideal for families, in the heart of Abruzzo. The north face of Mount Camicia is a rocky rampart more than 1200 m high and about 2 km wide. The base of this wall is called Fondo della Salsa. Here are collected the waters that fall from the wall and form beautiful waterfalls. In fact, the beginning of summer, when the snowfields on the wall have not yet completely melted, is the best time for this excursion. Until recently there was also a perennial snowfield fed by the numerous and enormous avalanches that fall from the wall. It could reach many tens of meters even in the middle of the season, but today it has disappeared and it is rare in summer to find the remains of snow. The Fondo della Salsa is one of the most suggestive places of the Central Apennines. This enormous harsh and vertical wall has always represented a great problem for mountaineers. The first to climb it were Bruno Marsili and Antonio Panza from Teramo back in 1934. From Castelli we climb towards Rigopiano. After passing the tiny village of San Salvatore, near a sharp bend to the left (about 3.5 km from Castelli), leave the car in the small road that from the curve enters the woods on the right (Colle Rustico).the path (n°245) starts close to the road, where a clearing, just over ten meters away, allows four cars to stop at the same time. You enter the woods and immediately find yourself in front of a picnic area with a wooden bench. The path branches off and frontally, especially at certain times of the year, is a bed of leaves. You have to go straight on, avoiding to go on the right: you would find yourself close to a small house without being able to go further. Almost the entire route is inside the wood and this will help you not to suffer the heat in the hottest months. At the same time it could represent a danger in case of a thunderstorm, due to the possible fall of lightning. The duration of the walk is about forty minutes, in which time you will arrive close to a rocky wall. Turning you can see the landscape in the background, which looks at Castelli. Continuing, you will have to ford a torrent: it is not dangerous, but you must avoid false steps in order not to get wet. The last hairpin bends in the nature and you will find yourself under the mountain, where a glacier very often transforms the landscape.The first rule, once you arrive at the glacier, which characterizes the Fondo della Salsa, is to avoid crossing it: in some points it is very thin and you risk to find yourself among the rocks below, some of which are very sharp. It is better to walk along it as far as you can. The path ends near a stone, used as a commemorative plaque. A bit like the great peaks of the world, where the rocks tell of climbers who died for a dream. Here are remembered a twenty-year-old climber who in the '70s fell to climb Mount Camicia, or the young pilot who crashed into the glacier in 1994. In both cases, the ropes used for the climb and part of the plane wreckage are visible.
