Terminillo – Amatrice | June 1 – 5, 2022

Text and photos by Matteo Marinelli R.T. Earth

The journeys through our beautiful country continue; after having explored Liguria a month ago, we move further south to discover Lazio, crossing the Terminillo and skirting the nearby Umbria and Abruzzo, constantly looking for breathtaking landscapes to explore aboard our beloved off-road vehicles. Each journey is a story to tell and this time too, unexpectedly, it came from heaven, but to discover it you have to get to the bottom.

Day 1

The departure of each tour is always exciting for everyone, from the organizers to the participants, for the desire to discover the places, atmospheres and flavors that will we meet. We leave behind the medieval village of Contigliano and, after a short stretch of transfer on asphalt, we took our first dirt road, completely surrounded by the almost blinding green of the forest, climbing the hills from the Fosso di Belvece, a fairly technical path where in some cases it was necessary to use the winch, avoiding causing damage to vehicles to easily get out of the most critical situations: a first approach of this very dynamic and fun Tour that generated that magical mix where adrenaline splashes us.

The itinerary took us to Mount Macchia Rocca, where its dense beech woods hosted us for the first lunch based on typical cold cuts and cheeses, homemade desserts, coming from the crew of Massimo and Simonetta, met on the previous trip in Sarzana. In order not to miss anything, a good coffee made at the moment by Nathoù literally put us back in gear, but on our legs, for a short excursion that led us to the Hermitage of San Francesco or Cappelletta di Greccio, a pilgrimage destination with a small refuge, from where we could enjoy the view of Rieti and the Piana Reatina as well as a front view of the Terminillo.

The first day comes to an end and the endless dirt roads lead us towards Cottanello, in a continuous up and down from 800 to 1,100 a.s.l. among enchanting views, from the semi-abandoned shepherds’ houses to the watering ponds for grazing animals. The path ends in a loop, leading us back to Contigliano for the overnight stay.

Day 2

How do you start well a new day? With a comfortable alarm clock! We leave Contigliano behind us for the last time, throwing ourselves back into the forest after a few kilometers. One of the objectives of the day is to reach the Terminillo pass for lunch time. We quickly climb in altitude towards Cantalice continuing until the dirt road ends, continuing on asphalt, giving up a good part of the dirt road at high altitude, closed to safeguard an endemic species of frog that lives only in that area. And if nature commands we adapt to asphalt. Reached the Terminillo the road is interrupted again due to the consolidation of the walls from landslides and protruding rocks.

It certainly limited this catch without making us despair, but in the end, lunchtime is a creative part of the journey, which saw us camping with a 180° view on the summit of Terminillo. Nathoù makes the coffee and we get back behind the wheel retracing part of the asphalt that led us here and then take the dirt road again to the Castiglioni pass winding downhill along the valley floor showing us what are the local ski slopes in winter. We continue downhill in the Vallonina up to the foot of Leonessa following the dirt road in the Dry River, where we have made our vehicles to stretch, with small but fun variations.

The entry into Umbria also proved to be the last effort of the day: after having passed a disused dam through the gate that once regulated the water level, a series of noteworthy boulders have once again given to the caravan a hard time. All left unharmed, we reached the last destination of the day, Monte Leone di Spoleto, for dinner and overnight.

Day 3

We leave Monte Leone di Spoleto. Destination Amatrice. Today nature is the king; the predominant color is again green, contested by the blue that appears through the clouds. The first goal of the day is to reach Monte Buzzone to be exact, its summit. A long and winding panoramic road amazes us, curve after curve, giving us immense landscapes dominated by Monte Vettore.

It is rare to have lunch sitting on a lawn on top of a hill with the cars parked next to us; even rarer is being able to do it with a breathtaking view between herds of cows grazing with their calves, flanked by dozens of horses also followed by their young and, as if that were not enough, the passage of an eagle with a hare among the claws. Here time seems to have stopped or it is more our feeling because we are no longer used to this normality.

The track continues to amaze us. A passage of a few hundred meters along the ridge led us to the Sbalzo dell’Orso with yet another breathtaking view of the surrounding valleys. Going down towards the Città Reale we continued from Saletta through the major hamlets of Amatrice.

Here we paid a visit to the remains of they old town; for ethics we have decided to respect the population hit by the earthquake by avoiding taking pictures of the current state in which it pours.

Day 4

We leave Amatrice early for a transfer to Posta and then go up towards Borbona. Heading towards Cinno we arrive above the Racino plateau, moving quickly on wide dirt roads towards Capradosso, the final stage of our journey. Stopping here to enjoy the view, we were rewarded by the flight of what we thought were five eagles. In reality, those we observed for a good quarter of an hour were five griffins, three adults and two youngers, which are characterized by darker plumage and an almost white beak.

In Italy the griffon vulture had become extinct in all regions except Sardinia, but in 2010 it was reintroduced in some regions, Sicily, Calabria and Abruzzo, being a bird that travels great distances, probably with new births it expands their territory into new ones. areas. We were very lucky to be able to admire and photograph them. The beauty of our travels is also being able to stop and collect memories.