CAI-PNW NEWSLETTER

DECEMBER 2010

UPCOMING LOCAL ACTIVITIES

Saturday, December 11 - Holiday Party will be at Cam Bradley and Francesco Greco's home in Kirkland. For information on address, time and what to take, contact Cam at francescoandcam@hotmail.com by Thursday, December 9.

Thursday, January 27, 2011 – CAI-PNW Annual Meeting will begin at 5:30 pm in the upstairs meeting room at REI in downtown Seattle. Mark your calendars for this event! Agenda and detailed information will be sent out in January.

CAI-PNW Activities for 2011. The activities calendar for 2011 is nearly set, but we are still looking for someone to organize an activity for the second Saturday of November. Please contact Diane at dianelclifford@gmail.com if you would be willing to facilitate a hike, walk, or other activity. The Schedule of Activities for 2011 will be sent out after it is voted on by the membership at our Annual Meeting.

UPCOMING INTERNATIONAL ACTIVITIES

March 9-22, 2011 – Exchange to Israel. For further information, contact Francesco Greco at francescoandcam@hotmail.com.

July 20-August 2, 2011 - Cime Tempestose Exchange with CAI-Pacific Northwest (here). Once the schedule is fully developed, it will be sent to the membership.

September 8-22 - Calabria Trip. The Sept. 2011 Calabria trip is nearly full. It will take place Sept. 8-22, and will feature natural, cultural and anthropological excursions throughout this southern region. It will include stays at rifugios in the Apromonte National Park, the Sila Piccola and Sila Grande mountains, and Pollino National Park. If you interested, please contact Elena Bianco at elena_bianco@yahoo.com for a registration form. Registrants are required to submit a $300 deposit to the CAI Treasurer.

Spring 2012 – Trip to Cyprus. Contact Norizan at norizan@norizan.com or Francesco at francescoandcam@hotmail.com.

Note: Detailed information on the Israel, Calabria and Cyprus trips was included in the August 2010 CAI-PNW Newsletter and is on our web site.

RECENT ACTIVITIES

September 11 – Lodge Lake Hike. Six intrepid souls ventured to Lodge Lake on September 11^th: Diane Clifford, Cam and Francesco Greco, special guest Natalie San Pietro e Francesco, grandson of Francesco Greco. We started with cloudy sky and ended on a beautiful sunny warm day. We saw evidence of recent abundant rain fall and mud flowing down the trail. We searched for blueberries but they mostly eluded us. At the lake we were entertained by a very active and handsome chipmunk. We all enjoyed the hike and as always in good company. Reported by Ida Caldognetto

TRIP TO AUSTRALIA – September 2010. Two weeks of our month in Australia was spent with the Brisbane Bushwalkers as part of a CAI outing along with CAI members from Milano and Pisa. There have been many previous “exchanges” between Italy, Australia and the USA. We will give you a “brief” summary of some of our activities.

Brisbane. Our participation in the Exchange with the Brisbane Bushwalkers began earlier in the day than scheduled, when we met most of the other hikers at the Ayers Rock airport, on our way to meet our hosts. We were warmly welcomed at the Brisbane airport and whisked to our lodgings before meeting our host group at Exchange chair Rosemary Niehus' home for a lavish potluck dinner. While all of the buffet offerings were tempting, the kangaroo roast was a standout! Our entertainment for the evening was part of a citywide 'Riverfire' celebration. We were amazed by a fireworks display that had synchronized explosions from countless bridges and skyscrapers, and culminated in 3 passes by an F111 which dumped burning fuel to produce a fireball which then trailed the plane!

The following morning we met to walk along Brisbane's meandering riverside walkway, where we found ourselves in the midst of more 'Riverfire' festivities, before returning via the 'City Cat' water taxi, and visiting the Gallery of Modern Art. Two short weeks later, following our adventures at Binna Burra, Noosa, etc., we met again in Brisbane, at the home of the Bushwalkers president, Bernadette Smith, for a farewell barbecue. While it's always sad to say farewell, we have happy memories - new friends, new places, new flora and fauna, and many new songs as well, thanks to Giordano, who led unforgettable sing-a-longs nearly every evening. Reported by Flo Burnett

Girraween. A lunch stop at Vincenzo's Deli/Cafe, north of Stanthorpe, was welcomed by our group on our way to Girraween Environmental Lodge. Since many options seemed wonderful, I settled for their heated focaccia: roasted red peppers, eggplant and zucchini topped with parmesan cheese and greens on focaccia bread spread with basil pesto. An excellent choice! We shared a cabin with Roberto, Andrea, Giordano and Raffaele. All went well unto Roberto lost part of his lunch! Ask Flo what happened! We were told we'd be seeing many kangaroos there and indeed we did – Eastern grey kangaroos as well as wallabys, but they liked to keep their distance from us. After settling in, we walked to the Rock Pools which felt good since we'd been riding for several hours. A tour of the Ballandean Estate Winery, Queensland's largest and oldest family-owned and operated winery, showed how Italian immigrants worked hard to make a living and a successful family business. Our catered dinner there was yummy. I especially enjoyed their mushroom soup: mushrooms, garlic, cream or ½ & ½ and topped with grated truffles. It was served with thick crusty bread with rosemary.

The next day everyone went to the Underground Creek in the Girraween National Park. As you can see from the photo, this was a very beautiful area. Most of the hikers continued on 21 km toward Mt. Norman. Others of us walked to Dr Roberts Waterhole and to Castle Rock where we saw many huge granite rocks, some of them precariously balanced. I've read that these are the largest exposed granite rocks in the southern hemisphere. We were amazed to see the wide variety of interesting trees and other plants, beautiful flowers and colorful birds that were new to us. While at Castle Rock, I happened to glance toward the sky and thought my sunglasses were playing a trick on me – but they weren't. I was seeing a beautiful sun halo, which included the colors of the spectrum. Even though the sky was a bright blue with no visible clouds, apparently tiny ice crystals caused it by refracting the sunlight like a prism. The finale of the day was listening to Giordano playing guitar and singing ballads, sometimes with Marcella joining him, around a campfire. Reported by Bev Riter

Lamington National Park. Lamington National Park is a sub-tropical rain forest at 2600 feet elevation: for us it was dense forest, bird calls, waterfalls, sun rise & sunsets, rain, small kangaroos, a Python by the trail, good music and great food. We stayed in rustic cabins at Binna Burra Lodge. There was a wide variety of food at the lodge that was very good. After dinner we listened to folk music sung and played by two musicians who were members of our group. In the evening the sunsets over the valley to the West were colorful: after it became dark we could see the lights along the Gold Coast to the East: some saw the sun rise over the Gold Coast as well. Most of the hiking was through the dense rain forest near the top of the ridge. We looked down on the large water falls. The trail crossed a stream many times: we saw many shorter water falls near the trail. The forest was so dense that it was difficult to see more than 15 feet along the ground but looking up the patterns of the tree trunks, branches and leaves were very fascinating. Especially in the morning we could hear bird calls we had not heard before. (The birds were active in the evening as well but we weren't hiking then.) The easiest and perhaps most recognized bird call was produced by the Whip bird: it was loud and sounded like the snap of a bull whip: after other Whip birds would answer the call so it sounded like several people were snapping bull whips in the forest around us. The Kookaburra was the other bird we listened for. I wanted to see a Bowerbird but by the time we got to the area where their nests were I was soaked from the rain and didn't have enough incentive to walk an extra quarter mile. Reported by Ron Riter

Coastal Areas. We spent nearly a week experiencing the sights, sounds and other sensory input, with our congenial hiking family, exploring in the Great Sandy National Park. The park begins some 150 miles north of Brisbane. Even the going and returning trips were memorable. We traveled via the Australian Zoo-- previously home of “the crocodile hunter” Steve Irwin—where we enjoyed hand on experiences with the Australian animals. Returning we visited the Ginger Factory where many of us savored the ginger ice cream.

Gorgeous sun and blue skies were with us during our full stay in this area. Our first full day in Noosa included a coast hugging hike with scrumptious scenery, frolicking dolphins and a pure white swimming beach. From Noosa we ventured to our next base of operation, Rainbow Beach. In route we walked a portion of the Cooloola Wilderness Trail, enjoying the diverse flora of the area. We lunched at Seary’s Creek, viewing the eels in the crystal clear water. Our first day of Rainbow Beach adventure found us taking 4WD vehicles on a small ferry to Fraser Island, the world’s largest sand island. Initially we drove up the beach 37.5 miles to Eli Creek. Here we walked the boardwalk up and waded the crystal clear, sandy bottomed creek back to the beach. Driving some distance back down the beach, we proceeded inland experiencing a local community with a dingo protected perimeter. We traveled the winding sand tracks, through the amazingly dense forest, to Lake Birrabeen, a brilliant aqua colored, freshwater lake in pure, fine, white sand. Here swimming and lunch were in order. A close schedule was kept to assure we could catch the returning ferry. The following day we traveled to Bymien Rain Forrest and walked to Poona Lake. A giant kauri tree was experienced in route. The fresh sand on the road to the trail head generated some group problem solving with two vehicles getting stuck. The end of the day was appropriately punctuated with an evening walk to the Carlo sand blow for observation of the sunset. The Carlo sand blow is indeed a magical place. Good company, great adventures, new plants and animals made this a most memorable experience. Reported by John Burnett

Special thanks to coordinator, Rosemary Niehus and others who led hikes and our various hosts while in Brisbane. They had organized a wide variety of places for us to experience some of the amazing wonders in Queensland, Australia. We hope we can host them to share our hospitality and beautiful PNW scenery. For additional photos on our Australia adventures, you can view my newly developing site: http://www.flickr.com/photos/beverlyr/sets/

A visit to the CAI Section of Cantu’ - November 11, 2010

Have you ever heard about Cantu’? If you haven’t, you might think that it was someplace in China or Africa. Actually the town is known in Italy, as one of the best places for the production of wood furniture! But I knew nothing else about the town. During one of my last trips between Seattle and Milano, on March 16 this year, I met a lady, Mrs. Olga Formenti, from Cantu’. I discovered that she was a member of CAI, and started talking about her CAI Section of Cantu’, their activities, and about the mountains of her region. Strangely, I had the feeling that I knew the mountains she was talking about. In fact, I wrote a book about them! The area was the so called “Triangolo Lariano”, the area enclosed between the two branches of Lake Como, one side from Bellagio to Como, and the other from Bellagio to Lecco.

Yes, the town of Cantu’ is just between Como and Lecco, but not along the direct line connecting the two well known towns. The town Cantu’ remains north of that line. And it remains out of the traffic also, and completely isolated from the tourist itineraries around the Lake of Como. The people of Cantu’ I have been told, are therefore introverted, serious, and less social than normal. If so, Mrs. Olga was an exception! Well, for me it was an opportunity to talk about our activities, and in particular about our program of international exchanges. She seemed fascinated about the exchanges and wanted to know more and more. Not only, during the trip she introduced me her husband and her daughter who were traveling with her but in another area of the plane. (Does this chance meeting sound like the one with the Riters and Burnetts with CAI Spoleto?)

We exchanged our addresses and we left with the intention to continue our discussion by e-mail, maybe for a future exchange between our subsection and the CAI Section of Cantu’. Immediately at home we established connection between us, and by e-mail she introduced the President of the Section to me. His name is Vinicio Verona, and he was just appointed as President of the Section. On an invitation from Vinicio, Cam and I went to visit the CAI Section of Cantu’. At the station of Mariano Comense, about 1/2 hour from Milano, we found Vinicio and another CAI member, Daniele Silvestri, of Tuscan origin, precisely from Pisa, waiting for us. They showed us the most important Cantu monument, which is the spectacular Abbazia di Galliano. This splendid old Church of S. Vincenzo and the Baptistery of S. Giovanni (one of the oldest in Lombardy) are on top of the hill, called S. Galliano, overlooking the large valley below.

Then they took us to the CAI Section which is in a wonderful small villa with two floors. In the basement a living room and a small bar, and a long table for enjoying dinners and snacks. At the upper floor a couple of offices and a meeting room with all the cups the Section gained in ski competitions since the Section was set up in 1945. They have one of the best ski teams of the area. Vinicio and Daniele presented their activities while we presented ours, and in particular our next exchange with Israel, and the exchange with Cime Tempestose of Milano. They seemed very interested. We asked them to include us in their mailing list and promised to include them in ours.

In Italian we use to say ”se son rose, fioriranno...”, which means “if they are roses, they will be blooming...”. In other words if our visit is a fruitful seed, it will become an exchange ... sooner or later.

At least we have another Section which knows us and the exchange program! Francesco, Italian Liaison

Milano, November 24, 8:30 PM at Cime Tempestose Club. Picture Presentation of the Trip to Australia, September 4-18, 2010 and Announcement of the Program for the Exchange with CAI-PNW in Washington, July 20-August 2, 2011

On November 24, at the conference room of the Cime Tempestose, in Milano, Via Rovetta 14, Emilio Senesi and Anna Cartisano gave a presentation about the recent Trip to Australlia and showed a set of wonderful pictures taken during the trip. The participants to the trip to Australia were: Emilio & Mina Senesi, Angela Demicheli, Anna Cartisano, Lucia Maria Salvan, Giordano Dall’Armellina, Marcellina Inga, from Milano, Raffaele Faillace, Roberto & Andrea Ferroni from Pisa, Bev & Ron Riter, Flo & John Burnett from Seattle.

The trip was organized by our good friends of Brisbane, Australia, in particular Rosemary Niehaus. The Australians initiated this trip and invited us as a recognition of the wonderful trip they had enjoyed the year before, from July 8 to 20, 2009, in Dolomiti with CAI Pisa for the first 4 days, and then lead by Emilio and Sandro Subissi, for the remaining nine days. Our members Maria and Francis Chiriac, and Glen Strachan were among the participants in that trip.

After the beautiful pictures of Emilio and Anna, Giancarlo Tagliabue and Francesco Greco introduced the exchange program between their club and CAI-PNW. The tentative program, draft by Ron Riter and Cam Bradley was then distributed. Francesco took the opportunity to describe the places mentioned in the program, like North Cascade Institute and Mt Baker, Olympic Peninsula, Mt Rainier National Park.

In the picture during the presentation: Emilio and Anna, and in front Giancarlo Tagliabue. Reported by Francesco Greco

INTERNATIONAL ACTIVITIES

SKIING or SNOW SHOEING TO BESSANS (FRANCE) - December 26, 2010 - January 2, 2011

Are you fond of skiing, cross-country skiing, or snow shoeing, or alpinism skiing? Whichever you are fond of, please give a look at www.labessainnπaise.com. Bessan is a beautiful location in France in the Parc National de La Vanoise, just after the tunnel of Frejus arriving from Italy. And the Rifugio where we go is in a fantastic location, a high plateau where several valleys converge, at high altitude 1750 m (5740’), from where a lot of runs leave for the different valleys.

The Rifugio is isolated and has all the facilities you may need in the mountains. Instructors, skis, snowshoes, whatever you need is already included in your fee. Food is French, excellent and abundant.

And you are going there together with fifty new friends from Pisa and Firenze, led by Walter Bencivelli. What more?

A lot of other cultural activities are included, as well as several cultural and alimentary competitions. You may attend several gymnastic sections, folks dances, and many other nice events organized by the host organization or by Walter and his team. To have more information about Bessans and its Rifugio, please go to: www.labessainnaise.com

To join the group either you can reach directly La Bessannaise, or joining the group, either in Firenze or Pisa (the itinerary of the bus trip is from Firenze to Pisa and then to Bessans. The group leaves from Pisa at 11:30 in the morning of December 26, to reach Bessans in time for dinner. If interested some people leave with the same bus from Firenze 1 1/2 hours earlier. The return has been scheduled a week later. The bus is leaving from Bessans at 1:00 PM of January 2, to be in pisa around 8:00 PM. If you prefer stay another week, it is enough to book yourself through the bessannaise site. Only a few places are still available. Places are assigned according to the “first come first served” behaviour. See you either in Pisa or Bessans! For more information, please contact Francesco Greco at info@cai-pnw.org

AN EXCHANGE WITH ISRAEL – March 9-22, 2011

A Trip to Tuscany for the Israelis, May 6 -19, 2010

In the picture, a few hikers are reaching a pass. They are at Foce di Giovo, a pass at 1500 m (4920’) of elevation, in the northern part of the Apuane Alps, and the hikers are coming from Rifugio Donegani. It was May 17 of this year, and the people are part of a group of 15 hikers coming from Israel, almost all from Jerusalem and of the neighborhood, and one, Alyne Bat-Haim, from Tel Aviv (in front in the picture). It was one of the 14 days of the first part of an exchange between CAI Section of Pisa and the Club Teresh from Israel.

The idea of the exchange came last year, when Francesco Greco and Amnon Shapira, visiting professor at the University of Pisa from Israel, meet together during a walk of the CAI Section of Pisa. The idea of an exchange appealed Amnon, and he introduced the idea to his club in Jerusalem. And finally, with the effective help of Susan Lamnan (the second in front in the picture), and with the cooperation of the Section of Pisa, we set up a program of activities for 14 days. The trip of the first part of the exchange, started on May 6 until May 19. And with them Francesco and the 15 guests from Israel walked along Cinque Terre, in the central part of the Apuane Alps, around Pitigliano (the Jerusalem of Italy), in Val d’Orcia, in the northern part of the Apuane Alps and finally around Pisa, where they had hospitality by CAI members. During the weekends other CAI members from Pisa joined the group and led some of the walks, like Angelo Nerli, Gaudenzio Mariotti, Enzo Orlando, Roberto Ferroni. The trip to Tuscany was very successful, and immediately, back home, the Israelis, in particular Susan and Danny, started organizing the return trip to Israel for CAI Pisa and CAI PNW.

A Trip to Israel, March 9 - 22, 2011

The return trip has been planned from March 9 to 22, 2011. The suggested program is attached, and a set of pictures of some of the areas of the walks in Israel, are visible by pasting in your browser the following:

http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/sredir?uname=lamdans&target=ALBUM&id=5467019920836439377&authkey=Gv1sRgCJegz8Xd5Jb3_QE&feat=email

As you can see from the program, the last 4 days we are going to be guests of the local members of the Teresh Club in Jerusalem, and this will help in cutting dramatically the costs of the trip down! The average costs are expected to be less than $100/day for the entire period, including almost everything, except the trip to and from Israel.

Are you interested in participating the return trip to Israel?

The number of participants should not exceed 15, among CAI Pisa and CAI PNW members.

Members interested to the trip, please, e-mail Francesco at francescoandcam@hotmail.com to reserve a seat (on the basis First In First Out) as soon as possible, and later sending a check of $250 as deposit to the treasurer of CAI-PNW by the middle of September. From CAI-PNW we expect to enroll no more than 7/8 members.

The two week exchange trip could be extended, either before or/and later, to visit touristic places in Israel not included in the exchange program, Petra in Jordan, or Sinai in Egypt, or Egypt itself. The Israelis are very cooperative and may be helpful also in suggesting and helping in the organization of the above extensions. Participants may plan to extend the visit of a week, to spend in Jordan, mainly in Petra, and/or in Egypt. For the visit to Jordan, an extraordinary opportunity has been offered to us by Seth&Sandy Basker! A relative of them Dr. Jacqueline Taylor Basker, Chair, Fine Arts/Computer Graphics Dept., New York Institute of Technology, is working actually in Amman, and she is available to help us in defining a visit to Jordan, including Petra and Wadi Rum. The Participants of the trip are welcomed to join us in the Jordan adventure too!

Please, express your interest and/or register as soon as possible! Only a limited number of places are available. Thank you!

Tentative Program

Proposed Itinerary for Israel – Pisa Exchange.

With visits to Tel Aviv, Haifa, Akko, Tiberias, Eilat & Jerusalem (no Petra).

Including Galilee, Golan, Jordan Valley, Dead Sea, Masada, Negev desert, Eilat area ending in Jerusalem

Costs & number of participants: Expected costs are about $900 for the entire period of 14 days, plus transportation costs. Transportation costs depend mainly on the number of participants. If the number of participants is 12, the transportation costs may reach another $400/person approximately. Precise costs can be available once the number of participants is known.

ARCI - CAI-PNW EXCHANGE in PNW - July or August 2011

In February this year two friends from Milano, Emilio Senesi (who was in Seattle with other Italians in summer 2003) and Giancarlo Tagliabue (in Dolomiti with our Japanese friends, in 2007), invited CAI-PNW to do an exchange between the ARCI sub-group, “Cime Tempestose” (Stormy Peaks) located in Milano, and our subsection CAI-PNW. See description below of the Cime Tempestose hiking club. Last February, the Council approved the idea of this exchange and fixed the dates for the visit to Washington, in the summer 2011, between the middle of July and the middle of August.

To give the Italian group an idea of the kind of activities we plan to do in the Pacific Northwest, we sent the program followed for the NZ-Italian Trip in the summer of 2009. The actual program is to be firmed up by an organizational committee from CAI-PNW.

According to the procedure defined by the CAI-PNW Board, we need an Exchange Coordination Committee (ECC), in order to:

1. - oversee and approve the activities (including budget),

2. - plan a program itinerary of hikes, site seeing, and events. In the past we have divided this into a lead for each of the following areas: Mt. Baker, Mt. Rainier, and the Olympic Peninsula.

3. - recruit housing volunteers for home stays

A tentative program including costs should be sent to the Italians by the end of September, since they have to announce the trip in their Newsletter, and invite members to participate. There are already 7-8 people interested. The total number of international participants should not exceed 12-15.

Please send your name and possible preference of tasks to me and/or Cam at, info@cai-pnw.org, ASAP! Francesco Greco

The Hiking Group “Cime Tempestose” (Stormy Peaks)

The hiking group is part of the “Club ARCI il quartiere”, a club created to become a reference and focal point for the recreational and cultural activities of the people living in an urban area (quartiere) of Milano, called “Citta’ Studi”.

The Club “ARCI il quartiere”, affiliated with the non-profit national Association ARCI, includes also groups for other kinds of activity, like:

• “BICIAMBIENTE” group for bikers,

• “SCI di FONDO” group, for cross-country skiers,

• “DANZE POPOLARI” group, for folk dancers.

• The group Cime Tempestose, created in 1984, has almost two hundred members in 2010. A Council of ten members, elected every year, defines the programs of activities for the current year. Emilio Senesi this year, and Giancarlo Tagliabue, for long time, are both members of the Council.

• Hikes are usually easy or moderate, accessible by everyone. Sometimes they may require a little of experience and simple tools. The hikes are usually organized on Sundays or during week-ends, and can be done by using mainly public transportation, and rarely a private bus. The average number of people interested in the hikes are from one hunderd to one hundred fifty per year.

• Since the group was born, Cime Tempestose has taken the members along the entire circle of the Alps, from Liguria to Trieste, through Val d’Aosta, Dolomites, Orobie Alps, the Lake District (Maggiore, Como, Iseo, Garda), the French Alps (Les Ecrins, Vanois), the Swiss Alps (Canton Ticino and Engadina), the Apennines (from Lunigiana to Aspromonte, through the Apuane Alps and Casentino), and the Islands (from Elba to Eolie, through Sardinia).

Giancarlo Tagliabue (Council Member)

CALABRIA TRIP – September 8-22, 2011. The southern Italian province of Calabria is culturally rich, historically significant, and environmentally unique. CAI members will have the opportunity to experience this in September 2011 when we host a trip to the toe of Italy’s boot.

The southern Italian province of Calabria contains some of the last stretches of untouched wilderness in Italy. It is a varied terrain, from the Pollino National Park, Italy’s largest national park (200,000 square kilometers) and home to wolves, golden eagles, and peregrin falcons, and the rare Loricato pine, to the Aspromonte mountains, overlooking the Strait of Messina and providing views of both the Tyrrhenian and Ionian seas. It also has a rich cultural history, with villages of Greek and Albanian ethnic minorities punctuating the rural countryside.

The history of Calabria, known as Brutium, in the south of Italy, started much before the Roman Empire (753 b.C.) and the name of Italy came from the name of one of the local tribes, the Itali. In the 8th century BC, Greeks settled along the coast some of their settlements, like Rhegion, the actual Reggio Calabria, the first Italian city, and Sybaris (7th century BC), Kroton and Locri, which were among the leading cities of Magna Grecia.

Our 14 day excursion will introduce CAI members to the natural, cultural, and anthropological diversity of Calabria. The trip is planned for early September, when it is cooler in the mountains of Calabria, and mushrooms are in season. We are are hoping to have local experts discuss and demonstrate the mycology of the region.

Trip coordinators Francesco Greco, who is originally from Cosenza, and Elena Bianco whose parents are both from Calabria, have spent the last few months communicating with and visiting with CAI counterparts in Calabria, to establish the following tentative program:

Thursday 8 September 2011:

- arrival in RC, visit of Pentadattilo

- visit of the Museo Archeologico Nazionale della Magna Grecia (Bronzi di Riace)

- dinner in town, and meeting at CAI RC

Fridy 9 September 2011:

- move to Rifugio Biancospino, Piani di Carmelia inside theAspromonte National Park

- hike Monte Fistocchio

- dinner & night at the Rifugio

Saturday 10 September 2011:

- Hike Montalto (1956 m.), the Peak of Aspromonte

- dinner & night at the Rifugio

Sunday 11 September 2011 (hike with members of CAI RC):

- move to Palmi, visit “Casa della Cultura”, museum with an archeological section

- move to Sant’Elia di Palmi, and start the hike along the cliff over the purple Coast

- archeological site Pietre Nere, church of S. Fantino

- beach along Tonnara of Palmi

- move to Lorica

Monday 12 September 2011:

- Sila Piccola - accompagnati dalla sezione di Catanzaro

Gariglione, Buturo, Villaggio Mancuso

Tuesday 13 September 2011:

- Sila Grande - accompagnati dalla sezione di Cosenza

San Giovanni in Fiore - Santa Severina - riserva del Fallistro

Wednesday 14 September 2011:

- Hike Mt. Botte Donato

Thursday 15 September 2011:

- walk from Fallistro to Camigliatello (Sentiero Italia)

Friday 16 September 2011:

- Visitor Center of Cupone (lake Cecita) – visit Longobucco (carpet manufactoring)

Saturday 17 September 2011:

- Lorica – BB and local products of Sila with CAI CS

- move to Castrovillari, Rifugio CAI Castrovillari

Sunday 18 September 2011:

- Walk to the summit of Serra Dolcedorme (2267 m, 7450 feet)

from Colle Impiso;

Lunedi 19 September 2011:

- Visit of Morano Calabro (one of the most interesting “Borgo d’Italia”, Orange Flag – TCI recognition) and the Albanian village Civita (Devil’s Bridge over the Raganello Canyon)

Martedi’ 20 September 2011:

- Walk along “God’s Path” to Serra Crispo (2240 m, 7350 feet), where it is possible to find the most beautiful Pini Loricati (Pinus heldreichii)

Mercoledi’ 21 September 2011:

- Visit to Cerchiara di Calabria, the Santuario della Madonna delle Armi and

San Lorenzo Bellizzi, a beautiful town on the slope of Timpa di San Lorenzo

Thursday 22 September 2011:

- end of the Trip to Calabria

Optional: - rafting along the Lao Canyon, BB

- visit of a prehistoric cave of Romito and of the town

Papasidero

The hikes and the visits in the Pollino National Park in the northern part of Calabria, have been lksuggested by Eugenio Iannelli, the President of the CAI Section of Castrovillari. The hikes and visits around Sila Grande e Sila Piccola by Marco Noci and Giuliano Belcastro, President of the CAI Section of Cosenza, and finally the hikes and visits in Aspromonte by Diego Festa, on behalf of the President of the CAI Section of Reggio Calabria.

We are grateful for their experience and advice and we feel confident that the resulting program will provide an excellent sampler of the best that Calabria has to offer. We look forward to hiking with them and local members in their respective regions.

Costs for the trip have yet to be finalized but we anticipate that they will be €1200 and €1400, depending mainly on transportation costs. This will depend on the number of participants. For questions, please contact either Elena Bianco at info@cai-pnw.org or Francesco Greco at info@cai-pnw.org. To reserve your spot, please send your deposit of $300 by October 1 to our CAI-PNW Treasurer, Sue Samuelson. Contact her at info@cai-pnw.org

A TRIP TO CYPRUS - Spring 2012

Pina Trentini, Norizan Paterra, Enzo Scopetta and Francesco Greco have started the investigation about a walking trip in Cyprus. Pina Trentini knows Cyprus very well. She has been visiting the island for several years, and she knows very well the churches of the island, with their history. She is the author of a book about Churches in Cyprus and how to reach them, a kind of guide book from the title “Uncovering the Christian Heritage of Pafos”. Norizan had the experience to live in the island for three months, while her husband was working at the in Israel. She is very happy to render available her knowledge of the island to the participants of the trip.

Enzo Scopetta is from the CAI Section of Spoleto and well known to all of us who participated the trip to Umbria (May 26 - June10, 2006) during the exchange with his section. He is involved in this trip, since the CAI section of Spoleto would like to cooperate with us to revive our good friendship with us. The trip is going to be open to CAI members of Seattle, Spoleto and to the members of Dante Alighieri Society of Washington. We are thinking at a trip for 15-20 people in total.

Through Pina Trentini and the Tourist Office of Cyprus, we have already found a precious source of information, Keith Walker, an English gentleman who has been living in Cyprus for more than 20 years. He is a practicing artist with a studio and gallery in the hill village of Lasa. He is also the part owner and captain of an 8m sailing yacht based at Latchi, member of the Cyprus Ecology Party with contacts which may be of use and interest if we want to walk with Cypriots. This information has been taken from a self-presentation in a letter to me at the beginning of this year. We do hope that the experience of Keith, the knowledge of Pina, the living experiences of Norizan, the enthusiasm of Enzo and Francesco, will render this trip of extreme interest to many of our members.

Please, show your interest to this trip as soon as you can. If we have enough people interested to the trip, we can go ahead and start the implementation of the trip. Please let us now, sending a message to Norizan at info@cai-pnw.org, and/or Francesco at info@cai-pnw.org

RECENT ACTIVITIES

SARDINIA HIKE – May 2010. Choosing to take a hiking trip to Sardinia and leaving my family behind for 2 weeks was one of the hardest decisions I can remember making. In the weeks leading to the departure date, I was apprehensive yet exhilarated, guilty yet compelled to have a good time. With my husband’s support and assurance I left Seattle on May 7^th to Olbia, ready to meet the rest of the group. Ten members of CAI participated in this event. Emilo Senesi, Alessandro Subissi and Angela DeMicheli from CAI-Milan & Pisa, Miwako, Fumiko, Kimiyo and Sashiko from CAI-Hyoga in Japan, and Cris Kantor and myself from CAI-PNW. This exchange program was extensively organized by the three members of CAI Milan and Francesco Greco, another member of CAI-PNW, who unfortunately could not make the trip due to a scheduling conflict with another CAI event. The itinerary for the two weeks was jam-packed with hikes, museums, boat tours, historical sites and sight-seeing activities. The busy schedule kept me from missing my family too much.

From Olbia we drove 110km south towards the Nuoro/Ogliastra region, to the small shepherding village of Baunei. This was our rifugio and base-camp for the first week of our stay in Sardinia. Operated by Cooperativa Goloritze, the all-inclusive facility provided our accommodation, food and local guide for all the daily hikes. At the rifugio, our days began at 8 am with a typical Sardinian breakfast of savoardi with fresh ricotta and honey. Gianni, our local guide, would be waiting for us at the lobby by 8:30 am. After getting our packed lunch and water, we were at the trailhead by 9 am. Since most of our hikes were 7 hours long, we were usually back at base-camp by 6 pm. Dinner was my favorite meal as we never knew what the main course would be. The kitchen staff never failed to satisfy our hungry stomachs with a scrumptious four-course fare. Typically we would be indulged with an appetizer of marinated vegetables, primi of pasta (such malloreddus, ravioli or gnocchi), secondi of capretto, porceddu vitella or lamb, and desserts of fruits, cookies or sebadas, a deep fried pastry filled with sheep ricotta. Of course, dinners were accompanied with the local Cannannou wine. On the last night, we were also treated with a round of Mirto, a signature Sardinian liquor.

Baunei is situated on the altopiano of Orosei. To its west is the Thyrennia Sea, northwest the Supramonte and southwest, the Lainattu Valley. The rugged geography of this region made it a perfect place to closely explore the wild side of Sardinia. The weather was cooler and often the mornings were nippy and cloudy, while we kept our busy schedule with daily hikes through the selvagia trails of rocks, pebbles, and wild flowers. A common sight on these trails was edible fruits and plants such as wild figs, fennel, rosemary, thyme and juniper. I remember during a hike to Cala Luna, Gianni our guide made sure we stopped to look at many wild flowers and rare plants such as cistos, euphorbia and orchids that were blooming in abundance, adding sweet fragrance to the air. Limestone outcrops formed into arches and other interesting shapes by the wind over millions of years were impressive and massive, and provided a stopping point for me to take a break from the challenging trails. Unlike the well maintained trails of the Pacific Northwest, the trails were mostly unmarked, which made me to believe that Gianni was merely following the trails made by mules, goats or sheep that dotted this mountainous area, and in fact several times we encountered a shepherd’s camp, called an ovili, where shepherds often stay overnight to tend their flock. At one such camp we were fortunate enough to meet a pestore, a working farmer who invited us into his small stone house.

For the next 5 days we were led to hikes which varied from beaches to mountains to valleys. We hiked 600m down to the beaches of Cala Luna and Cala Goloritze, known for their white soft sand. We took a boat cruise along the rugged coastline of Golfo di Oresei to one of the most well preserved under water caves, Grotto di Fico, which white monk seals used to call home before their extinction. We hiked along the ravines of the Flumineddu River to Gola Su Gorroppo, a canyon with 400m high vertical rock walls created by water erosion. Here we saw a yew tree striving to grow between the cracks made by the slow drips of water. We also climbed 500m to an ancient Nuraghic village in Tiscali located on the Lainattu Valley. This village was created by ancient Sardinians inside a dome or collina(now partially collapsed) to shelter themselves from Roman attacks in 2AD. Though most of the stone huts were gone, a marking of the whole village was still clear to see.

After exploring Baunei we drove inland to Fonni, the nearest town to Mt. Gennagentu which is the highest mountain in Sardinia. Unfortunately our original plan to climb Mt. Gennagentu with some members of CAI Nuoro was shelved due to heavy fog, but the unpredictable mountain weather didn’t deter us from having a good time. We regrouped at a nearby coffee shop where the head of CAI Nuoro gave a warm welcoming speech and exchanged CAI sectional banners. About 25 members were there, eager to make friends , exchange emails and request Facebook contacts, all while enjoying espresso and dessert brought by some members. We had a real pleasant surprise when one of the CAI Nuoro members shared his own hand-crafted wine, a very special Malvasia di Bosa. I truly saw Sardinian hospitality at its best. For me this was one of the highlights of this trip and we all felt like we were old friends.

Our next destination was to Barumini to visit the Nuraghe Su Nuraxi complex. A UN World Heritage site, this is the largest ancient civilization complex in Sardinia, dating about 1500 BC. A fantastic view of the whole compound can be seen by climbing up one of its 4 towers, each of which are 20 m high. Barumini itself is a small town with a population of just 1400 people. One evening, Angela DeMicheli and I decided to explore this small town and were told that there was going to be a party at the piazza starting at 11 pm! We were surprised at the late start but waited anyway. Sure enough, as the 11:00 hour arrived, a small band and a singer were on stage singing typical Sardinian songs. As the music played, groups of local people started to dance in the square. We were very impressed at how this town came together as we were told this party was in celebration for their soccer team. What a community!

The last part of the trip was a visit to the islands of Asinara, La Maddelena and La Caprera, located in the sea to the north. Asinara Island is now designated as a National Park, a sanctuary for animals such as mouflons, mules, horses, turtles, rabbits and wild pigs. It is also famous for its albino donkeys which are free to roam the island. In fact we were surrounded by them while we had a picnic lunch. They can be very noisy company! La Maddelena and La Caprera are two of the seven islands in the Archpelago of La Maddelena. Extremely beautiful, these two islands are separated only by 5 km and joined by a narrow bridge. On Caprera, we visited the house of Giusseppe Garibaldi, the great admiral and patriot credited for the unification of Italy. He is also buried here, and his tomb is prominently displayed on the side of his yard.

As impressed as I was with the sights, sounds and tastes of Sardinia, I was more impressed with our group of hikers. Spending time with ten individuals with different personalities, culture and language, we engaged in an activity we all loved: enjoying the outdoors. We shared foods, stories and laughter, and we became family for two weeks. Reported by Norizan Paterra

NEWS AND INFORMATION

A MESSAGE FROM OUR COORDINATOR: OK you guys! Enough free loading already! If you have enjoyed one of the CAI-PNW adventures, hiking and even staying with Italians, It’s your turn to reciprocate. The members of the board present and past, plus a few others, Gail McClary-South Sicily ‘09, Elena Bianco, upcoming Calabria, 2011, Norizan Paterra, future Cyprus trip, have been the volunteer movers and shakers who make these unique and not-so-costly, cultural hiking experiences happen. The same folks cannot do ALL the volunteer work. Please do your part so that this unique kind of experience can continue to happen.

Now is the time for each of you to volunteer! Don’t worry! You won’t have to do everything! You don’t even have to know how you can help. We have lists of the things that need to be done. And the CAI-PNW Council will continue to dig in and support you.

We just cannot continue to do it all!

1. We need new blood on the CAI-PNW Council. We especially need someone to keep the financial books and someone to chair the organization. Our meetings are fun and infrequent, as we all travel a lot.

2. We need volunteers to organize the ARCI exchange next summer.

3. We need volunteer committee members to work on the coming trips mentioned above plus others in-the-works, like a possible exchange with Castelnuovo and one to Sardegna.

4. We need leaders for our 2nd Saturday outings and events.

5. And past-trippers to man the booth at the Festa Italiana and spread enthusiasm for what we do.

Feeling guilty enough? Please email any of the Council Members or me at info@cai-pnw.org. And don’t be too surprised if you get a call to help out from one of the Council members!

Cam Bradley, CAI-PNW Coordinator

ITALIAN WEB SITE: http://www.i-italy.org (current news)

For information e-mail: info@cai-pnw.org