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| From here you can almost forever! At least to the French Riviera! It was so clear!!! |
Alternating beach days with hikes and sightseeing activities has been really fun to experience.
On Thursday, we woke up to spectacular blue skies and warm temperatures. We had planned to go to the beach but we hurried it up a bit because of the gorgeous weather. As we got down to our favorite beach we were impressed by two interesting developments. While there was no onshore wind the waves breaking on the beach and the seas generally were quite high. The second thing was that whatever the wave action had removed, or covered the existing pebble beach with a beautiful sand beach, we were able to lay down our beach matts and enjoy a very comfortable beach day.
Our stay on the beach was extended because each time we went into the water and experienced the amount of energy in the surf, we were wanting more of it. Fortunately our application of sunscreen was such that we did not experience any sunburn. Such a great day!!
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| After our initial climb out of Levanto we see our 1st destination along the way San Giorgio Church above Bonassola |
So Friday we were energized to do another long hike. It meant doing a lot of elevated mountain trail hiking and negotiating an ancient trail system that has been around like 'forever'. Starting in Levanto we climbed using our "Organic' mapping system to our first stop for the day, San Giorgio church, high above Bonassola. It's small but can be seen above Bonassola.
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| Sandra along the way to the church |
On the 1st partial leg we walked with a fellow from N. Carolina that says he does the first part of the trail to Bonassola every 2nd day. He didn't climb to the church, but the first elevation steepness was difficult as it was.
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| San Giorgio Church |
Lunch in the courtyard of San Giorgio church we checked how we felt and decided to go for the full meal deal and hike to Framura on the trail we did four years earlier. That meant taking a trail that continues to go over the shoulder of the first mountain up to Montaretto (
Path n°1 Levanto – Bonassola – Montaretto – Framura).
The elevation gain continues from the quiet valley that the church is in to continue up and over the mountain shoulder. This part of the trail is well developed. However from Montaretto up 368M , down and up again to the road that will lead to a set of stairs above Framura where you
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| Yes it's hot up here Cactus aplenty |
plunge to the coastline is daunting, not simply because of elevation, but the looseness of the stone material you walk on, the narrowness, and the cliffs you find yourself walking gingerly along. We did it with only experiencing one minor fall. Our Organic map tracked our distance at 2hr 9 mins, and 6.8 kms to Montaretto 368M climb, and adding the distance on to Framura of 3.6 kms and then the tunnels walk back to Levanto and our vehicle was another 7.8 kms= 18.2 kms. OMG, no wonder we are tired today.
The hike is the price you pay for the views and experiences you get in return. The day was SO CLEAR, we could see from above Framura up the coast and all the way into France. Simply amazing.💓💓
As we got closer to Framura we could hear the repeated prop noise from a helicopter doing steep terrain delivery of building materials to a building site on the super steep coastline. How you would handle this otherwise we don't know, but we had come to experience it while watching a video of a ruin build along the Amalfi coast.
Gorgeous coastal views!
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| The views as we end in Framura and proceed to walk the tunnels back to Levanto |
I have one more video that I'm not sure why it is at 2X speed and therefore you can not hear the prop noise.
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