Saturday I fortified myself with a breakfast of eggs and wild asparagus and then headed out on a path for Monteluco with an Italian itinerary in my possession.
I did my best to follow the trail markers provided by the Club Alpino Italiano. They are posted on rocks, trees, poles, etc... Once when I thought I was going to have to go back because I was not sure which way the trail went I backed up and re-looked from another perspective and found the marker.
I came upon old structures along the path. I wondered what they had been.
The views as I climbed continued to be amazing.
I really wanted to climb over this wall to look into the courtyard of this place. The only thing that stopped me was my inner voice of reason (I imagined Chris telling me it would not be a good idea).
I climbed and I climbed. Uphill all the way. I thought several times to turn back but kept thinking I was almost there. I am also reading The unlikely pilgrimage of Harold Frye right now. Harold wouldn't have stopped. I passed Italian bicyclists who inquired if I had crossed a road not far back, they told me Monteluco was only "5 minutes more".
This is what I came to see. The sacred woods. I was the only person up here. So peaceful and cool amongst the trees. I ran my hands over the ancient writing on these stones.
On my way down the mountain I met a man who asked if he was going the right way to get to Monteluco. I assured him he was. He thanked me and said "I keep thinking of how I am walking the steps that St. Francis took some 800 years ago", and off he went - continuing on his own pilgrimage.