Climbing the Corno Grande

I hope everyone had a great weekend!  I received a nice little surprise on Sunday; my photo was featured as one of the top 10 reader submitted photos from this summer, picked out of a pool of over 1500 photos by the Los Angeles Times Editors!  Pretty neat little surprise

I have a couple of new Facebook Cover Photos for you to use!  Just right-click and save the photos, then you can use them on your timeline if you like.  They are already formatted for the correct size!

A couple of months ago, my good friend Brian and I decided to go climb the majestic Corno Grande in Gran Sasso National Park, Southeast Italy.  Only a short two-hour drive from Naples, the Gran Sasso National Park sits quietly in the Abruzzo region, full of hiking trails, wild animals, and sweeping vistas like the ones you see below.

The additional 13 photos below can give you a good idea what kind of an area the Gran Sasso is and what type of hike it is.  Some of these shots you have seen before, but most are brand new.

Driving in to the park, you get treated to this beautiful view of the Corno Grande on the right and sweeping planes surrounding, grazing cows everywhere.  In the following shot, Brian makes a new friend.

This is what the path looks like about ten minutes in to the hike.  We started late that day so we could camp halfway and make an assault on the summit early the next morning.  The hike can easily be done in about six hours (round trip) though, depending on what route you take.

The picture below is about as difficult as the early part of the trail gets.  Some semi-serious bouldering is required farther up if you decide to take the ridge line… Not fun with 50 pounds of gear on your back.

Brian sizes up the Corno Grande.  An artsy shot that I made him pose for.  Ten minutes later, I got what I wanted.  Thanks Brian!

Some golden rays light up the trail at sunset, just minutes from our campsite.

We did not pack warm enough.  In fact, we both decided not to bring sleeping bags, thinking the 95+ degree weather we were use to in Naples would be similar here.  Not at all the case.  A tough lesson to learn, but that elevation really makes a difference..  Had to pull out the emergency reflective blanket to keep from freezing.

Our camping spot.  Technically you aren’t supposed to camp in the park, but I don’t think anyone really cares or enforces it.  We saw another tent the next morning about 500 yards further on the hike.

Some morning rays illuminating the wildlife.  This was a tough shot to capture/edit, but I think it ended up coming out nice.

And now, the southernmost glacier in Europe.

Finally, on the summit.  The view from the top was pretty spectacular.  Since we started our accent so early, there were not many people around, just this little group.  When we were descending around 10 AM, the crowds really started to come.  I would recommend climbing the mountain in the early or late hours of the day to avoid the crowds.

There you have it.  Please let me know if you have any questions!