The Vagabond Hiker

Hiking, trekking, and climbing the world

Sardinia Walking Week

Before you say – “oh, another post from Italy”, I should make it clear that Sardi consider themselves apart from “mainland Italians,” with their distinct culture, traditions, and language. While many tourists come to Sardinia to bask on sun-drenched beaches or to emulate the sybaritic lifestyles of the glitterati on the Costa Smeralda, there exists a completely different aspect to this island. As well as helping to preserve the traditional lifestyles of the locals, the dramatic mountains and gorges of central Sardinia make for some fantastic walking, and my KE Adventures trip highlighted some of the best easier day hikes on the island.

Our group of fourteen diverse clients included eight Americans, by far the most on any of the nearly 20 KE trips on which I’ve been. In addition to four Brits, our group also had a Belgian and a Pole to give it a bit of international flavor. This was a center-based holiday where we stayed at a charming, locally-owned hotel outside the town of Dorgali, located in the center of the island, between the east coast and the Supramonte mountains. One website’s summary I think accurately describes the latter:

The Supramonte is a vast limestone plateau that extends in the province of Nuoro within the towns of Orgosolo, Dorgali, Urzulei and Baunei. It is an immense rugged and wild massif, made up of caves, forests, canyons. . . one of the wildest areas of the island. Over 500 sq km of rocks and mountains that form vertical walls, sinkholes, caves, [and] underground rivers.

https://www.perfectsardinia.com/destination/central-sardinia/supramonte/

Below are some photos I took last month. Decide for yourself whether the central Sardinia coast and mountains live up to their billing!

View of the Laniattu Valley on the Day 1 ascent where we traversed Monte Tiscale, a rather modest peak.
A gnarled juniper
The Nuragic complex of Sa Sedda e Sos Carros, a bronze age village high in the mountains. Their ancient culture was interesting, but lacking a written language means much of our knowledge of them is simply speculation.
On Day 2 our walk went from our hotel in Dorgali to Cala Ganone on the coast. Here is a view west towards Monte Corrasi (left), which would be our objective for the final day.
View of Cala Ganone and the Mediterranean Sea on Day 2.
An Autumn Crocus (Colchicum lusitanum). It was too late in the season for many flowers, but I’ll share photos of a couple we saw.
One of our (innumerable) group photos. I often felt apart from them as not many were regular hikers, causing excessive stops each day due to a lack of fitness for about half of them.
A gorgeous old juniper (Juniperus phoenicia)
Red squill (Charybdis maritima), whose blooms signal the end of summer
Coastal view on Day 3, where we hiked from Cala Ganone south along the coast to Cala Luna.
An ammonite fossil. The limestone which predominates on this portion of the island is fossil rich, though most are found away from the well-trod paths.
Spiaggia di Cala Fuili. Along with Cala Luna, access is only by either foot or boat. I won’t share any photos of Cala Luna. While beautiful, even mid week in September it was absolutely rammed with boat people. Perhaps 8 AM on a rainy December morning would be an ideal time to visit?
Monte Bardia from my hotel room balcony in Dorgali. This would be my objective on our mid-week off day.
View from the Parco del Carmelo towards Dorgali at the beginning of my ascent of Monte Bardia on Day 4.
Some of the numerous domestic goats we saw on the ascent. One other hiker joined me on this hike.
Another view of Dorgali from our ascent route
View from near Passo Ghenna di Silana on our Day 5 descent to the gorge known as Gola di Gorropu
Holm Oak (Quercus ilex) on our misty descent
With some of our group descending into the gorge
A view of Gola di Gorropu as the mist begins to clear
Entering Gola di Gorropu. There was a ticket booth as this gorge has been monetized for tourists. It provided some fun scrambling for those of us so inclined.
Day 6 was the culmination of our hiking week: the summit of Monte Corrasi, high point of the Supramonte. Here is a view of the town of Oliena on our ascent.
European yew (Taxus baccata), now a protected species in Sardinia
Monte Corrasi summit view east towards Dorgali and Monte Bardia (center)
The Vagabond Hiker on Monte Corrasi, view west
A summit pano from Monte Corrasi, also towards the west

I’ll leave the reader at our high point as the rest of the trip was literally and figuratively down hill. I caught a rather bad cold from a client that persisted for nearly two weeks and from which I am only now recovered back in St George Utah.

I do have some “odds and ends” photos from the Alps this past summer that are interesting enough (to me at least) that I will share them next month as a final blog post for 2022. Until then, enjoy the wonderful autumnal weather wherever you happen to be.

The Vagabond Hiker

Comments

  1. I LOVE the fossil and the private beach. What a beautiful land.

    Welcome back to the States. 😉

  2. Enthralling.

    Thank you, Kent.

    Minor quibble: “One other hiker joined my on this hike.”

    Best Wishes,

    Sam

Categories

Subscribe for Updates