The Corbellini trail, finding my balance in the Pesarine Dolomites

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28 September 2018

Active

The Corbellini trail, finding my balance in the Pesarine Dolomites

At one time, in Carnia, impressive works were built to link up mountain routes. You will immediately think of the First World War, when entire battalions of engineers created works along the ridge of the Friulian border, which are still permanent routes for trekking enthusiasts.

Today, instead, I am exploring a trail created, without any connection with the war, by the people of the Val Pesarina, led by a man who had the utopian idea of linking the Sappada basin to Rifugio De Gasperi. Regolo Corbellini, the creator and commissioner of this work, concentrated and united the efforts of the valley community to build what is now a unique trail in the entire Alps.
The numbers involved in this impressive work built in the 1930s are as follows: a stretch that extends 4,000m, of which 1,200 were dug into the rock using mines, hundreds of metres equipped with ropes, and a traverse that extends to an altitude of about 1700m asl.

I set off just as the sun is going down, its low light makes the rock faces around me and above me seem golden. After leaving the bucolic Siera Pass, I now head towards Rifugio De Gasperi, where they are expecting me for the night. The silence is only broken by the chirping of thousands of crickets singing their sunset song.
The route alternates between equipped stretches and meadows. I have probably never seen such green grass: in low uniform rows. Along these traverses at a high altitude, I feel like a flea that moves on the back of a huge green animal. The power of nature overwhelms you and you become part of it. I can hear a thunderstorm in the distance. The trail is my Ariadne’s thread, it leads me through the maze of these young crumbling slopes.

I proceed at a fast pace, among steps and handrails, along footways carved out of rock faces, a step away from a gap that swallows up the scree. Luckily, along this route you can pass where, without Corbellini’s utopian idea, the wild nature of the Pesarine Dolomites would prevail. These mountains, with their breathtaking beauty, are far from the crowds. One passage leads to another through recessed channels that carve out the depths of the mountains, with water gurgling towards the valley and hanging woods, where it is only natural to come across wildlife.

The storm is approaching but, after a last climb, I cross the threshold of that building, whose name expresses its primary mission: Rifugio De Gasperi. Inside, their greeting and friendliness make the tired hiker feel welcome and comfortable, and lucky to enjoy the memorable sunset from this panoramic balcony.
Technical information: the Corbellini Equipped trail (CAI 316) links up with Rifugio De Gasperi at the Siera Pass. Classified by the CAI as a trail for expert hikers: it is advisable to use a “via ferrata” kit and wear a helmet. The direction of the route taken makes no difference. The Siera Pass can be reached from the Val Pesarina along the Malga Siera road (closed to vehicular traffic) in about 2 hours on foot or from Sappada in about 1.30 hours. Refugio De Gasperi can be reached from Pian di Casa along the CAI 201 trail in about 1.30 hours.