Ricodalle: a small, barren world

The small streams of Ricodalle, Poggio and Selva

The valley of the Pessola torrent, rugged and wild, in the Parma Apennines, is famous for its waterfalls, but also hides many other treasures. A small valley opens up on the orographic right crossed by three streams, which are dry for most of the year, which lead into a secluded hydrographic basin, a sort of small forgotten world but full of curious things to explore.

As soon as you enter the valley, the stream splits into two: the main branch on the right is called Ricodalle, and I plan to explore it as soon as possible, the other stream on the left is called Rio del Poggio, which in turn is divided into another stream, the Rio della Selva. Ricodalle is also the name of a group of houses located in the middle of the valley. Despite these torrents, there is very little water to be seen!

At the entrance on the left you immediately see characteristic rock walls of very coarse sandstone, studded in the upper part with very particular and curious rounded stones. Entering the valley, skirting meadows and woods, towards the bottom of the stream you arrive at a large area of very scenic gullies. In its last stretch the stream literally flows through the mud, where the clays exposed by erosion present very beautiful colours.

It is a practically unknown area, solitary, chaotic, where you can experience the entropy of nature first-hand, but very suggestive, of course if you like harsh and wild lands. The area is very interesting especially from a geological point of view, and the gullies with their streaked clays take on beautiful colors when they are wet, after the rain. Objectively, very little water can be seen, but the effects on the rocks and clays are clearly visible.

This small valley is crossed by a small and bumpy dirt road that continues in the direction of the road that connects Solignano with Varano, going around a mountain which on the topographic map bears the name of "Castello di Fosio" and therefore deserves an exploration, because I have not never heard of a castle in Fosio, I found news about it, a visit is needed to find out if any ruins remain; for the rest there are no paths to reach the areas of interest and explore the valley, you have to move freely following tracks which I didn't understand if they are traces of paths or tracks of wild animals

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