The Cusna mount and Sara's meadows
Transport your mind to magical places
Frost and Thaw
Especially on clear winter days, from much of the Parma and Reggio Emilia plains, the bulk of Mount Cusna stands out, like a pole of attraction that draws attention, curiosity and imagination towards this imposing and massive mountain. It can be seen very well even from the city, despite the distance and the numerous valleys, hills and mountains that you have to climb over to get there.
There are several ways to climb Cusna, a very very long one that starts from Ligonchio, you can shorten the route by going up a paved but very impervious and bumpy road up to the "Prese Alte", where the asphalt ends there is a parking lot, and from there you continue along a dirt road and then a path. The Prese take their name from some hydroelectric plants that capture water for the small power plant below in Ligonchio. An interesting EE path also starts from here to reach the Lavacchiello waterfalls and the Prati di Sara, but we will tackle this route in another excursion (see the Lavacchiello waterfalls >>> )
Another, shorter route is the one we tackle in these excursions and that starts from the Monte Orsaro refuge, in the village of the same name, a hamlet of Febbio, reachable by car. After parking the car at the refuge, a wide dirt road goes up towards the Cusna, then becoming a path. The dirt road also continues, which will cross several times, but the path is a shortcut. Noteworthy from a landscape and geological point of view is Mount Torricella, whose steep and imposing stratified rock faces dominate the landscape just before reaching Mount Orsaro, a rugged landscape that deserves to be explored (see the Emilia Romagna geological service sheet >>> )
On the right you skirt two very inviting mountains, which I intend to visit soon: the sharp Mount Cisa and Mount Prampa. After an hour's climb you come across a detour to the summit, half an hour longer, which can be used for the outward or return journey, if you want to do a circular route. If you continue straight on, keeping to the main road, you come to a plateau where the path continues to the left for the summit, or to the right for the Sara meadows. From the refuge to the summit it is a walk of about 2.5 / 3 hours, the last part very tiring as it is very steep.
We wanted to go up with the snow, very fascinating, the first time we went up calmly because the day was warm and the snow was soft, it held up well without slipping, but a few dozen meters from the summit it got cloudy and a freezing wind arrived, the temperature dropped and we were afraid that the snow would freeze again, so we gave up, we needed the crampons that we had stupidly left in the car. Cusna is a severe mountain, in case of snow you can easily reach the base even with just boots, but going beyond requires suitable equipment and experience.
The day still gave incredible and grandiose landscape views, thanks to the clouds that gave a show and the colors of the late afternoon. The mountain was very crowded, and everyone enjoyed it in their own way (skis, snowboards, snowshoes, bobsleighs, children, dogs, photographers...) but in any case the spaces are so wide that you don't feel crowded.
We then returned a month later, at the beginning of May, when the snow had partially melted, drawing the landscape with pleasant white streaks that broke the monotony of the summit prairies, in fact Mount Cusna is a huge barren pyramid that would probably be monotonous, for example in the summer. Despite the warm and sunny day, the snow was still frozen in many places. In some places the landscape is rocky and barren, with a dark reddish color, it almost seemed like walking on the slopes of a volcano!
It is in fact the atmospheric conditions that make a landscape magical, and the snow is extremely magical, together with the cloud formations and the fogs. These are the days in which you bring home the most epic images, where the forces of nature show off their creative imagination.
At the base of Cusna there is a beautiful grassy plateau dotted with puddles of water, in photographs they look like lakes, but they are only puddles and are probably dry in summer. From the summit and the entire slope of Cusna you can enjoy a wonderful view that ranges from the Gulf of Poets to Mount Cimone, from the Apuan Alps to Cerreto and Alpe di Succiso, from Pietra di Bismantova to the cities of Parma, Reggio and Modena.
In this image taken just below the summit, you can clearly see the town of Castelnuovo Monti (where we discovered that even in the early morning you can have breakfast with fried gnocco and salami, an excellent source of energy for the excursion), and Pietra di Bismantova: you can really notice the difference in color, still wintery on the slopes of Cusna, already spring green in the surrounding mountains.
From the base of Cusna, the path branches off to the right towards Prati di Sara which can be reached in just over an hour: a beautiful plateau from which you can enjoy a splendid view of Cusna, a nice place to spend a peaceful day without wanting to do too demanding things, a picnic in short or a sunbath. From here you can also reach the underlying Lavachiello waterfalls, but the route is a bit challenging and long, especially the climb back up.
We lingered on these plateaus until sunset, the lights and colors were fantastic and we never wanted to leave, you breathe the air of vastness, of free space, of majesty, you forget about yourself and become one with the magic of Nature.
We chose this route, the most classic, but there are also other routes and other excursions, even on the surrounding peaks, but they are much more impervious. Starting for example from Febbio, I read that there should also be the remains of an ancient railway used at the beginning of the last century to transport wood downstream, I must deepen the exploration and I will update you.
Needless to say, we returned to the cars in the dark, as always. If you also like to be captivated by these atmospheres, always bring some lights.
Here you can find the photo album of these days:
