July 27, 2024 - Daily Distance: 21 km - Total Distance: 110 km

Today is a significant day for many reasons. The stage is long (21 km), but more importantly, there are a couple of spots along the route where I’m concerned we might encounter crossing difficulties. If one of them is blocked, the stage could be extended significantly. I express my concerns to my travel companions, but they downplay it, saying they trust my choices... only I didn’t make any choices; I had to follow a set path! Fingers crossed.

We set out while it’s still dark and immediately run into our first obstacle: the dirt road leading to the tratturo is blocked for reconstruction work. Great start! A local woman, already out and about at 5 AM, suggests we try another access point. This one also has a fence due to construction, but it’s easy to bypass, and the dirt road is in good condition. A sigh of relief.

We descend to the plain. The dirt road turns into a paved lane, and then merges with the SP85: what a sad end for our lovely tratturo!

As we reach a small cluster of houses, a large dog appears on the horizon. Remembering previous encounters with free-roaming dogs, we prepare to face the threat, but the dog doesn’t seem aggressive. In fact, it looks scared and cautiously approaches us. Some dogs start barking from the gardens of the houses, and our new friend runs to hide behind us. It’s a stray that decides we’re less dangerous than its peers. Every time we pass near a house, the same thing happens, earning the dog the nickname "Lionheart." As often happens in these situations, even though we don’t encourage it, the dog decides to adopt us: it won’t leave our side for the rest of the day. It treats us like a herd: if the group scatters and someone falls behind, it goes back to bring them in line. Although it looks thin, it seems to be in good condition, but a closer look reveals scars on one ear and a broken canine, signs that it hasn’t had an easy life.

We leave the road and take a small secondary lane that gradually descends toward the Biferno River. Without even realizing it, we pass the first critical point I had identified and arrive at the underpass that will allow us to cross the SS647. We find it full of mud and the entrance covered in brambles—this isn’t ideal. Silvia doesn’t hesitate and forges a path her way: she charges forward like a bulldozer, unconcerned that the brambles are scratching her. By the time she emerges, she’s covered in blood, but she doesn’t care! Disinfect? Yeah, right!

The dirt road runs alongside the SS647 and leads us to the spot I’m most worried about: I fear that access to the Biferno’s bank will be blocked by a gate. When we arrive, we’re relieved to find only a barrier blocking the way to what was once a gravel quarry. We pass through. Everything is overgrown, and it’s hard to make out the path that was clearly visible in satellite images from a few years ago. The GPS track helps clear up any doubts.

As we approach the Biferno, the vegetation thickens completely, but we’re just a few meters away: we push through! I go first since I’m wearing long pants. It’s a tough battle with the brambles, but step by step, we make progress. When we finally glimpse the river’s water through the foliage, our energy returns, and we tackle the final hurdle: we’ve reached the riverbank!

Then comes the bad news: we can’t tell how deep the water is, and the opposite bank is also overgrown. To gauge the depth, we hope "Lionheart" will take a dip, but he just sits on the bank, watching us. I try to assess the situation, but Silvia, upon learning that the only alternative would add 10 more kilometers, doesn’t let me finish. She wades into the water, followed by "Lionheart," who has now decided she’s the pack leader. Luckily, the water doesn’t go higher than her knees. Of course, once on the other side, she bulldozes through the vegetation her way, and her only complaint at the end of the ordeal is that her shoes got muddy... Oh well!

We continue for a while on dirt roads, but then we have to leave the tratturo and begin the climb toward Montecilfone, where our accommodation is located. Unfortunately, we’ll miss a long section of the tratturo, but we have no choice. Along the way, we meet a man, drawn by the barking of his dogs. We explain what we’re doing in the area, and he stares at us in disbelief: "But there are no crossings, did you wade through the Biferno?" We point to our shoes. We try to convince him to adopt "Lionheart": we can’t keep a dog that isn’t ours, even though he’s very sweet. He tells us he already has enough dogs...

We’ve been delayed a lot, and the sun is starting to beat down. We have to take several breaks in the shade to catch our breath and eat. The trees offer us some fruit. One curious thing: when we stop to eat, "Lionheart" doesn’t beg for food. He has his pride, and the only thing that matters to him is having a pack that makes him feel safe.

We arrive in Montecilfone exhausted. At the local bar (of course, we couldn’t miss it), we meet some patrons who tell us the town is a small Albanian enclave in Italian territory. They point out that the dialect is very different from the one spoken in Molise (we can’t understand a word!) and end up sharing a plate of calamari with us that they brought from Termoli!

We reach our B&B to rest. "Lionheart" settles in front of the door. By the time we finish our nap, he’s gone: he must have found a new pack to follow. We’re a bit sad.

WARNING: The Biferno River crossing turned out to be particularly challenging, both due to the dense vegetation that made the passage difficult and the water level, which was surprisingly high despite the drought. There is also a dam upstream of the point where we crossed, so sudden water releases could create dangerous situations. For this reason, I don’t recommend taking this stage. I suggest replacing the stages "Serracapriola - San Martino in Pensilis" and "San Martino in Pensilis - Montecilfone" with the stages "Serracapriola - Ururi" and "Ururi - Montecilfone" (found in the "Track Gallery"), using two different tratturos: the "Serracapriola - Ururi" Tratturello and the "S. Andrea - Biferno" Tratturo. The distances and elevations of the new routes are comparable to those of our journey. They haven’t been tested yet but shouldn’t pose any issues.

Track of the day