Rifugio del Freo, from Passo Croce

Access

Exit the A12 Versilia tollbooth and follow the signs for Serravezza. After passing the village, continue in the direction of Castelnuovo di Garfagnana. You climb for a few kilometres on a narrow road (watch out for cyclists!). Beyond the forks, which should be ignored, of Levigliani and Terrinca, and after the sign at km 9 of the SP10 (about 21 km from the tollbooth), turn right onto a (wider) road that climbs for 6 km to Passo Croce (1160m), where you park.

Introduction

A loop from Passo Croce, at the foot of Pania della Croce in the Apuan Alps.

Description

At the start, there are no signs or symbols and there is immediately a fork in the road. Fortunately, you are well informed and know that you have to turn left onto a flat road, while to the right you go up to a quarry. You are on a wide dirt road, which is paved again for a stretch. At one point, due to a torrent flowing underneath, it is collapsing (fortunately?!). In fact, there is an annoying rush of cars.... The path is mostly shady, but there is no lack of views of the various peaks of the Apuan Alps on the left. In this section, there is NO signpost, not even for the price of gold, but we continue until a path branches off to the left (25'). Finally, there is a vertical panel with the various destinations. The path thus runs along the western flanks of the Torrioni del Corchia and leads to the Fociomboli pass (1260 m - 10' - some cars at a standstill), the watershed between the maritime and inland sides of the Apuane Alps. Here there is an important junction of paths and you turn right uphill for the Retro Corchia quarries (left to return). In a few minutes (8') you come to a new junction where you plunge into dense woodland (left). In a dozen minutes, you pass a ruin.... There are several important ups and downs and you cut through a dense beech forest along the north-eastern slopes of Monte Corchia. With the descent (which is steep at times), the vegetation tends to diminish, and the Pania peak (the best known and most popular, even excursionistically, peak in the Apuan Alps) stands out to the left among the clouds, and Corchia to the right. One can also observe how hikers are descending from the Corchia. Further down, with a short stretch through the pine forest, you come out just above the Rifugio Del Freo 65' (1180 m - approx. 250 m difference in altitude and 2 hr. one way). For a moment, Pania almost breaks free from the clouds... while a spider weaves its web from the hut window...

The hut is in a typical mountain setting and is on two floors. The sleeping area has about fifty beds in small rooms and dormitories.  In the lower room is the kitchen (with a simple, traditional flavour!) and the living area with the dining rooms
(Refuge Telephone 0584-778007 - www.rifugiodelfreo.it - info@rifugiodelfreo.it).

After the break, go down and, immediately, from a fork in the road, keep to the left on a level ground (immediately a spring  -  5'). You enter, once again, a beech forest and in 15' a nice sign invites you to carry the wood to the hut...  You pass the Tana dell'Omo Selvatico, 1170 m, a swallow-hole only for the most experienced and equipped (the cave, in which a small stream is lost, reaches a depth of almost 300 metres with galleries and shafts, only for cavers). We walk for a long time, losing a little altitude, on the sides of the mountain above the Canale delle Verghe and later, we pass by old, totally abandoned ruins (Raspagiana and Gualdana di Sopra)... the mule track, with a pleasant slope, winds its way among beautiful beech trees with tangled roots... The forest is no longer manicured and you come across more than one tree felled by winter... in 50' you are at an important crossroads where you go left. Suddenly, you come to the Oratory of the Holy Trinity (980 m - 15'), restored but sealed like a bank... The view now opens out onto the broad green plateau of Puntato, once a summer pasture with fields that were cultivated with rye and potatoes. Several houses are just ruins, others are restored. As along the entire route, one notices several small chapels (locally known as Marginette - sacred aedicules placed on roadsides that in the past represented moments of pause and prayer for travellers), normally well maintained. Beyond that, the forest reasserts itself and the route goes all the way uphill... One must watch out for the signposts, twice ignoring forks to the right (not trivial), which go downhill or flat. Carefully, we wade along the stream that descends from the overhanging Torbiera di Fociomboli, where we finally arrive (1130 m - 40'). This is an important wetland of the Apuan Alps: a meadow basin (the remains of a pond in a glacial cirque) and preserves rare plants, silt deposits, peat in the subsoil and fossil pollens that tell of the climatic and floristic events of past eras (a panel takes a closer look). A last uphill climb (marked shortcuts) takes you back to the Fociomboli pass (25') where, with the morning route, you return to the car in 30' (280 m asl and 3h return).

All in all: dif. E (not all forks are well signposted), asl. 530 mt ascent with ups and downs, tot a/R  5h; weather at times cloudy, but fair and it is a little hot
On the return journey, we change route passing through the quarries above Massa...
Get petrol in Massa...only 1.677 E.!
Still less than in Genoa...

If you would like some photos, they are at the corresponding link
http://www.cralgalliera.altervista.org/altre2014.htm    at the corresponding link
http://cralgalliera.altervista.org/RifugioDelFreoApuane.pdf
NB: In the event of an excursion, always check with FIE, Cai, any park authorities or other institutions, pro loco, etc., that there have been no changes that have increased the difficulty! No liability is accepted. The present text is purely indicative and not exhaustive.
Info Hiking Section Cral Galliera: http://www.cralgalliera.altervista.org/esc.htm
trips 2014 at the link:  http://www.cralgalliera.altervista.org/gite014.jpg
goodbye everyone
Maurizio