canyon exploring with Michele Angileri

Riu Caddaris

In the vicinity of Dorgali we find an unbelievable multiplicity of rock types. Granite, limestone and basalt rocks draw a landscape which has very different forms and colours in a few kilometers.
Canyon of Riu Caddaris is dug in the edge of an ancient lava field. Descending it is an easy trail through a majestic uncommon wild environment, ending in the rare beauty of white limestone narrows of Flumineddu.

I remember ...

Descent gave us no trouble. Return ...

A look to satellite images had convinced me there was a path to get back to car from canyon's bottom. Once at place we realized there was no path: an impassable bush covered the scarp.
A farm was near, so there had to be a road to that place, but it would surely come from south, while car was at north. Our 5mm wetsuit were not the ideal dress to hike for hours.
The less bad thing to do was trying to scramble the scarp where bush looked not so dense. I was not happy to the idea of going up bringing my heavy wet backpack, so I left it at the bottom of scarp. My intention was to come there later by car, by farm's road. My fellows thought leaving backpack wasn't a good idea, so they brought them on their shoulders.

Going up was not as bad as I had guessed. In one hour or so we were at car, where we could undress wetsuit (at last!). Then we tried to reach farm by car, but ... where the fuck was the road to farm? We went round and round for more than one hour without finding the road or anyone that could tell us where it was. On sunset we realized that the only way to backpack was the one we had done after we left it!

Headlamps lighted our trail to my backpack!

Photos and video by Michele Angileri and Guido Biavati

Photographs in this website show ultralight ropes (6 mm ropes made of high tenacity fibers). Read multimedia book Ultralight ropes canyoning technique to learn how to use them.

Copyright © 2002- Michele Angileri. All rights reserved.