canyon exploring with Michele Angileri

Fosso del Fioio

The dryfalls and gorges of Fosso del Fioio give the enthusiast a half-day immersion in the wilderness (not too wild) of Latium Apennine.

I remember ...

It was at least 10 years that, every now and then, my thought went to Fosso del Fioio. Seen on the topographic map, it looks like the canon of Apennine canyon: steep, with a wide catchment basin. If you look at it in the place, however, you see an ordinary valley, and the large basin is not enough to let water flow, due to karstism. And if you try to go up the valley you are hindered by dense and thorny vegetation, and then a stone dam prevents you to go further on ...

In 2007 I did a reconnaissance and concluded that it was not worth a descent. 10 years later I wanted to reconsider the thing. I had begun to go up and down the Aniene Valley searching for new canyons and I had found several ones ... In one of my reconnaissances I came back to Fioio, to look at him again with more attention. Again it looked not interesting, and I would never have descended it if in the meantime I did not change the spirit with which I was looking for canyoning trails. This time the important thing for me was to do some physical effort in the wilderness, no matter if there was a canyon or not.

So finally I decided to descend the Fioio, ready to face the thick, thorny vegetation of the area. And finally the Fioio revealed to me its hidden corners, the cascades, the gorges ... And going down was by no means a trivial matter.

Copyright © 2002- Michele Angileri. All rights reserved.