canyon exploring with Michele Angileri

Manche-Gazzo

Hidden among the hills of Pietrapaola, Vallone Gazzo features a beautiful sequence of falls and big pools carved in granite.
The most rewarding way for canyoneers to reach the Gazzo Falls is descending one of its tributaries, the Vallone delle Manche, because it has nice waterfalls and pools too. The result is a quite demanding canyoning trail.

I remember ...

Streams and gorges exist where nature put them: canyoning routes, on the other hand, must be created. Creating a canyoning route means deciding at what point to reach the stream and at what point to get out, means figuring out which are the best approach and exit trails, and verifying that the section chosen is the significant one under the aesthetic and sporty profile, and, if not, establishing other points and approach and exit routes.
Sometimes this "creative" process is trivial: the access point, for example, is the bridge of a road, or the approach route is an easy hiking path, perhaps marked. Where orography is not simple, and the old paths, no more used, were canceled by vegetation or embedded in private properties, it is not easy to decide where the canyoning route must begin. You have to study the maps and satellite images, but also go to the place and check in person before undertaking the descent.
Sometimes you understand which is the better approach to the canyon only after you have done the descent.

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