canyon exploring with Michele Angileri

Canyon delle Timpe Rosse

The eastern side of Sila Massif features harsh young hills made of tender sandstone and conglomerate. These rocks are so tender to be easily carved by the streams, but they are compact enough to make walls more than 100 meters tall. So the landscape here is tormented, and the roads go winding for many kilometers even for joining the nearest villages, avoiding walls and ravines. Moreover roads often fall down with landslides.

In the tender rocks of these hills streams dug nice narrow canyons like the Timpe Rosse, whose name comes from the pink-red color of sandstone. It's a non-technical, very short canyon featuring peculiar forms and colors.

I remember ...

It wasn't easy finding the approach path. When we found it we realized it had been a tourist path, made for bringing the tourists down to the mouth of canyon, but years without maintenance have ruined it. Bushes had grown in the path, the steps had gone broken and deep holes had appeared.
Someone had made the path, but no one used it, promoted it or led tourists to the Timpe Rosse. So this interesting natural monument has quickly turned back to oblivion: a gem theoretically available to anyone, but in fact now the prerogative of a few enthusiasts.

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.

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