canyon exploring with Michele Angileri

Valle Scura

The southern part of Pollino National Park is made of a limestone range known as Dorsale del Pellegrino (also known as Monti di Orsomarso). The range follows the coastline, very near to the sea. This area is rich in water springs (many of them are taken) and it is covered by lush dense forests and bush. Here we find some of the wildest places in whole Appennino range.

The dense forests hide what is in the bottom of valleys. That's why you can't see the majestic canyon of Valle Scura even if you know about it: all you can see is the green of trees, and nothing else.
Canyon of Valle Scura could be found (by canyoneers of G.S. "Ndronico", from Lecce) only with a systematic exploring campaign. Few people know about this nice canyon at present, but it has the right features to be appreciated.

I remember ...

At the end of summer the numerous gadflies of this area become starving, and surround you poor man like a cloud, trying to bite every part of your body.
Of course we are here at the end of summer, and this must be their "banquet day" ... Gadflies all around us, they are giving no rest to us. They are everywhere, even in the bottom of canyon. I regret not to wear a wetsuit with long pants: it would have protected my legs from gadflies and from low water temperature (water springs from the underground).

We did most canyon doing a kind of strange dance, trying to stop gadflies.

Video by Michele Angileri and Andrea Pucci

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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