Via Francigena 2025: Via Francigena Days 17 and 18 - Fornovo di Taro to Cassio & Cassio to Berceto

Thursday, September 4th

Today we began our transit of the Apennine foothills via the Passo della Cisa, the link that crosses the forested Apennine mountains to connect the Po valley with the Luni coastal region. Our trek today was considered one of the hardest stages of the entire Via Francigena pilgrimage route. It was definitely not for the faint of heart, with more than 3000 feet of elevation gain over 13 miles. We had two major climbs, the first a gradual 6 mile climb on asphalt paths to 2100 feet, the second a steeper and rockier one mile climb for the last 900 feet of elevation. From there it was an easy mile and a half downhill walk into Cassio.

During our walk, we also met a group of young Italian teens from Rome who were walking a portion of the Via Francigena. We had just gotten to the top of a long steep uphill climb where we found them sitting by the side of the road waiting for a ride (or so we thought). We talked to them for a bit and then proceeded to the path downhill. It was a very steep, rocky downhill and we were taking it slowly using our poles to stop us from slipping when we heard them behind us tripping down the trail like a pack of mountain goats (do mountain goats run in packs?). They quickly passed us and were soon out of sight. Oh, to be young again!

As it was yesterday, the scenery was breathtaking with the valley on one side and constant views of the mountains ahead of us. Although these last two days of hiking have been challenging, they’ve also been some of the prettiest.

On the road to Rome

View of the mountains in the distance

Road leading up into the hills

It's a long slow climb over rocky terrain

Chatting with the Italian teens from Rome

Another lovely scenic view

View of Cassio

Friday, September 5th

This was supposed to be an easy to moderate 6.5 mile hike today with a little over 800 feet of elevation gain. Easy, we thought, after yesterday’s marathon. We had one major hill, but it was steep and rocky and very slow going. The guidebook calls these “gravel” paths but that’s a misnomer. These are large chunks of rock that look like they were dumped from a helicopter and just left where they landed. Walking along one such trail about a half mile from our destination we were suddenly stopped dead in our tracks by a barrier indicating work was being down on the trail ahead of us and it was closed to pedestrians. Our options were to climb up and over a hill and follow the circuitous route into town via the road, to retrace our steps where we had seen a sign about a half mile back pointing the way to Berceto that would take an additional hour and a half, or go around the barrier and gingerly make our way down the path. We chose the latter option. It wasn’t easy going, but not much worse than what we’ve encountered over the last couple of days.

We also had a “Camino Angel” accompany us today. The first leg of our journey out of Cassio was along the highway. About a mile out of town, a docile white and grey dog joined us on the route. (Usually, all the dogs we’ve encountered to date have barked at us ferociously from behind fences.) This dog went ahead of us and stopped at every turn we had to make and waited for us as if to show us the way. She obviously had made this journey before. When we stopped at a restaurant in Berceto for lunch she followed us in and laid herself down at our feet. We told the restaurant staff this dog had been with us since Cassio, but it wasn’t our dog and we didn’t know who she belonged to. One of the staff posted her picture to a social media site and shortly after was contacted by the owner. Our “Camino Angel’s” name was Luna and apparently she’s done this before.

All in all, the day ended well. Luna went home with her owner and we finished our walk at 7 miles and 1100 feet elevation gain.