Alta Via Resiana, 23-26 Oct 2008

Preface

During the past few(?) years I'd made several trips to the Julian Alps, but somehow I've always felt that I must return later. I've seen the Canin massif from the Montasio, later from the Mangart. This autumn finally I managed to organize a trip to this mountain itself.
I was accompanied by four of my friends: Anikó, Peti, Félix and Mop

The route

Our plan was the following:
We drive till Casera Coot at the end of Resia valley, and ascend to Bivacco Costantini. On the second day we reach the summit of Canin, and descend to Bivacco Marussich. On the third day we walk back along the southwestern slopes of Canin to the starting point.
According to Morceaux's trip report, we were prepared to spend a night on the ridge if we are too slow. We had an extra day, so it couldn't be a problem.

First day

The road of Resia (No. 42) was getting narrower and steeper as we were approaching to the end of the valley. Finally we reached a serpentine that our car couldn't bear with. It was at least 30% steep, and instead of asphalt it was made of stones. We parked the car, packed our rucksacks and began to walk.
After about 200 meters of walk we reached the last official parking place, and after 15 minutes we were at Casera Coot. Unfortunately the fountain marked on our map happened to be a simple bathtub with some water in it. We refilled our empty bottles with that water and later used it after boiling.
As the weather was really nice, we decided to take the longer way to the bivouac: we walked along the path no. 741 to M. Guarda / Skütnek and continued on path no. 731 to the hut.
During the sunset the clouds above us started to sink down, so we finally went to sleep under a sky full of shining stars. We saw some shooting stars also, which I decided to be a good omen.

Second day

I waked up the company at 6.00 AM. It was still dark outside, but I was afraid of running out of the short daylight hours. After breakfast and packing we departed at 7.30.

The path to the pass Med Babam was easy. At the saddle we got into the sunshine. We took a rest and enjoyed the view for a while.
Our first summit was the Monte Slebe (2317 m). The terrain was simple except the last few minutes before the top, where it was easy climbing in case one has found the correct path.
Another rest, some chocolate and we continued to Lasca Plagna and Cerni Vogu.

At this point we reached the hardest spot of the route. We had to climb down 10 or 20 meters on very unstable, loose rocks. I managed it first, and helped Félix to find the correct steps and grips. At the same time Peti and Mop tried to find an alternative route on the Italian slope. As Anikó didn't felt herself secure, I climbed back without my rucksack, took hers, and guided her down to the first stable rock.
From this point there were no major difficulties on the route except a few meters of climbing after the Čez Dol / Porto sotto Canin saddle, but we were geting more and more tired, and spent a lot of time with rests.
We reached the main summit (Canin Alto / Visoki Kanin, 2582m) around 14.40 PM. Luckily there were a few snow patches from which we produced some water.
After collecting ourselves (it took about an hour:) we started to descend on the northwestern ridge (Via ferrata Grasselli). The path went directly on the edge of the mountain first, but before reaching the saddle between Picco di Carnizza and Canin it deviated two times to the left slope in order to bypass two vertical walls. Short after the peak of Picco di Carnizza the metal cables appeared, which was a great help as the time of sunset was drawing nearer quickly, and we still had 400 meters of height to acquire. We reached the bottom end of the secured part by the last rays of the sinking Sun, and after 20 more minutes we reached the Marussich bivouac. It was 6.30 PM.
I saw a sign of fountain on my map about 700m northwest from the hut, and I tried to find it, but the karstic terrain was really dangerous in twilight so after a few minutes I turned back.
This evening noone needed any help to fall asleep.

Third day

The carstic plateau of Canin was fantastic. All the pictures of strange stone formations from our old Geography books came alive around us. But there was no water. In the morning I tried again to find the fountain mentioned above. I only managed to find the place where it should have been. Of course there was nothing. Anikó was much more lucky. She simply went to find the "ladies bathroom" and found a few cans of water in a small cave nearby the bivouac. As it seemed to be a stock of a speleological team, we only used a small part of it.
After breakfast we started the descent on the path no. 634 towards the ruins of Casera Grubia. It was a long, but at least easy way.

At the ruins we take the path 642a heading to Casera Canin. This path was one of the most beautiful and diverse tracks I've ever seen. The signs guided us across beech forests, a deep half-canyon of the river Ronch / Ronk, and on a nice alpine meadow we reached the hut Casera Canin.
I was glad to see that this hut had a huge tank for rainwater. We took the opportunity and refilled all our bottles, cooked some meal and took a "bath".
After the "lunch break" we proceeded to Berdo di sopra / Gorinjë Bärdo, and turned left to path no. 731. My map showed several small tracks joining this path to the asphalt road through some small cottages. These tracks however, disappeared since they had been drawn to the map, so we had to descend on a steep slope covered by thick layer of fallen leaves. We'd luckily found the cottages, and a small road leading to the asphalt.

The main goal of our trip was completed now, but we still had an afternoon and a morning before returning to Hungary, so we decided to start a "Canin afterparty", a short and easy hike to spend the remaining time.
We drove back to Resiutta, and took a turn to Povici di sopra. Leaving the car there we took the path no. 702 to the former miner village of Resartico, where a nice small hut had been built.
It took less than 1,5 hours to reach the hut, in which we found four Italians staying. They were coming for a weekend, and planned to conquer Monte Plauris. I collected all my Italian knowledge and managed to organize the sleeping places. As we were much more tired and wanted to go to bed early, we occupied the gallery upstairs, and handed them four mats to use downstairs.

Fourth day

I woked up to a wonderful and mild morning. Our altitude was only 950 meters and we were quite close to the sea (there was only one ridge before the coastal plains) so in spite of it was the last week of October the temperature was really nice.
We had a breakfast from the last of our food, and tried to figure out what might had been mined in that mine a hundred years ago. (Unfortunately I still don't know.)
After breakfast we decided to visit the former mine. It was only 20 minutes of walk above us, but the entrance was barred. However, we managed to slip through beneath the bars, and take a short walk in the mine.

On the way back to the car we'd found an alternative route: instead of following the road in the valley, we walked along an old aqueduct on the eastern side of the valley. It leaded us through small tunnels and exposed flanges with a magnificent view to the surrounding mountains.
We reached the car at 11.30 AM and after reorganizing our things in the boot, we drove home. Instead of the freeway we took the road through Sella Nevea to Tarvisio, and had a few stops to take photographs of the view. As soon as we crossed the Austrian border the sunshine had gone, and we were driving under grey clouds all the way back home. But nothing could ruin our spirits after such a wonderful trip.

Images

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