Gola dell' Infernaccio (Hell's Gorge)

We started most days in Comunanza.  We were intrigued at all the groups of Italian men that are standing in the middle of the street, on the sidewalks and in cafes talking.  The hand gestures were big and they were loud.  I could have taken a hundred pictures of these guys.  These two men were there in the morning and still there when we came back in the evening.
 It made us wonder what people do all day?  They were probably wondering the same about us.  We'd have croissants nearly every morning and gelato almost every afternoon or evening.  Who was this red-headed family?

Our favorite stop is bright and clean.  They sell bread and other baked goods, coffees and gelato.  They are friendly and willing to put up with our fumbling Italian.  Most people here seem very stern and watch us with a ridiculing eye but as soon as I smile and say "ciao" the ice on their face melts and they return a warm response.  I enjoy slathering people with kindness until they have no choice but to smile. 

Our favorite spot in the center of town for baked sweets and gelato.

We took the unfamiliar road to the hike and I prayed for something fun and interesting for our day that would create a great memory.  Little did I expect it would come in the form of  a dusty old burro walking straight towards us in the middle of the road.  He was quite friendly and his kindly aggressions made us slightly nervous at first.

He was eager for some loving and that's our specialty.  The girls and I got out and cautiously approached him and he nuzzled right in.

The girls fed him a plum, orange and apple and then Indi tries to ride him.....yeah right.  We named him Bruno after the main character in a book we had just finished reading, The Boy in Striped Pajamas. We considered taking him with us, he was so cute but he did need a good brushing.  I imagined him roaming around the backyard and then cleaning up his burro waste and decided I would be okay leaving him behind.

He did create a great start to our day.  Who knew a burrow could make us so giggly and happy and we were now energized for our hike into the unknown.

Indi, Bruno, Ireland and Annie

We took a half mile hike down the road towards the gulch.  Looking up we could see a tiny white square on top of the cliff edge.  The girls laughed at the thought of going all the way to the top and I knew from my hiking experience as a child that the dot at the top is usually where we ended up.  I was thankful my pack was loaded with lunch.

The first 2 miles up we listened to the gurgling creek flushing over the smooth rocks and felt the cool air circulate around us.  Dennis kept hoping we would see other hikers because of his conservative and safe nature but none were there as we went in deeper and deeper. 

It was about lunch time when we took this picture and you can see how dark it is.                                   

The last half mile up we questioned whether we should continue.  We didn't know how much further to the top and the sun was beating down on us.  We decided to hike 15 more minutes.  We started to see people and Dennis was put at ease.  The last bit was steep.  I knew that one slow step at a time would get me there eventually, like many things in life.  We rounded the corner and approached flat ground and saw a church with people lying around in the grass. We had made it to the little white square on top of the cliff!

Dennis led us in a devotion on kindness which was quite timely because it's not always easy to be kind when you're exhausted.  Ephesians 4:32 Be kind and compassionate and forgive others as Christ forgave you.

Funny how comfortable lying on bumpy ground, rocks and shoes can be when you are pooped.  Everything is relative.  We all slept while Dennis was supposed to be on Raleigh duty, he looked away for a moment and he was gone.  We all panicked.  He had made his way back to the church 50 yards away and was busy exploring inside.  Rest time was over.

Back down we went.  The girls found a bouncy tree limb that entertained us for quite some time.

My poor Daisy Doll (Annabelle) took quite a tumble on the way down.  But she braved the rest of the steep hike with the courage of a gladiator!

We got her all fixed up when we made it back to the car.  It was 5 miles round trip but felt like 10. But when we turned around and looked where we had been we felt great!