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Saturday 11 January 2020

THE SORRY STORY OF JERANTO AND THE PADLOCKED GATE

Just before Christmas, 29th December to be precise, I decided to walk down to Jeranto from Nerano since it was some time since I had been there.
All was well until I tried to access the area of the ex quarry. Here I found the gate locked  by a large padlock and with the notice you can see in the photo: "closed for safety reasons".
I peered through the bars of the gate and all looked pretty normal to me. Admittedly we had had a spate of dreadful weather with gale-force winds and torrential rain, but I couldn't see any evidence of damage from where I was. Rather annoyed that access was being denied, I squeezed through the railings to the side of the gate and proceeded along the path. Although there were indeed a couple of fallen branches further in, there was nothing else that I could see to warrant the closure.
Maybe I am a little suspicious by nature, but it all seemed rather strange, so in the end I posted the photo with the simple question WHY on my SorrentoAmalfiWalkWithUs Facebook page, little imagining the reaction it would get:
2652 views (which might not seem many, but on average I get around 150 to 200 for a "normal" post), 8 shares (from other hiking groups and hikers) and 12 comments. The shares generated yet more shares and more comments.
This was 3rd January. The following morning the FAI (who are responsible for the maintenance and management of this area) put their own post up on their Facebook page, evidently in reply to the general indignation caused by mine, stating that the TEMPORARY closure was necessary due to the complexity of the damage both to the trees and to the buildings caused by the bad weather in mid December. Evidently other people were just as sceptical as myself and also went down to take a look, confirming that apart from a couple of branches that could (and should) already have been removed, there was nothing untoward.
Requests to the FAI to produce photos of the damage were consistently ignored which of course just fuelled more and more disquiet about the possible reasons behind the closure.
For anyone who is unfamiliar with the FAI, its Wikipedia  definiton is as follows: the Fondo Ambiente Italian is an Italian non-profit foundation, founded in 1975 with the aim of acting for the protection, safeguard and enhancement of the Italian artistic and natural heritage through the restoration and opening to the public of historical, artistic or naturalistic assets received by donation, inheritance or loan. 
The FAI received this area in donation in 1987 and in 2002 an official agreement was signed between the FAI and the Comune of Massa Lubrense. This agreement states as follows:
- article 1:  FAI undertakes not to prevent the free public use of the paths and areas identified
- article 2:  the routes and areas will be frequented by the public at their own risk... with the FAI having the only task of reporting any dangers to the users with specific reference to the type of danger... and with the exclusion of  signs limiting the free use of the routes and areas covered by this agreement.
- article 3: the parties agree that the access and free use of the routes and areas must not be prevented or reduced. The FAI is required to eliminate the closures and check that no impediment to access and free use is put in place by personnel of the organization or by third parties. In the presence of such impediments the Municipality is required to remove them without notice, providing for the recovery of the expenses incurred to the detriment of the FAI.
In other words, the closure of the gate was in complete violation of the above agreement, whatever the motives, and the fact that the local authorities had not been informed of the situation in the 2 weeks following the storms, certainly still makes one wonder if there was actually more to it than meets the eye. 
It took a lot of pressure on the local authorities before they finally sent someone down to verify the situation. As a result the FAI has been given 10 days to take the necessary actions and re-open the gate. Reading between the lines, the damage was not nearly as complex as they were making out, so hopefully the deadline will be respected and everything back to normal before we know it.
We shall see.

Friday 3 January 2020

WINTER DAMAGE TO THE TRAILS ALONG THE AMALFI COAST

Following the unprecedented period of bad weather we had in December with its high winds and days on end of torrential rain, which caused numerous rockfalls and landslides along the Amalfi Coast roads, we were expecting damage to our trails and now the first reports are coming in.
So far one of the worst affected seems to be the Valley delle Ferriere and the Valley of the Mills.
Luigi Esposito, well known professional hiking guide, has sent a series of photos which show the affected areas and which have been published by Giovanni Visetti in a recent blog.
The first two photos show a landslide along the path leading from Pogerola to the Valle delle Ferriere shortly before the first stream.  As you can see, this has, significantly narrowed the path making passage tricky and potentially impossible should more earth come down.
Further along, at Fic' 'A Noce, there has been another bigger landslide bringing down large trees and earth mixed with pumice stone. Here  it is still possible to pass without great difficulty.
The large landslide that has hit Pontone prevents the connection between Punta d'Aglio and Pontone, so to reach the Upper Ferriera it is necessary to deviate through the wood of San Marciano. Luigi refers to a landslide that has made impractical the CAI 323 path which leads from the center of Pontone  to the upper path of the Valle delle Ferriere CAI 357, intercepting it near Punta d'Aglio.
The interruption is right at the entrance to the village therefore those who come for example from Fic' 'A Noce and want to reach Pontone can only walk the first part of CAI 323 but then have to deviate through the  San Marciano wood - black dotted path on map below - going to the 323a at altitude 308m, the highest point of the Ferriera.)
To continue.. the wooden bridge between the Ferriera and the hydroelectric power station has collapsed and there is another large landslide near the second paper mill (going down) plus sporadic rock falls here and there as you descend towards Amalfi.
These are just the first reports coming in. There will doubtless be more as hikers gradually return to the trails. Hopefully, by the time spring arrives, the situation will improve and enable you and ourselves to continue hiking without unpleasant surprises along the way.

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