Hiking to Mount Prana

- Hiking in Tuscany 's most beautful mountain range: The Apuan Alps -

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Description

Hiking in Tuscany is not just hills and gentle country roads. Tuscany has also its own Alps range: The Apuan Alps.

Mount Prana (1221m) is a very special mountain. This southernmost peak of the Apuan Alps stands alone, with topographical qualities allowing Mount Prana to be the perfect vantage point to understand the complexity of northern Tuscany.

Tilting our head a few degrees we will see the coast running north until the famous Cinque Terre (The Five Lands). In front of us we will see an ancient swamp that is now Massaciuccoli Lake, the Pisan Mountains, Lucca and the Apennine mountain range, which crosses Italy from north to south and, of course, all of the Apuan Alps. The peak of Mount Prana is a truly magical place which will remain with you for a long time.

We begin this trek in the tiny mountain village of Metato (which in ancient Italian means "the place where chestnuts are dried") where a steep path immediately awaits us. We continue on a paved road through a chestnut forest for a couple of hours, passing through various mountain settlements, until we reach the saddle that joins the eastern and western faces of the mountain.

From there the scenery changes dramatically and vegetation becomes scarce. We proceed on a lovely flat path for a few kilometers until we reach the beginning of the climb for the summit. The summit ascent circumnavigates the mountain, raising gently, to takes us to the less steep side where we do our final ascent. One last push where one occasionally uses hands and feet to reach the spectacular summit with its valleys and lush grass fields below.