Hiking for Dummies as told by LP and JP

The information I gleaned from the two glances at guidebooks on the Amalfi Coast suggested ‘must do’ hikes. I love to hike. Nature, the challenge, the vistas, the quiet, and the rewards I grant myself upon completion add up to good times for me.

The first hike that Jen and I were to tackle was the Path of the Gods (Sentiero degli Dei), connecting Praiano and Positano. A visit to the tourist office in Positano equipped us with very little information, a black & white copy of a map of trails and roads and the signioras suggestion to bus to Nocelle and then walk down to Praiano that she thought would take two hours. She said the Praiano to Positano direction (the one we preferred) was too hard.

Gauntlet dropped.

A bit more internet search to find rumors of the hike like: 4 hour trip, easy to get lost, beware of vertigo, etc. That couldn’t apply to us….

Here are some things we learned.
1. A good trail map is important
2. Long pants are a better alternative when getting lost on a path never taken
3. Fill up your water bottle before leaving (Jen)
4. Bring a hat even if it is cloudy when you leave in the morning
6. Wear wicking clothes especially for off path wet brush hiking
7. If you see a handmade wood frame with a towel hanging down, walking through it is not smart
8. If you have to scale a rock wall to get out of a garden and onto another never used path you should probably turn around
9. Turning around does not mean you are weak, perhaps just smart
10. When faced with a choice of paths, take the stairs up
11. If your hiking partner says “I am having some anxiety” don’t say “me too”
12. Sometimes the tourism office knows more than the tourist
13. A beer after a difficult hike is delicious

We were only detoured in the brush and gardens of the hill dwellers for about 30 minutes. In laughter later we found out we both had visions of facing the backwoods shotgun. But, this is Italy and a more likely scenario would be a tour of the dwellers gardens and sharing some of his zucchini, lemons, and tomatoes.

Fortunately, the only sacrifices made on this hike were my shorts, ripped during wall climb, my legs, scratched up a bit from off trail wandering, and the back of Jen’s neck – sunburn. It could have been much worse.

Pictures cannot do this hike justice. Beautiful, but also a bit scary for a portion of the hike. The 10 minutes up from the Santa Maria cathedral were the scariest of my hiking career. Open rock, no protection, cliffs below. Staring at my shoes was the only alternative.

The stair climb from Praiano to the cathedral (once we found the stairs) was aggressive to say the least. But still doable for the average fitness level person who ate pizza and drank vino rosso till midnight the night before. Another note, we didn’t pass a single person for the first hour of the hike.

We had a lazier beach day in Amalfi the next day, and then we were ready for our walk up to Ravello (1.5 hrs predicted). Off to the tourism office again and yet again little information and no map available. We were told walk to the town of Atrani and then climb up the stairs to Ravello. It wasn’t that much more complicated, but we were quicker to ask anyone we saw “Ravello?”. There answer in Italian was always accompanied by hand gestures pointing up.

And so we climbed again, without map, without hat, and with more water this time. We only detoured once, but we didn’t know it until we walked back down and found the correct route. Beautiful valley views of the lemons, oranges, olive groves, grape vines, goats, and chickens. I love how Italians really live off the land.

Ravello is a gorgeous town. Highlights included the views south to Salerno, a wedding at the gorgeous Hotel Caruso, the Wine and Drugs shop where Branko let us taste some fabulous wine, beautiful gardens, and lunch overlooking the sea. We also went to a limoncello ‘factory’, but I am not a fan of the digestif. I’d like to stay in Ravello for at least a few nights next visit to Amalfi.

All in all, the hikes were rewarding and I’d do them again. Perhaps learning a few of my own lessons for next time.

From the Praiano to Nocelle hike.