canyon exploring with Michele Angileri

Fosso di Acquaro

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At the end of Salto valley, a few kilometers from town of Rieti, there is an unusual canyoning place. The peculiar feature is pudding-rock in huge compact layers, giving landscape peculiar shapes and colors. Moreover pudding is also tender for water, so every little stream can dig a canyon. That's why we find a very high concentration of canyons here!

The name "Acquaro" means "water-bringer", but here's no water flowing. Stream is usually dry.

Name	Fosso di Acquaro
Area	Lazio, Balzi di Grotti
Nearest village	Grotti (Rieti)
Entrance altitude (above sea level)	600 m
Exit altitude (above sea level)	410 m
Length	500 m
Longest rappel	18 m
Rock	Pudding-rock
Rating	4
Shuttle	No
Explored by	Michele Angileri, Tullio Dobosz, Gaetano Peluso; june 1996

I remember ...

I remember we started exploring much higher than the beginning of canyon (of course we didn't know neither where it was nor if there was any canyon in Acquaro valley). We found water flowing, and soon a 25 meters waterfall in bad rock. We rappelled it putting our rope around a backward tree. At the bottom valley opened amidst woods, and soon there was a confluence to the main Acquaro valley. Short after water was falling 7-8 meters down in a pool under a stone-arch: beautiful and unexpected!
After the arch (avoidable on left side) we went on in an open valley inside woods, doing some rappel, till the beginning of real Acquaro canyon ...