canyon exploring with Michele Angileri

Riu Caddaris

In the vicinity of Dorgali we find an unbelievable multiplicity of rock types. Granite, limestone and basalt rocks draw a landscape which has very different forms and colours in a few kilometers.
Canyon of Riu Caddaris is dug in the edge of an ancient lava field. Today (march 2009) it is the only canyon in basalt ever explored in Sardinia (I guess there might be others). An easy descent in a majestic uncommon environment, ending in the white limestone narrows of Flumineddu canyon.

I remember ...

Descent gave us no trouble. Return ...

A look to satellite images had convinced me there was a path to get back to car from canyon's bottom. Once at place we realized there was no path: an impassable bush covered the scarp.
A farm was near, so there had to be a road to that place, but it would surely come from south while car was at north. Our 5mm wetsuit were not the ideal dress to hike for hours.
The less bad thing to do was to try to scramble the scarp where bush looked not so dense. I was not happy to the idea of going up bringing my heavy wet backpack, so I left at the bottom of scarp. My intention was to come back there later by car, on farm's road. My fellows thought leaving backpack wasn't a good idea, so they brought them on their shoulders.

Going up was not as bad as I guessed. In one hour or so we were at car, and we could undress wetsuit at last! Then we tried to reach farm by car, but ... where the fuck was the road to farm? We went round and round for more than one hour without finding the road or anyone that could tell us where it was. On sunset we realizad that the only way to backpack was the one we had done after we left it!

Headlamps lighted our trail to my backpack!

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