canyon exploring with Michele Angileri

Fosso della Madonnella

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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!

Nice few-engaged canyon, to be descended in a rainy period. Rock is less compact than other canyons in Balzi area.

Name	Fosso della Madonnella
Area	Lazio, Balzi di Grotti
Nearest village	Casette (Rieti)
Entrance altitude (above sea level)	700 m
Exit altitude (above sea level)	400 m
Length	1500 m
Longest rappel	30 m
Rock	Pudding-rock
Rating	3 (winter)
Shuttle	Possible, though not indispensable.
Explored by	Lower part (after the confluence): Michele Angileri, Enrico De Bernardinis, Gaetano Peluso, Virginia Simonelli; february 17th 2002 Higher part: Michele Angileri, Renato Donati, Andrea Pucci, Matteo Santoprete; march 26th 2006

I remember ...

We started at the crest, to descend the left branch (Fosso Cognolo). There was a little flow though that winter was exceptionally dry. Some waterfall in the wood. We sometimes rappelled, sometimes avoided waterfalls, according to what seemed more time-saving.
We arrived at the confluence with another branch of stream. From that point IGM map called stream "Fosso della Madonnella", and from there things became interesting, though water disappeared. Stream engaged a little, enough to be called "canyon", enough for us to be forced to place a few bolts, to get completely wet into some putrid pools.

The second time, 4 years later, it was much better. We had a rainy winter (meadows were plains of mud). We descended from the right branch, which prooved to be better than Fosso Cognolo: steeper, rich in pools. There was water flowing down the waterfalls, through the whole canyon, and the day was splendid.