Monte Faiatella, Cima di Mercori and Monte Cervati from Ruscio di Vallivona

Premise

This route was traveled on December 30, 2022, and all observations and considerations apply fully only to that day.

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Ascents to Monte Faiatella, Cima di Mercori, and Monte Cervati from the picnic area in Ruscio di Vallivona

From the hairpin bend on the Monte Cervati road that crosses the picnic area in Ruscio di Vallivona, take the trail heading southwest alongside the fence.

After a short initial section without waymarks but intuitive, CAI-style signs lead to the forest pass where signs indicate the descent to Valle di Campolongo.

Here there is an arrow also indicating the direction to Cima di Mercori, and in the opposite direction to this arrow you ascend Monte Faiatella without any indication.

You start on a moderately steep ridge, pass a flatter section where the forest opens with views towards Monte Cervati, and reach a final part that is a bit steeper than the initial section.

There would also be a unique and more evident walking trace here: I said "would be" because I verified its existence in another season, but today (December 30) there was the classic carpet of leaves typical of winter in beech forests covering everything.

However, you can comfortably climb by eye using other discontinuous secondary traces.

Shortly before the summit, the forest gives way to a meadow area offering some nice panoramic views.

Returning to the pass for Valle di Compolongo, you begin the ascent of the first easy ridge section towards Cima di Mercori.

The start is clear and well marked in CAI style (although it is not shown as a CAI trail on maps).

You cross a couple of meadow saddles and then the signs and ground trace divert left, abandoning the ridge line.

After a traversing section the trail almost disappears and a continuation can be intuited, still traversing, beginning to round Cima di Mercori.

Here we decided to abandon the trail because we were just below the south vertical of Cima di Mercori and wanted to reach it by the shortest route.

The slope is not difficult (comparable to the previous one on Monte Faiatella, just longer) and we went through a couple of wide small valleys to move again towards the ridge back that we started from the pass for Valle di Compolongo.

With no real difficulty you reach the summit, which is not completely free of vegetation and offers partial views.

To understand well how to move in the area of Cima di Mercori, consider also the route that ascends from Valle dei Gigantini (see route → Valle dei Gigantini - Cima di Mercori - Valle di Campolongo).

Then, to go most directly towards Monte Cervati, you must descend towards the Croce di Vallivona pass of the Sentiero Italia that ascends from Piaggine.

It’s a descent on barely evident traces at the top, which are much more noticeable going up: if you have never ascended from this side, the GPS helps here (see also route → Monte Cervati and Cima di Mercori from the Maggiociondolo Trail).

Anyway, from the summit cairn you enter the forest heading east-northeast, then make an arc following a gently sloping ridge still inside the forest (here you can also descend into a depression and then climb back onto the lower ridge).

You thus come out above a meadow section with some stone steps, which you follow to the left for a few meters up to another section of forest.

Here there is a clear trace to the left that passes above the forest limit and below a rock ledge: in a few meters it leads above a large, steep meadow slope very visible from Monte Cervati.

The slope is steep but well terraced.

Going up you can follow fine zigzag traces, but in descent these are not clearly visible and it’s best to descend by eye always on the meadow at the forest edge.

After losing about a hundred meters of elevation or a bit more you cross a wide trail that crosses the mountain and continues both right and left.

For this excursion you go left, and after crossing the meadow you enter the forest to emerge on the Sentiero Italia just a few meters below the Croce di Vallivona pass.

Now descend towards Piaggine for just over 200 linear meters until a well-marked turnoff for "Nevera - Sanctuary - Cervati Summit".

This is probably the best-known section of the entire circuit.

You follow the well-marked trail to the "La Nevera" scree with its permanent snow deposit, then continue (with a final small road) to the parking lots before the Madonna della Neve Sanctuary.

Upon arrival at the first large summit doline we did not detour to the Sanctuary because it was closed, and we went straight to the summit marker of Monte Cervati following the usual unmarked but well-intuitive line… if visibility is good as today.

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Return from Monte Cervati to the picnic area in Ruscio di Vallivona passing through Vallone Fornillo

As written at the beginning, there are various alternatives to keep the circuit at a medium difficulty.

Among these, you can return toward the Sanctuary and then join the CAI 510, or make a slightly wider loop (and with more elevation) via the Capo di Testa ridge (see route → Monte Faiatella and Monte Cervati from the bridge over Vallone del Persico).

In today's version, from the summit of Monte Cervati you continue in the direction of the winter trail (southeast).

Vallone Fornillo is the first valley you encounter, immediately bounded by the Capo di Testa ridge.

There is a very wide funnel above the wooded narrows at the start of the true valley.

Then, you descend freely along the mixed grass-stone slope aiming at the "funnel spout" up to the upper edge of the forest where a flat meadow is found.

At the forest entrance there is a sort of central "dividing ridge" that separates two different gullies that converge within a few meters into the main gully.

It is better to stay inside the left hydrological side because the right side leads to a small drop where you have to downclimb.

Shortly you reach another little drop of about 3 meters where you must downclimb but remain within a grade I or I+ on good holds (here we helped our "four-legged girl").

The alternative is to bypass on a very steep forested slope, but we discarded this because of the hard ground covered with very slippery leaves.

Then you proceed for quite a while in a scenic environment until another small drop among rocks, not difficult itself but hiding some dangers.

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The dangers come – to our great surprise – from the presence (under the leaves in the gully) of permanent "MICRO SNOWS".

Even at such low altitude and southwest exposure, the valley is so deep and narrow that there are snow and ice holes covered with leaves, requiring some caution to avoid getting stuck or slipping: my advice is always to try to step on stones as you cannot fully exclude some dangerous sinking.

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The second drop is a bit higher than the first and of the same difficulty, but can be bypassed (and we did so) following a short trail on the right hydrological forest side.

Then you continue among various rocks with the right hydrological forest side changing from nearly vertical to much gentler, arriving at a clear exit trace in the forest about 20 meters before the first "rappel drop".

If, as today, you want to stay at a hiking level, follow this exit trail that rises a few linear meters and then descends for a long stretch (more than 500 linear meters) high above the gully.

At the end this trail returns beside the gully at a small road and some fences always inside the forest.

To return to Ruscio di Vallivona, follow the small road to the right which soon comes out of the forest offering some nice views of the Gulf of Policastro and a couple of frontal views from below towards Monte Faiatella and Cima di Mercori climbed in the morning.

The small road, with a wide detour, joins the CAI 510 trail between the main body of Monte Cervati and the Serra degli Sprovieri.

Here too continue on the small road with a slight ascent until the forest plateau where there is a turn off to continue towards the Ancient White Fir.

At the plateau leave the CAI trail and go straight ahead.

Through various ups and downs, in about 1.8 km you reconnect to the Monte Cervati road less than 400 linear meters from the starting parking of the picnic area in Ruscio di Vallivona.