Briganti Path - Monte Vico Alvano - Monte Comune (Croce dei Due Golfi)

Premise

This route was walked on January 5, 2024, and all subsequent observations and considerations may fully apply only to that day.

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From Santa Maria del Castello to the east trailhead of the Briganti Path

From the parking near the Church of Santa Maria del Castello, it is practically mandatory to "get your eye in right away" by crossing the lane and heading through the meadows southward to reach the great viewpoint above Positano and the Amalfi Coast.

However, when we arrived, there was very thick fog, and we headed towards CAI 333 or the Tese Path: after the first meters, a strong gust of wind partially cleared the fog, and we went back to the viewpoint – this to say that the first part of the GPS track is not the most efficient.

Continuing downhill, we reached the junction with the Gradillo Path that connects to CAI 333A or Cappullo Path, and then continued descending to about 475/480 meters where we took another evident trail that bypasses Capo di Masina.

Bypassing Capo di Masina, you pass under a stretch with a spectacular rocky band, descend a little to an unmarked junction (here go right), and a few meters later on the left, you find a staircase down at the sign "POSITANO CORVO".

You continue straight until a pass bounded on the outside by a large tower.

After the pass, you round a shaded basin on a slight descent and continue traversing.

Soon after the "Welcome CHIOSSE" sign informing you that you are on the Chiosse Path, there is the junction with the Briganti Path (a junction about 60/70 meters before what is indicated in the current version of OpenStreetMap).

The Chiosse Path continues straight downhill while the Briganti Path climbs to the right.

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Walking the Briganti Path from east to west

It begins with a sharp climb through tall grass well-cut today, and it is advisable to pay immediate attention to the cut twigs that guide you in stretches covered with a "continuous carpet of various shrubs".

Right from the start, we found many guiding ribbons, mostly blue but especially in the second part, also white, pink, or red-white construction ribbons.

After the first climb, you briefly traverse to a large ledge elongated towards the outside, and it is absolutely worth leaving the Briganti Path for a few minutes to easily reach the outermost point of the ledge.

From here, besides the great general panorama, you can vertically see the traces of the Chiosse Path and notice for the first time the building marked on maps precisely in the Chiosse locality.

Then the Briganti Path continues traversing with a slight upward trend alongside some other possible ledges and with some "trace contortions" that are overcome by paying attention to cut twigs and ribbons.

You reach, without particular difficulties, a very characteristic point: a large shelter cave whose portal is almost completely closed by a large dry stone wall.

Inside, we found recent signs of a campfire and... an abandoned pot.

Besides this large wall at the bivouac, we found various other dry stone walls along the entire central part of the Briganti Path.

If, up to the bivouac, we judge the Briganti Path to be of a "medium" level, then the difficulty slightly increases on the entire west side.

It is always well marked in the "wild trails" category, but the main walkway is on average narrower and not always flat, often forcing putting pressure with your shoes not to slip (at least today with some base humidity due to fog).

Some passages are exposed and protected (so to speak) outside only by tall grass or small shrubs: here, to stay safe, you must go slowly without losing the official trace with continuous attention to cut twigs and ribbons (however, ribbons should never be considered a fixed sign over time, while cut branches certainly last longer).

You also pass a short ledge stretch above a high rock that drops onto a final long slope covered with grass and shrubs, and following the continuous trace, you join CAI 300 (High Route of the Monti Lattari) a little more than 200 linear meters from the Sella di Arola.

From this west side, the trailhead of the Briganti Path was not marked today with a sign as the east trailhead was: there was only a blue ribbon tied to a wooden railing at that point of CAI 300.

At the end of this Briganti Path, it is mandatory to compliment those who recovered it: almost every meter shows great work of cutting and cleaning – and it is continuous work, as just by "analyzing the color of branch cut surfaces" you notice they were done at different times and at regular intervals.

It is not easy to keep such a trail clean in an area of low vegetation (fortunately) that is very dense and varied – and VERY BEAUTIFUL❗

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Closing the excursion from the Sella di Arola via Monte Vico Alvano and Monte Comune (with Croce dei Due Golfi)

From the Sella di Arola, we decided on an out-and-back route to Monte Vico Alvano, an excellent panoramic point towards the Sorrento area and the whole tip of the Sorrentine Peninsula: however today, low clouds prevented the usual iconic photos.

After... a great snack🍔, we returned to Santa Maria del Castello completing the loop via CAI 300 passing Monte Comune: here we recovered much of the panoramas lost at Monte Vico Alvano.

Finally, a standard descent to Santa Maria del Castello with last "colorful views" from above on Positano.