Val Granda former CAI 39 abandoned – Madonna del Pertùso – Val Lanàri

Premise

This route was traveled on November 26, 2020, and all subsequent observations and considerations may fully apply only for that day.

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Ascent of Val Granda or Val Grande

From the parking, reach the village of Lanari and take the obvious mule track next to the last houses after the small square.

Shortly you arrive at the fork between the two valleys where there is a statue of the Madonna on a wooden shrine: for Val Granda go right (the Tabacco map has several toponymic errors in this area).

Now you simply need to climb the entire long valley up to the high rocky band closing it at about 900 meters elevation.

There is a good initial stretch always like a wide mule track, then the path becomes a small trail as the slope increases.

After the mule track stretch, the valley bottom remains quite wide and without evident gullies, and you are guided for the best lines by various blue square-rectangular marks, cairns of various sizes, and a few rare strips of sturdy orange plastic, or rather ex-orange and almost brown.

The only point of attention for orientation in this first part is at about 860 meters elevation, where a ridge divides the valley.

The direction indicated by the waymarks clearly goes to the right of the ridge, and it doesn’t seem logical to bypass it to the left when you see the terminating rocky band just above.

But no: the official route turns left on faint traces at this point and climbs over a fairly gentle hump anticipating the cliffy part of the ridge.

Here I noticed only a couple of tiny cairns, and the blue marks are faded unlike the vivid ones seen so far.

After the left turn, the footprint on the ground improves, you notice a couple of orange strips, and you reach below the rocky band where the blue marks resume in a “bright version.”

Reached the rocky band, go left on a wider path toward a clear wooded saddle.

The final push to the saddle is… a push: quite steep with narrow traces that are better to follow carefully for a better grip with your shoes.

At the wide saddle there is a red “P.S.F.” inscription on a rock a bit left of the most logical point to climb above.

Cross the saddle and continue traversing following the blue marks keeping roughly the same elevation: at first, I made a detour to avoid some fallen trees.

After almost 200 meters in a straight line, you reach an eroded and “somewhat unstable” hollow valley, which should be crossed toward the blue mark seen on the other side, after which you rejoin the path ascending from Val Lanari.

However, you can avoid the “minor scramble” by climbing simply on the right side heading up the slope adjacent to the hollow valley: it is a bit steep but easy to walk.

After about fifty linear meters, you can turn left comfortably and exit onto a first meadow with a hut at the bottom right: here you are above both the just climbed Val Granda and Val Lanari from which you must descend.

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Continuation to the Madonna del Pertuso

From the first small meadow continue and enter a sort of small grassy cirque where to the left there is a house, and you reach the service road to this house.

From the service road, go right for about 250/300 meters (depending on where you join), and on the right you notice an obvious path starting with the first meters slightly downhill.

Continuing on this very comfortable path for about 150 meters, you reach the large hollow of the slope where the statue of Madonna del Pertuso is located.

The stretch of path continuing in front of the hollow passes over a natural rock arch.

For the return, continue in the same direction for a little over 200 meters of semicircular walking with some tight curves at the end until you reach the Strada delle Penìse.

From here, return passing in front of a shrine on a rock with an image again of Madonna del Pertuso (this one well colored) for those who cannot descend to the real “pertuso” (hole or gap in local language).

Then another fifty meters and you find the fork for the service road to the house at the end of the ascent.

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Descent via Val Lanari

You pass the two meadows at the end of the ascent staying to the right where there is a well-defined track leading above an easy rocky step: here you notice a first red mark on the ground and then, a little below, other red and blue marks.

Now attention is required because below the step and the very short following gully, there is a stretch with a lot of ground brush hiding the trail trace.

After the short gully, the path descends with some turns on a slightly sloping ridge for about 40 meters “as the crow flies”, then goes left to return to Val Granda and right for Val Lanari.

In both directions, the first meters are quite confused.

However, here the GPS receives a decent signal and you can use the line visible on the device as reference; so “investigate” within 5/10 meters max from the turning point appearing on the screen.

Once the faint trail start is located, you advance noticing almost immediately an improvement, and you arrive at a rocky spur in the woods that forms a small saddle.

You have to go around the spur on the right descending a little (on the ground trace with red mark) from the small saddle and continuing on an almost ledge-like traverse.

In a few dozen meters you reach the small saddle on the other side of the spur where there is a mini panoramic terrace.

Cross the second small saddle to the left and continue for about 150 linear meters just below the ridge line, until you return on the other side with a gentle right turn – this is important because regular cut twigs start here as markings: for those used to orient with cut branches, from here on it is much easier.

You continue descending until the fork with a path entering (with a sharp right turn) into Val Sarzè: here begins the long common stretch with the CAI Castelfranco Veneto path of Western Grappa, and from here the white-yellow marks are very helpful along with the red ENEL dots.

Just after this fork, there is a few meters of an airy crest (airy but with decent walking) ending beneath a small panoramic peak.

Before the small peak (which deserves a visit), the path turns left and descends to enter a wide valley with, on the central line of maximum slope, a clear rubble field of large black stones.

You descend beside the rubble field without ever crossing it, and here you must be careful with orientation.

After 40/50 linear meters of steep descent, the footstep on the grassy path continues straight beside the rubble: but watch for a “almost hidden” large white-yellow mark on the left indicating an exit path always to the left – the path is visible, and if you don’t “rush” there is time to notice it.

Taking the correct path, you traverse to a small saddle with the last meters exposed like a ledge frame on a fairly wide walking base.

After passing the saddle, the path continues a little narrow but marked, with various turns and signs.

After this sinuous section, you enter a nearly straight and increasingly evident valley bottom that accompanies you to the end.