Madonie Park, from Piano Battaglia to Pizzo Scalonazzo

10/30/24 On the way to Messina, I noticed the "Parco delle Madonie" (https://de.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parco_delle_Madonie) on the satellite map with the second highest peak in Sicily, the "Pico Carbonara" (1979m). Would it be possible to climb it? The road to the mountain was bumpy... be careful of abrupt bumps... It is actually possible to drive so close to the mountain that the summit itself is only 3km away. There is a large parking lot, as well as several others. The hike begins directly at signs that provide very good information about the route. Since I had no knowledge of the area, I had prepared myself well for all eventualities. The path... the red/white 551 was very well signposted and the climb was easy. You should not underestimate the hike, however, as the weather can change very quickly. It is also noticeably colder than on the coast. Luckily, I also met a few hikers on the route.

Since Mount Etna, Sicily's highest mountain, is currently unclimbable, I settled for the second-highest. Pizzo Carbonara, at 1979 meters, is close to the 2000-meter mark. The hiking trail up begins with a beautiful meadow path and is well signposted. Easy for a high mountain, you don't even have to use your hands to climb. Since I was doing a circular route, the descent was all the more challenging. Further down, below the starting point, the trail finally continued along a beautiful forest path with a steep incline to the finish. Unfortunately, there was no visibility at the summit today. Still, a great experience.

I'm a bit cute. I really wanted warmth, sun and spring and what is the first thing I do in springtime Sicily? Exactly, climb a high snowy mountain. And it's 20 degrees and sunny on the coast. But that's how it is with me, if there's a mountain, I'll climb it 😅. The mountain, which sounds like someone was really hungry when it was named, is the second highest in Sicily after Mount Etna. The landscape - as I said, I only had snow - is certainly really impressive a little later in the year. In addition to a lot of cool white, I had a lot of fog and it was a bit arduous to walk through the high snow - at one point I was up to my waist. But somehow the contrast to the coast is also fascinating. As I write these lines, I'm lying in the sun at 20 degrees.

This tour to Pizzo Carbonara is a wonderful panoramic tour and had a lot else to offer today: squalls, tracking in the snow, GPS navigation and a large herd of fallow deer. Pizzo Carbonara is the highest elevation in the Madonie and, at 1979m, the highest "non-volcanic" mountain in Sicily.