Hike in Riva del Garda

April 5, 2005. Hike to Cima Sat in Riva del Garda, Italy. This map of the area shows the town, and the destination circled in yellow.	April 5, 2005. Hike to Cima Sat in Riva del Garda, Italy. This is a morning view of the hike area, from my hotel room.	April 5, 2005. Hike to Cima Sat in Riva del Garda, Italy. This is a morning view of the hike area and highlight locations.
April 5, 2005. Hike to Cima Sat in Riva del Garda, Italy. Here is a view from the waterfront, up toward the Bastione and Cappella... not sure whether the Cima Sat is visible, in upper right.	April 5, 2005. Hike to Cima Sat in Riva del Garda, Italy. The town is in lower right and the destination is circled. These trails maintained by the local alpine club.	April 5, 2005. Hike to Cima Sat in Riva del Garda, Italy. My route is shown in yellow; clockwise.
April 5, 2005. Hike to Cima Sat in Riva del Garda, Italy. This is the road where the hike begins and ends. The Bastione and Capanna are both visible on the mountain, but the Cima Sat is not.	April 5, 2005. Hike to Cima Sat in Riva del Garda, Italy. The lower parts of the trail were paved beautifully; all parts of the trail were constant switchbacks.	April 5, 2005. Hike to Cima Sat in Riva del Garda, Italy. The paved trail; just around the corner is a fancy restaurant.
April 5, 2005. Hike to Cima Sat in Riva del Garda, Italy. View back over the city near the start of the hike.	April 5, 2005. Hike to Cima Sat in Riva del Garda, Italy. A little shrine in the wall on the way up to the Bastione.	April 5, 2005. Hike to Cima Sat in Riva del Garda, Italy. The trail was well marked throughout!
April 5, 2005. Hike to Cima Sat in Riva del Garda, Italy. This little grotto, carved from the cliff, was clearly well used.	April 5, 2005. Hike to Cima Sat in Riva del Garda, Italy. Inside a cliffside grotto.	April 5, 2005. Hike to Cima Sat in Riva del Garda, Italy. The Bastione, up close. It is a single small round tower.
April 5, 2005. Hike to Cima Sat in Riva del Garda, Italy. Inside the Bastione, all ruins.	April 5, 2005. Hike to Cima Sat in Riva del Garda, Italy. A view from the (closed) visitors' center to the Capanna beyond.	April 5, 2005. Hike to Cima Sat in Riva del Garda, Italy. Getting closer to the Capanna Santa Barbara.
April 5, 2005. Hike to Cima Sat in Riva del Garda, Italy. The beautiful, tiny Capanna Santa Barbara. At night it is floodlit and, from the town, appears to float high up in the darkness.	April 5, 2005. Hike to Cima Sat in Riva del Garda, Italy. Inside the Capanna Santa Barnara.	April 5, 2005. Hike to Cima Sat in Riva del Garda, Italy. This is the shrine inside the Capanna Santa Barbara.
April 5, 2005. Hike to Cima Sat in Riva del Garda, Italy. The view of Riva from Capanna Santa Barbara. Quite hazy today.	April 5, 2005. Hike to Cima Sat in Riva del Garda, Italy. The patio in front of Capanna Santa Barbara, looking back over the lake.	April 5, 2005. Hike to Cima Sat in Riva del Garda, Italy. Climbing above the Capanna, which is seen in lower right, this shows the Cima Sat peak at the top, and the direct trail is somewhere up this cliff face.
April 5, 2005. Hike to Cima Sat in Riva del Garda, Italy. On my trail I encountered just one ladder.	April 5, 2005. Hike to Cima Sat in Riva del Garda, Italy. A view of the town from on high. Lots of wildflowers.	April 5, 2005. Hike to Cima Sat in Riva del Garda, Italy. Only visible from above, a helicopter landing pad near Capanna Santa Barbara. Presumably this services the visitor center.
April 5, 2005. Hike to Cima Sat in Riva del Garda, Italy. The trail was well marked by the Alpine club.	April 5, 2005. Hike to Cima Sat in Riva del Garda, Italy. It is very hard to give a true perspective of how huge, and steep, the cliffs of this mountain are.	April 5, 2005. Hike to Cima Sat in Riva del Garda, Italy. My destination, Cima Sat, comes into view... with some hikers barely visible on top of it.
April 5, 2005. Hike to Cima Sat in Riva del Garda, Italy. A short side trail leads to this pleasant spring, dripping into a basin formed by this wall.	April 5, 2005. Hike to Cima Sat in Riva del Garda, Italy. Inside the spring, drip drip drip from the limestone ceiling; and a floating sheet of ice with an ice stalagmite left over from winter. The best mineral water I've ever tasted!	April 5, 2005. Hike to Cima Sat in Riva del Garda, Italy. Nearly there!
April 5, 2005. Hike to Cima Sat in Riva del Garda, Italy. There were several ruins around the ridgeline areas of this hike. Not sure what this one was for.	April 5, 2005. Hike to Cima Sat in Riva del Garda, Italy. Note the cable handrail at lower left; the trail is just visible below it, and curves along this wall before exiting at upper right.	April 5, 2005. Hike to Cima Sat in Riva del Garda, Italy. Another ruin, labeled on the wall Chiesa di Guerra, 1915-1918.
April 5, 2005. Hike to Cima Sat in Riva del Garda, Italy. In other words, a war chapel?	April 5, 2005. Hike to Cima Sat in Riva del Garda, Italy. I'm now close enough to realize that the spike on top is a flagpole, with Italian flag!	April 5, 2005. Hike to Cima Sat in Riva del Garda, Italy. I pass the three hikers who had come up Cima Sat the hard way, carrying far more gear than I.
April 5, 2005. Hike to Cima Sat in Riva del Garda, Italy. This is the high point of my trip; 418 takes me back to Riva.	April 5, 2005. Hike to Cima Sat in Riva del Garda, Italy. A view to the north avoids the sun and some of the haze; high peaks there still have snowcaps.	April 5, 2005. Hike to Cima Sat in Riva del Garda, Italy. I'm almost there. View of Riva below.
April 5, 2005. Hike to Cima Sat in Riva del Garda, Italy. Maybe this helicopter landing pad is trying to tell me something about safety here.	April 5, 2005. Hike to Cima Sat in Riva del Garda, Italy. The final pitch requires a little climbing, and a lot of exposure.	April 5, 2005. Hike to Cima Sat in Riva del Garda, Italy. Made it! I dare not reach that box, with the log book, because there is a 500' drop on the other side.
April 5, 2005. Hike to Cima Sat in Riva del Garda, Italy. I stand upon the summit peak, piqued.	April 5, 2005. Hike to Cima Sat in Riva del Garda, Italy. I stand on the summit, with little room to move about.	April 5, 2005. Hike to Cima Sat in Riva del Garda, Italy. Heading north from the peak, an even more imposing cliff face.
April 5, 2005. Hike to Cima Sat in Riva del Garda, Italy. On the way down, I pass through a region of recent brush fire.	April 5, 2005. Hike to Cima Sat in Riva del Garda, Italy. A brush fire passed through since last fall.	April 5, 2005. Hike to Cima Sat in Riva del Garda, Italy. I doubt you can find them in this unfocused shot, but my path was crossed by four wild goats.
April 5, 2005. Hike to Cima Sat in Riva del Garda, Italy. On the way down there were pockets of frost; this part of the trail had not yet seen the sun today. The other side was blistering under direct sunshine.	April 5, 2005. Hike to Cima Sat in Riva del Garda, Italy. Some of the many blue flowers covering the woods.	April 5, 2005. Hike to Cima Sat in Riva del Garda, Italy. Beautiful thumb-sized blue flowers, everywhere.
April 5, 2005. Hike to Cima Sat in Riva del Garda, Italy. Pink heather-like bushes abound.	April 5, 2005. Hike to Cima Sat in Riva del Garda, Italy. There were many of these, in white, pink, and yellow, all through the woods.	April 5, 2005. Hike to Cima Sat in Riva del Garda, Italy. One of the many white/pink flowers in the woods on the north side.
April 5, 2005. Hike to Cima Sat in Riva del Garda, Italy. Another map of the area, with Cima Sat circled.