To find this cache you will have to get yourself to an elevation of
about 900 mt, on the "Monte di Mezzocorona".
There are several ways to get there.
- The easiest is to take the cablecar (funivia) that in 5 minutes
- at a cost of about 10 euros - will wisk you up from the lower
station (location: N46 13.116 E011 07.120) to the Monte di
Mezzocorona plateau at location N46 13.439 E011 07.393). Great view
of the Adige valley below.
Check the timetable for the times when the funivia runs.
- An alternative is to walk! Park at the funivia lower
station and follow the clearly marked trail.
It will take you about one hour to hike to the top - more likely
90 minutes. It is a nice hike, not dangerous (but don't do it in a
hot summer afternoon!)
- A third possibility, much more scenic and adventurous, is to
follow the "Via Ferrata Giovannelli", trail N. 505, also known as
"il Burrone" (the chasm) - a climb through a canyon along a "via
ferrata" which is a climb over steep tarrain, with fixed ropes and
stepladders placed in the most difficult/dangerous passages.
If you have two cars, leave one at the bottom station of the
funivia and take the other to the head of the trail, located at N46
13.700 E011 05.787
If you have only one car, park it in the town center of
Mezzocorona and walk to the trail starting point (about half hour
walk).
The climb is not difficult, but it is a climb - not a walk. A
harness and a length of rope to attach a carabiner to the fixed
ropes could (should) be brought along. The climb is sometimes very
exposed (at the beginning of the trail) and you should not do it if
you have fear of hights.
You will walk along a deep canyon, at the bottom of which flows a
little refreshing stream. A picture of the the trail can be seen
below.
Not advisable during winter months (possibility of ice), not
advisable to return to the valley floor (too steep).
Once you are up on the "Monte di Mezzocorona", go to the upper
station of the "funivia" (location: N46 13.439 E011 07.393 -
elevation about 878 mt) and follow the trail that goes west,
following the edge of the plateau.
After the cache was removed/stolen (August 2008), I have
replaced it and I have hidden in a slightly different position,
further away from the barbecue grill, hoping to lessen the
probability that it will be discovered by mistake.
The new location is near the pic-nick table: there is some sort of
a stone wall to provide a level surface for the table; if you look
among the rocks near the right end of this low containment wall,
you will see that some of them seem to be put there to hide an
opening. That is where the cache is hidden. Please note that the
cache is in a glass container, and the rocks around it are rather
large and capable of braking a glass jar, so be careful.
To help you finding the cache, you can take a look at the spoiler
photo posted below. The red/white ribbon shown in the photo is to
point out the location you want.
Do not remove the big gray rocks near the top, those with moss
growing on them. Look for those rocks at the base of the wall,
those that are more clean and without any moss on them.
In the background in the photo, you see the pic-nick table.
Also: please note that the area where the cache is hidden is under
tree cover, so I took the location measurement on the very edge of
the area, toward the valley. There is a little bench there and a
fence to protect lookers from taking a LOOONG fall! The cache is
about 10 meters away from where I took the reading of the GPS,
moving inland, well inside the protective fence - DON'T put
yourself in danger by going over the fence! The cache is placed in
a safe location!
I have primed the geocache with a minimal kit: The usual log
book and pen and a small key ring. I trust that the geocachers can
add more bits and pieces. Sorry for such a poor initial inventory,
but today I just have time to run up there to replace the stolen
container and that was all I had on hand.