Gruppo: Prealpi Lecchesi – Monte San Martino

The Sentiero Attrezzato della Vergella is a variant of ascent compared to the most beaten path that from Lecco leads to the Chapel of Madonna del Carmine, under Monte San Martino. It has no hardship and allows to trace back a couple of more challenging rocky laughter with the help of some chains. It is generally available throughout the year, paying attention to the warmest months.

It starts from the town of Rancio Alto, over Lecco. From Lecco take the road towards Ballabio up to a evident double hairpin bend in the middle of the houses: near the second bend, where on the left a road continues straight, take Via Quarto and walk about 200 meters until you notice, near a pedestal, an asphalted road on the right that goes steeply with an open rusty white bar. You go up this steep street, you turn a first bend on the left and, at a crossroad, you go right uphill for a couple of minutes until a bar where you park (open up Google Maps). From the parking lot continue on the cemented road to a bend, where you continue straight on a mule track (CAI 52); you ignore some bivores that detach to the right (including CAI 58 for Ferrata del Medale) and, under the walls of Monte San Martino, you go back some bends up to a crossroad where a white sign indicates left the Sentiero Attrezzato della Vergella (20′ from the parking lot).

From the deviation follow the yellow signs of the route; near the crag of the Placchette di San Martino you continue straight until the attack. The equipped path goes up a rocky channel in which the chain immediately develops vertically on a wall at first smoothed, then more entangled, climbs quite smoothly; in the upper part it crosses to the left leaving on a beautiful panoramic terrace. Continue up to a second vertical wall, from the appearance of an unmarked dihedron, which sticks following the chain on the left side; climb the wall and face a traverse to the left, exit and rise some rocky steps until the end of the equipment. Between rocky balconies and uncomplicated rocks, and a last steep stretch of path, ends the Path of the Vergella (1h from the attack, about 1h30 from the parking lot), with the Chapel of the Madonna del Carmine now in sight.

The itinerary has no significant difficulty. The two more vertical sections are suitably equipped and give the necessary safety to less experienced hikers, while those who are more trained can try to trace them back without using the chain.

Low altitude (maximum 742 m): it is a route almost all year round, with attention to the heat in the summer months and the slippery of the bottom in the humid seasons.

If the itinerary ends at the chapel, take the path to its right, which descends first into the woods, then between rocky steps and finally under the walls of Monte San Martino, until you reach the path of the way and then to the parking lot (45′ from the chapel, 2h15 total). Alternatively you can continue along other routes: on the right of the chapel take the Sentiero Attrezzato Silvia for the summit of Monte San Martino (45′), evaluating then if you continue towards the Corno del Medale and descend along the Path of the Medale, or towards the Coltiglione along the Sentiero del GER; another possibility is to climb up the summit for the normal route and, towards the Rifugio Piazza, descend along the most difficult Sentiero dei Pitti.

For experienced hikers an interesting alternative is to climb the challenging Ferrata del Medale and descend along the Sentiero Attrezzato Silvia and then this of the Vergella. In the surroundings there are also GER Path to the Coltiglione and the most difficult Sentiero Attrezzato dei Pizzetti.