Passo Portula - Laghi di Cardeto

All-mountain extreme tour, dedicated to those who are not afraid of portage (..a lot and also on exposed terrain and without footholds and / or ferratas and for a short stretch even on the ridge).

It is a tiring and in part even risky ride, on the other hand you will be rewarded by absolutely fantastic places and by a descent from the pass that is mind-blowing, doable in the saddle at 98%, all on paths of various kinds, from very technical to flow, from steep to bumpy, and above all interminable (-1200 meters of enjoyment).

You start from the locality Bortolotti and on asphalt you go to the locality Masone, here the asphalt ends and the dirt road begins, which will also be steep in some places.

When you come out of the woods continue on the dirt road to the right and after a couple of hairpin bends take the path to the left in the meadow, from this point the very long portage begins.

You pass by the Cernello hut, which is open and run by volunteers during the summer. Continue always with bike on your shoulders and climb passing to the left of Mt. Segnale, just this section is the most dangerous as at one point it presents a passage on a short very steep wall, on terrain not exactly firm and immediately after a passage on the ridge very exposed, pay close attention, I usually ride solo but I strongly recommend to face this tour in company, and especially the passage on the steep should be faced with the possibility of having at least one free hand.

You still climb a little towards Mount Madonnino and then take the traverse to the right, very little pedalable, but at least you will no longer have the bike on your shoulders and you can simply push it, if you are lucky even in the company of ibex, which are very numerous in this section.

In a short time you will be at the Portula Pass, on one side you can admire the Calvi slope with Fregabolgia just below and on the other the Cardeto lakes (already admired during the climb).

Take a rest and wear protection, the first part of the descent is very technical, in some places you will have to get off the bike, but after a hundred meters everything changes and except for a few passages you will always stay on your beloved bike. Just be careful to follow the gps track especially near the branches.

In conclusion, it is a tour to be done only if you are really motivated and if you have mountaineering cycle experience (especially mountaineering) and in any case to be done on dry and preferably sunny days, absolutely not recommended to do it just after rainy or humid days, it would greatly increase the danger of the various passages and also of the final part of the descent where you pass through the undergrowth with several roots that would be very slippery in case of precisely humidity.