Col Visentin

We start from the hamlet of Savassa at 160 meters asl, a few hundred meters outside the Vittorio Veneto Nord toll booth, pass under the highway and begin the long climb that will take us after 19.6 km to the summit of Col Visentin at 1757 meters. The ascent will alternate between paved and unpaved sections until we reach WP03 where we will take the forest firebreak road that will take us to Forcella Zoppei (WP05) at 1417 meters.

In front of us to the north are clearly visible the many horrible antennas that crowd the summit of Col Visentin, but to enjoy a well-deserved stop at the 5th Alpine Artillery hut we will have to toil for the last 3 km and 340 meters. Once at the top, the view sweeps 360° ... to the south the plain, to the east Mount Pizzoc and Alpago, to the north the Belluno Dolomites and to the west the chain of the Treviso Prealps.

We put on our protective gear and begin to enjoy the 3.2 km of Trail 13 delle Creste, which alternates between descents on rocks and meadows and some relaunches that are not always rideable. We go around Mount Faverghera to finally intercept CAI Trail 950 that will take us down. The descent begins among meadows, the slope is significant but until the beginning of the forest it will not be a problem to stay on the bike; once we enter the vegetation the matter changes. The path is quite narrow, little used and therefore neglected and dirty, branches and brambles often get in the way ... all this combined with the always steep slope make the descent quite challenging and on more than one occasion we will have to walk a few steps even to pass under trees crashed to the ground by storm Vaia and never again removed or cut down.

Finally after 4 km of nosedive we arrive at the asphalt near the Sella Fadalto, we go up the road for 1.6 km to reach the hamlet of Caloniche di Sotto and take downhill trail 1045 that leads to Lago Morto, we skirt the shore returning to the bitumen at Nove Alto. We follow the SS51 of Alemagna for 1 km and then deviate to the right and go along the Restello Lake this time; the Meschio River and Negrisiola Lake will accompany us for the last 2 km to return to Savassa from where this adventure had begun.

Francis 25/09/2023