Ortona dei Marsi, rifugio Cicerana, Torre Sperone

Leaving Ortona, first kilometers on asphalt going up toward Aschi, then detouring onto minor roads that soon turn into barely drivable dirt tracks, climbing to the top fairly smoothly.

You descend from 1300 to about 700 meters on the Fucino plain, on barely visible tracks, carriage roads and single track. Near Ortucchio we leave the roads that cross the plain and enter a nice uphill trail in the woods that, with some difficulty due to stones and gravel, takes us with gradients up to about 20 percent until we cross an asphalt road on which we continue to climb up to about 1370 meters and then take a path on the left that, continuing into the woods, takes us up to about 1500 meters.

Having finished the forest (and also most of the ascent) we continue fairly flat to the Cicerana refuge (1572 meters) where we can possibly eat and refresh ourselves.

Starting again from the refuge, descend until you meet the asphalt road that continues slightly downhill for a few kilometers, turn right onto a dirt road that passes Torre Sperone, built around 1240 to defend the eastern Marsica and whose nearby village was destroyed by the 1915 earthquake.

From the tower you quickly descend to Aschi from which you resume the provincial road in the direction of Ortona.