I go on my daily morning walk in the olive groves with Mila & Rey. While I enjoy a nice view of Civezza which is kissed by the first rays of sun, Alex cooks a delicious, spicy breakfast (vegan egg scramble with tofu, bell pepper, zucchini and mushrooms) and plans todays offroad trip to some bunkers and the Ligurian border crest road.
Dolceacqua
The starting point of todays route is a beautiful spot up-country, a small village called Pigna north of Ventimiglia. To get there, we pass numerous neat and historical villages like Dolceaqua in the picture below.
Starting point in Pigna
As we arrive in Pigna, we find ourselves a quiet place where we lower the tire pressure to 16-18 psi.
The small water well with a memorial plaque nearby marks the starting point. We start todays offroad trip on small, narrow streets, driving through tunnels where we can test and demonstrate our offroad lights (stay tuned for the video!).
Steep hillsides and a tree in our way
We make our way uphill, on one side always a steep hillside which reminds us to keep the eyes on the road. At least the driver ;-). After some hundred meters we have the first obstacle in our way. A tree lying on our trail, making our saw and our (dull) hatchet worth its price. We get to work, the dogs watching us from a safe distance in the back of the car.
(Stay tuned for the video!).
Bunkers and the Ligurian border crest road
We halt at an old bunker (there’s many more to come on this route) and take a walk on the Ligurian border crest road, a former military road between Italy and France.
After a nice walk and Mila & Reys extensive sniffing session, we continue our trail direction Camporosso. We pass numerous bunkers and Alex even finds a playground for him where he can drive Gollum in an appropriate manner for Jeeps.
Meanwhile Mila & Rey check out the surroundings to find out that there’s no squirrels to chase.
Camporosso
Todays trail slowly comes to its end. We arrive at the endpoint with a beautiful view over the bay of Ventimiglia and head back to our homebase, the vacation home in Civezza.
The Video: Bunkers and the Ligurian border crest road
Key data to the trail
Key data to the trail Casa Veragne (Pigna) – Camporosso:
Lenght: 52.04 km
Degree of Difficulty: Moderate
Maximum Height: 1’496 m a.s.l.
Average Speed: 19.1 km/h
Total Time in Motion: 2 h 43 min
Total Time on the Road: 4 h 4 min (yeah, there were lots of snack pauses)
Links to the gear we use:
Compressor: https://amzn.to/2SIKetz
Smittybilt Tire Deflator: https://amzn.to/2SIKGYN
Roadbook: https://amzn.to/2QAnEBD
We are: Jeep freaks, adventure seekers, minimalistic travellers, overlanders, explorers, nature lovers, convinced vegans, outdoor enthusiasts, authentic nomads, anything but ordinary.