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the
salt road '24
Last summer i joined forces with some of the nicest people I know: Marta, Ale, Ila, Raju e Braga. We went from Cuneo to the sea following "The salt road", an ex-military road that cross the alps into the sea.
As we knew the roads were beautiful and we wanted to take it easy on ourselves and enjoy the ride, we decided to do it over 3 days, this is how it went day by day:
DAY 01 //
—cuneo > panice soprana—
km // 34
d+ // 850m
Marta and I were coming from Milano while Ila, Ale, Raju and Braga from the sea, we decided to meet directly at Cuneo train-station and then pedal to the places we were going to sleep that night.
Little did we know that there was going to be a train strike that day and the guys wouldn't make it on time, luckily we manage to fix things up: Marta and I pedaled from Cuneo while the others came straight to Limone Piemonte with the train and we met them the next morning to pedal over the first climbs of the route together!
DAY 02 //
—panice soprana > monesi—
km // 48
d+ // 1250m
This is when the real adventure started, we met all-together at 9 to start climbing. We ended up the last tarmac section at Le Marmotte, where we stopped for a quick snack and some pictures. As we started moving forward the mountains started to show up, the landscape really became magical and alpine, the roads became a bit rocky which felt even more immersive, those kilometers until Refugio Barbera were pure mountain bliss, and the best part was we made it to our rhythm, I even crossed paths with Sophie which I wasn't expecting at all!
After a good plate of pasta and a coke at Barbera we kept moving until Briga Alta, our destination for the day.
DAY 03 //
—monesi > bordighera—
km // 75
d+ // 1550m
Briga Alta (Monesi) is a really small village (population of 54).
It was a ski location many years ago, but as global warming and temperatures started to rise the place was completely abandoned.
We found ourselves eating at the municipality building, which is also a restaurant and bar, there are only 2 b&b's owned by the same person (our saviour) and they now live pretty much from tourism, so yes, go give them a visit!
As you could've imagined the day started uphill, the first pass we crossed was Tanarello (2045m) and from there it was downhill, the roughest type, so rough I even lost my sandals hahahahahha.
After descending, we had another mountain to climb, but this time the weather wasn't on our side, not long after we were under pouring rain and thunders, we kept going until we could and then stopped until the rain did it too.
At this point we were really looking forward to arrive to the next hut and have a good plate of food.
We ended up the climb after seeing some nice forts (Balconi di Marta) and the descent took us straight to Rifugio Allavena, our foodie dreams came true and then we took off to Bordighera, the final destination of our trip.
FAQ
Best time to do it? - late spring, summer
Do I really need a gravel/mtb? - absolutely yes, the route is 70% off-road
Is it doable in more/less days instead of 3? - yes, it's all on how you want to ride it.
Are there hike-a-bike sections? - none, 100% with the right bike and a good physical condition.
!!! - Alta Via del Sale is closed to cars on Tuesdays and Thursdays, check their page for all the needed information. (www.altaviadelsale.com)
All the pictures in this page were taken by my talented friend Raju, check out his work below (:
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