Caltabellotta, almost, then on to Cianciana
Well, we tried to drive to Caltabellotta today. A workman that Toto had come in to work on their future living space told me that there would be mud on the road due to the rain last night, at times pretty heavy, but mud was not the problem. SP37 which heads north from Sciacca has been hardly touched since the storm a week and a half ago. We got half-way and the road was blocked. This series of photos shows how it looked. We didn't take photos till the way back so the first bunch are going downhill rather than the direction of travel.
There is another route to Caltabellotta about 7 km east of Sciacca, SP36, but we didn't try it today. At the road end of SP37 the rocks were too big and too close together for a vehicle other than a motorcycle to get through. You could do it the old-fashioned way, horse, mule, or walking. I expect the townfolk were able to get out to the east since this way was impassable.
We opted, instead, to head to Cianciana. It's north of Eraclea Minoa off of SS115 the main highway along the southern coast. There's a couple ways to get there. Through Ribera and then east or north from Eraclea Minoa, through Cattolica Eraclea and Raffadali. We took the Ribera path. If we had gone through Cattolica Eraclea we would have looped back through Ribera to the SS115.
Well, either path would have had the same result. From Ribera you drop down into the valley of the Fiume Magazzolo, Magazzolo river bottom along SP32. That route was covered with a thin layer of fine clay mud almost all the way to Cianciana. You didn't get out of it till you started to climb into the mountains again. By the time we got to Cianciana and stopped at a pasticceria/bar for lunch the car was half-khaki colored.
Cianciana sits astride SS118, the Palermo/Agrigento highway. We decided to head down SS118 to Raffadali and then to Siculiana and SS115 via SP17. As we left Raffadali we changed our minds and took SP29 to Cattolica Eraclea. It was a longer route but afforded us a chance to see that town and some of the interior countryside. The only worry was if the road went down through any valleys and subjected us to more mud slime. Hell, I had to use some left over mineral water from lunch to clear the back window. There's no washer to go with the wiper on this Nissan Juke box and the damn fine mud had hardened. At least once we were part way there it started to lightly rain and it continued to SS115 and into Sciacca. The road was as twisting as any Italian mountain road we've driven. It's kind of become expected now. We compare US roads to the Italian mountain roads anymore. The only one that really meets is California Rt 1 down to the Mendocino coast on the way to Westport, CA and the Howard Creek Ranch. I love that road but it's only 28 miles long. The ones here are everywhere. You're constantly shifting to safely navigate the curves. The little diesel shift ranges are so short you're really working it. The Garmin is constantly dinging curve warnings. I've considered turning it off but knowing is better than coming on them unexpectedly.
Finally, as we got to Cattolica Eraclea we saw the Mediterranean. Until then the hills, like the ones in the shots above hide the sea. At least the light rain cleared the sides of the car a little, but I'm still going to have to get it washed soon. You don't dare brush against the thing or whatever you're wearing gets khaki colored smudges. Thankfully we were both wearing khaki colored pants but Cathy did brush up against it with her blue Columbia jacket and now she's got to clean it. Oh well, che sera, sera.
Damn! Two posts in one day. I've got to stop, open a scotch and flip some Facebook shit at all those poor folks dealing with snow in Seattle, Appleton and Pissoria.
Ciao for now...