Muntejela de Sennes (Sennes Saddle Mountain) from Pederu

Description

Bus to Pederu. €4 per person single ride. It's cheaper to go by car (toll road €7 in summer 2011) but our trip is a crossing so better to take the bus from San Vigilio. From Pederu you take road nr 7/9. This first part of the hike is very hard (steep 'leg-breaking' road) and quite ugly as it is on a dirt road where, on 8 September - a Thursday, we had to move a dozen times to give way to 4x4s carrying 'walkers' and their rucksacks to the local huts. We follow trail no. 9 to the Fodara Vedla refuge (1966m). From there we follow path no. 7, which finally breaks away from the road, (although alas only temporarily), then back on the road to Ucia de Sennes (2116m). We are almost at the end of the road. Leave the path to the right for the Biella refuge and continue on to the Ucia Munt de Sennes (2176m) this last stretch is very quiet. From here, the path finally begins to climb over meadows and through the beautiful Val de San Berto. At first, the ascent is very gentle. After the junction with trail no. 24, the trail begins to climb more steeply, although it is still well marked and not difficult. The most demanding section is the crossing of the scree, which is, however, quite short. You start climbing again on the wide ridge until you reach the summit cross. (2767m) For the return trip, you can either take the same path and descend again to the junction with path no. 24 and then climb up towards Ju de Senes (2519m) or, having passed the rocky section and descended to around 2400/2450m, follow path no. 24B along the side of the mountain until you reach Ju de Senes. Descend on the steep path 24 and then continue into the beautiful valley of Munt de Gropes. We continue straight ahead, now on trail no. 25, which takes us back to Le dla Creda and, on the roadside path, back to San Vigilio. Our walking times were : Fodara Vedla 1 hr Ucia de Sennes 1 hr Ucia Munt de Sennes 40 mins Muntejela de Sennes 1hr30 Ju de Sennes 45 mins Le dla Creda 2hr30 S Vigilio 30 mins