Anyone who has done a bit of walking in Italy will, sooner or later, notice the little red and white stripes seemingly mysteriously painted on trees, rocks, telegraph poles, old buildings etc. These segnali (signs) mark the routes of sentieri (footpaths) most of which have been created by CAI the Club Alpino Italiano (Italian Alpine Club).
Going for a camminata (ramble or hike) in Italy can be a pretty hit and miss experience due to a: a lack of accurate and up to date maps, and b: idiosyncratic marking of trails. I don’t know who it is that paints those little red and white signs but they probably know the route pretty well and fail to understand how a misplaced sign could confuse someone unfamiliar with the area. For example, a common scenario is that we’ll be exploring a new sentiero and, happily, the red and white signs seem to be in profusion, in fact perhaps too profuse, I mean do we really need one on every third tree when there are no other trails in sight! But hang on a minute what’s this, a junction. In front of us the trail forks in two directions, in the middle of the fork is a tree and beautifully hand painted on that tree a red and white sign, but no hint of which fork to take, no arrow, and as our map is basically a reprint of a military map from the late 19th century (the ‘latest’ version available) guess what, no detail there either.
Fortunately the majority of sentieri maintained by CAI are not like this and the volunteer workers of the Italian Alpine Club do a great job in helping walking enthusiasts to enjoy Italy’s amazing, rugged landscape.
The Club Alpino Italiano was formed in August 1863, just three years after the unification of Italy, by Quintino Sella, scientist, politician, economist, and statesman.
Sella was a passionate Alpinista (mountaineer) who wanted to raise cultural awareness of the Italian Alps. The idea to form CAI was born during the first Italian expedition to scale the summit of the 3,841m Monviso in the Piemonte region, of which he was the leader.
These days CAI has grown into a huge organisation with around 500 local branches which between them maintain around 60,000 km of footpaths and 700 mountain refuges or bivouacs which are available to all those who enjoy “l’andar-per-monti” (mountain walking). The main objective of CAI remains that of promoting: “mountaineering, the knowledge and study of mountains, specifically those in Italy, and the protection of the environment”. They also aim to create a “cultura della sicurezza” (lit. Culture of safety) and to this end they have founded mountaineering, alpine skiing, and rock climbing schools. If you would like to know a bit more about CAI and its activities check out this link: Club Alpino Italiano .
Buona passeggiata!
