About forty kilometers on the east coast of Sardinia to try an incredible experience: one of the most fascinating and challenging treks in the world. It’s the Wild blue which is lost among caves, rivers, cliffs and coves framed by the Mediterranean scrub.
A path that is certainly not for everyone that intertwines between centuries holm oak forests, arches, sea, old sheepfolds and views along ancient paths of charcoal burners and shepherds. There are overhangs between the rocks that make the Selvaggio blu one of the most challenging treks in the world.
Its discoverers baptized it with this name. Way back in ’87, Mario Verin of the CAI together with Peppino Cicalòthey had faced it for the first time enjoying the beauty of the crystalline Sardinian sea, but also a pure adventure.
You can’t miss the adrenaline rush on the route from Pedra Longa to Cala Sisine which is suspended on the edge of a vertical cliff: there is no linear path, but a pleasant wriggle on coves and rocks, alternating with rope descents up to 40 meters.
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For this reason, even if trekking is becoming more and more popular, in this case you shouldn’t never venture out alone, especially if you don’t know the area. The advice is to rely on local guides who offer various services even in the most critical situations.
To be able to face the Wild Blue you need to be an excellent walker, because you could even find yourself not stopping for ten hours straight. The fundamental condition is not to suffer from vertigo, to know how to climb and also to have a hint of sense of direction.
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The stages of the Wild Blue
The most authentic version of this adventure unfolds over five days of walking along the hidden paths of the shepherds, among wooden stairs overlooking the sea, imposing cliffs, suggestive rock formations, ancient stone shelters, forests of centuries-old holm oaks and the lush scrub Mediterranean. The route leads to white beaches and wild coves, immersed in uncontaminated nature.
It is a fascinating and challenging path, which seems suspended between space and time, revealing the hard and austere life of the shepherds and charcoal burners, who crossed it out of necessity.
This 50 kilometer itinerary requires endurance and a spirit of adventure, including uneven sections, rock passages, climbing and rope descents. All framed by the intense colors of nature: the gray of the limestone, the green of the Mediterranean scrub, the deep blue of the sea and the immaculate white of the beaches.
The Selvaggio Blu begins in Pedra Longa and ends in Cala Sisine, divided into five stages which each require between 5 and 7 hours of walking. During the adventure, the nights are spent outdoors, under a starry sky, in the bivouacs located above the coves, in compliance with the ordinance of the Municipality of Baunei which prohibits overnight stays directly on the beaches.
Online you can find many organized treksusually the route includes seven stages, among these there is the one that starts from Pedra Longa to reach Us Piggius at around 700m going around the panoramic Giradili ledge. Here, between juniper stairs made by shepherds, you arrive at Portu Quau and then at Punta Iltiera, a 250 meter cliff overlooking the sea that dominates the Gulf of Orosei. From here we continue up to Serra Salinas, which overlooks Cala Goloritzè, on the descent towards the Cala a long Juniper trunk resting vertically against the rocky wall is the access to the Pilighittu sheepfold.
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Each stage has a different difficulty, but it’s worth it. Looking around there is all the beauty of wild Sardinia and of a night under the stars, far from the chaos of the city. And even the scents, flavors and traditions of an extreme trek overlooking the sea.
