Lake Barcis and swimming holes

Welcome to Lake Barcis!

August is the hottest month here in Italy, and the heat up north comes with a humidity that gives you a nice sticky coating to take with you. Aside from the chlorinated, highly packed swimming pool on base, the nearest place to cool off is Lake Barcis! (This sure beats a swimming pool, doesn't it?) After a short drive up into the mountains, you begin to catch glimpses of the river below, as it's glowing aquamarine color seems to jump out at you. Upon reaching the actual lake, you find that the entire lake is the same unreal looking blue color. The picture you see below is completely unedited, this is the actual color you see while standing at the lakeside. It's brilliant!

Many people, Americans and Italians alike, come to Lake Barcis to cool off and enjoy the activities it has to offer. As you can see, there are ducks to feed, swans and other wild life to observe, fish to catch, and numerous parks on the lakeside for children to play in. 

There is also a boardwalk that goes around a very good portion of the lake, and it makes for a nice afternoon stroll. 

Many people bring kayaks or paddle boards up for some on lake activity. However, motor boats are not permitted on the lake as it causes pollution and noise. (Which makes the lake perfect for other activities and a quieter getaway!)

A swimming dock. The lake is also surrounded by campsites. Some for tents, others large enough for trailers. It also has numerous barbeque spots, and during our strolls we have smelled many a good meal being grilled. 

More of our lakeside wander. Even in the heat of August, the lake side is still very green, and cool due to the shade of the ubiquitous trees. 

Crossing the bridge to the other side of the lake. Although the boardwalk ends there, many hiking tails begin, taking you around the opposite side of the lake. The two options for traveling the lake, the boardwalk or hiking trails, make the lake optimal for all levels of fitness abilities. 

The very best spots for swimming, are actually farther upstream or downstream. Upstream is very popular, the parking is cheaper (3€ a vehicle), but the water is much colder! We have frequently seen people with inner tubes start upstream and float their way down into the lake. There are also several little pools and even a few little falls that one can pull off to swim at.  

I believe this picture here is my favorite swimming hole though. This one is below Barcis, so the water is not as freezing cold, and the spot not as common. When we were there we were the only Americans! That made me feel like we had really found a legitimate Italian hangout spot. I stumbled across the location when I got lost while driving, and drove over that scary one lane bridge you see in the background. I observed the many people swimming at the spot below the bridge and wondered, "How do I get down there!?" for there was no possible entrance at the road I was on. I spent many trips searching, and finally found it on a trip I took with our visiting friends. Determined to find this spot, we drove down many incorrect roads and were shooed away and pointed in the correct direction by several Italians... The entrance road is actually way far away from the swimming hole, a town or so over and the turnoff unlabeled. The road eventually turned into a dirt road and at the end we found other cars parked along a stream. The walk from the (free!) parking lot to the swimming hole was under two minutes. Perhaps it was the desperate days long search that made this find all the better, or perhaps it was the water falls, the various levels of jumping rocks, the seclusion and exclusivity, or the free parking... Whichever it was, I'm so glad we found this spot our first year here so we can continue to enjoy it the next few years. 

Our guests Alexa and Tanner! They are traveling Europe and stayed with us for a week, so naturally we took every opportunity to show them around our local area. They also have a travel blog and mentioned us in their post here: lexntanner. Check it out!

It looks rocky from the picture here, but there's a nice stone path that goes around one side of the swimming hole and the path is easy on the bare feet and wide enough for sunbathers to lie on. 

Alexa found this tiny frog here. There were many nearby pools with little tadpoles too. 

Adam's first time at a swimming hole!

Back in the hometown my hubby and I grew up in, there were many fantastic swimming spots and rivers to cool off in, and that was definitely on our list of things we would miss. However, we can cross that off now that we have found Lake Barcis! Epic swimming hole? check!

Lago di Santa Croce

My DH and I were itching to get some exercise and explore more of Italian nature, but we were unsure of were we ought to travel to, and as our weekend arrived we still hadn’t decided what our plans were. As dawn was cracking over the fields in Budoia, my hubby was shaking me awake saying, “I found where we’re going today!” He had hopped onto google maps and looked for blue splotches, indicating lakes. He found a large lake entitled Santa Croce fairly close by and researched it. We discovered that it’s a very popular lake during the summers and that many travelers visit it for watersports, including kite surfing and sailing. We decided this would be a great place to go and scout out as a potential summer hangout spot.

A couple hours later, after Adam, breakfast, Adam, packing, Adam, updating the ipod with new driving music, and more Adam care… lol, we were finally in the car and on our way. There were two ways to get there. One option was to take the Autostrada (the freeway) or to take windy back roads on a slightly longer route. Naturally, we opted for the back roads. More to see!

I updated our ipod with some music by Adrian von Ziegler. I recommend going to this link: Gaelic Earth, on another tab, and listening to this song in the background as you continue to read this post. Then you will hear what we heard and see what we saw. :) 

After much driving up the mountainside, we turned to see this view. Behold, Italy. (And the unfortunate power lines -_-)

The road ahead of us as we drove. The dirt appeared to be a warm red as the cool snow wove around the bare woodland trees.  

Our first view of the lake as we came down the other side of the mountain. 

The lake was beautiful and serene. See that town on the far side? That was our hiking goal. 

The lake gave off a rather mystical feeling as the low clouds and light fog nuzzled the emerald blue waters beneath them. 

They had "Beach Arenas" for rugby and other sports. 

This lake was definitely the place for the outdoorsy type. We passed by this mountain biking school as well as numerous other places sponsoring/encouraging various types of outdoor, lakeside activity. 

Alright, time to begin hiking. Our LO (Little One) was warm and snug as we trekked the path around the lake.  

Our trail

A close up of the ground. I think it may have been part fairy forrest... <3

The view on our right: Boats on the lake

The view on our left: A house tucked into the hill

My inner Biologist was going berserk over the nature  we encountered. I don't think Troy appreciated that much... Every couple steps: "OHMYGOSH! Babe, look at this!" snap* snap* of the camera. "Uh huh..." he'd say.
"No, hun, really, you must come look at this. I'm gonna touch it... It's squishy! Should I smell it!?" haha.
It didn't take long before he wasn't even turning around to humor me. :/  

How awesome is this weirdness!?
It was growing on a number of trees we passed. This was one of the ones that was squishy to the touch. I wanted to slice it open for further observation, but I got the feeling my DH wanted to make progress on the hike... haha.  

The brilliant violet color popping out of the dull, dead leaves symbolizing the life and beauty of suppressed spring bursting forth was thrilling! 

Just in case you were wondering, this picture of this fascinating fungi isn't enhanced/modified in any way, it really was this vibrant! 

A close up of an orange... something, growing on a tree branch. 

Oh how I wish I had my own personal Italian botanist with me, explaining everything as we went. However since
we didn't, I named this discovery the "Dr. Seuss plant"! . . . yeah... I'm going to have to procure a "Plants of Italy" book
in order to spare shame to the botanist world with my plant names :S

Alright, enough of the plant life... back to our hike. After diverting for a hot chocolate and bathroom break at a lakeside cafe, we somehow managed to lose our trail. We ended up working our way up the hillside to the road and walked along it for a good way. 

A random tunnel off of main the road, and dropping off into nothing.

The long and the short of it is, we did not end up making it to our final destination goal of the town on the far side of the lake, as it was getting late and the road took a much longer, out-of-the-way path than the lakeside trail we had hoped for. 
     But we were satisfied, as we had gotten to hike for many miles and hours and gotten to see more Italian land as we had desired. We turned around and headed back to the car. We had also intended to eat at a lakeside restaurant for dinner, (supposedly they serve excellent fish caught in that very lake) however we were still at the tail end of Riposo (the Italian siesta) and we didn't want to wait it out and get home very late. So we grabbed a gelato and drove home for an early bed time after a tiring, but satisfying day. 

I hope you have enjoyed this picture rich post and that I was able to convey some of the beauty and excitement we are getting to experience. <3