Every year for our anniversary, my wife, Kristina, and I like to go on a fun trail adventure that includes summiting at least one mountain. Colorado’s majestic Rockies and the Appalachian Trail’s northern terminus, Mt. Katahdin, have been the site of previous anniventures; this year, we found ourselves in Tuscany for a family vacation, and we weren’t about to let a 5 year old niece and 2 year old nephew dictate our plans for the day (to say nothing of the rest of the trip, of course).

Kristina’s brother did some research for us and found the La Via degli Acquedotti Lucca-Pisa Trail, traversing 15 miles through valleys and over mountains from Pisa to Lucca. Our hotel was located about half-way between the two cities, so it looked like a fun point-to-point, with a complimentary drop off and pick up by said brother.

However, upon scoping out our hotel, I noticed a big trail network right outside the door. And to make things better, I was able to map out a route on those trails from the hotel, connecting up to the Acquedotti Trail and keeping us off the beginning road section out of Pisa (we’d already seen the tower – cool, but once was good) and into the mountains almost immediately. Score!

Before the big anniversary run, though, we had a couple mornings to explore the closer mountains. Our closest one seemed to be the most logical choice, so up Monte Moriglione di Penna we went. It was only 2 km to the top - how hard could it be? Well, 1,400’ of technical rocky vert and a couple liters of sweat later, we found out! di Penna became my quick default friend that week when I wanted to get in some good vert and be efficient about it.

Finally, Anniversary Day came! After one of those great European breakfasts (cured meats and Nutella), a rah-rah from the in-laws, and a 7-year kiss, we were finally adventure bound! After five minutes of easy downhill running through our quaint little town, we were rudely greeted by a 20% grade – on pavement! Oof.

Our first pass, Passo di Dante, was a beautiful purple-y sea of Chicory, gave us a good view of the Pisa side of the valley and hazy views of the Ligurian Sea. Then an easy little downhill allowed us to get our legs back before the big climb of the day. We went up on a mix of decent forest roads and overgrown singletrack, passing a few smaller summits before eventually topping out on the day’s high point of Monte Faeta. At 2,723’, she’s even shorter than our hometown Mt. Ascutney, but she packed a good, sweaty punch and gave us a nice, flat, open picnic spot on top.

A fun descent ensued, bringing us to Campo di Croce and finally, at mile 6, to La Via degli Acquedotti Trail proper. We excitedly jumped onto our destination trail to quickly find that it definitely does not get much love. After battling through pricker bushes for only one kilometer, we came to a short forest road reprieve. As we were about to get back on the trail, a nice man was walking up the road and, despite the language barrier, encouraged us to continue down the road, as trail conditions would get worse.

We consulted our trusty All Trails, found a bit longer alternate route, and went for it, enjoying actual running on the nice forest road without overgrown pricker bushes. It was lovely! At one intersection, we guessed wrong and wound up on a mountain-side tree farm, but that was just another opportunity for a good view of the Lucca side of the valley below.

We wound our way back to the La Via degli Acquedotti Trail, finding some nice, forested singletrack headed in the downhill direction. As we went down, the temperature went up and we were really excited when our singletrack ended at a mountain chalet, complete with the best-and-coldest-ever spring-fed water fountain. Aaaahhhh…

The road continued down to the cute town of Vorno, where we were excited to buy some gelato and Coke, but that was not to be, as there were no shops and the one restaurant wasn’t yet open. Slightly sad faces ensued, especially since the climb back out of town was on a steep paved road.

We got back on the trail, where we were treated to more nice singletrack and interpretive signs so we could actually read and learn about the history of the acquedotti and the trail. So what if most of the words were in Italian? We could read the dates and interpret the pictures, no matter how much our interpretation differed from the intent.

As we continued downhill, we were treated to a stream paralleling the trail, so we greedily cooled ourselves a couple more times. Finally at the bottom of the valley floor, we made our way to a hot, flat, and dusty double track that paralleled the old acquedotti, that looked like a trestle, for the final 2+ miles to Lucca. We were treated to another fountain in this stretch, and though not as magical as the first, it was a welcome respite.

After 15 miles, 3,200’ of vert, and 5 hours, we found ourselves in the “walled” part of Lucca, which is the cute gelato-and-overpriced-Italian-leather-goods area of the city. After a high-five and another 7-year kiss, we began our search for gelato and Coke, but it was the “Limoncello Spritz” sign that first caught my parched eyes. I asked Kristina if she wanted one, and she said yes, so I ordered two. She quickly corrected me and reduced the order to one, which annoyed me a bit, but after that first ice-cold sip hit my brain with a punch, I conceded that she, as usual, made the right call.

We eventually found the gelato and Coke, walked around with the other tourists doing cute touristy things, met up with the fam for some kid activities – including more gelato (so what if it was Uncle Sean who was pushing that idea?), and finally got back to the hotel where the pool felt the best it had all trip. The big anniversary adventure ended with a nice romantic dinner at the hotel with the whole fam, and it was perfect.

While better known to most for its fermented grapes, culinary delights, brightly colored seaside villages, and a leaning tower, there are some pretty great trails to be explored in Tuscany. I’ve already started scheming for our next Tuscan trip to include trails that go through five of said brightly colored seaside villages (that surely have on-trail gelato stops!). Of course, there’s also the boat from Livorno to Corsica for the GR20…