Gothic Line Part Two - Day 6

We had great expectations for this day and we were not disappointed.  We started out for Mount Stanco and it seemed that it would be just a little hill top at just 719 mt. but when we arrived there was an alter, a cross, and recent memorial activity, so we too had some activity as we put our foot in that place and claimed it back for the Kingdom and proclaimed His glory and had church.

 Mount  Salvaro was our next destination.  With the help of some awesome locals,  we were on the right roads and we arrived to the base of the mountain in a very short time.  This mountain topped out at only 826 mt.

 We walked up for awhile and saw so many scars from the war on this mountain  which was repeatedly bombed and there were foxholes everywhere.  The initial Gothic line that we walked last year from Viareggio to Rimini,  mostly had lots of trenches, bunkers & or gun turrets constructed in cement or rock, but this portion of the Gothic line which was the fall back line had so many more foxholes and bomb holes.  You can see more of  a last minute defense line versus the well laid out purposeful Gothic line that the allies first encountered.

When we arrived to the top there was a cross and a geocaching box so we
wrote a message of hope and claimed it for the kingdom. Of course we waited to see what scripture the Lord had for this place, wrote it and staked the ground.  This walk feels much different as we stated before, the atmosphere is different and there is more activity of visitors, maybe because the elevations are lower.  We certainly didn't come across a lot of crosses & alters on the higher mountains.  It's nice to know that prayer has been bathing these spots already.
 





 

 

 After this we made our way to Mount Sole.  Mount Sole was not only a German stronghold but it was the site of a horrible massacre of women and children. We found some difficulty in finding the right entrance path to the top of even though we were standing right in front of it.  A monument was erected in 1953 for the innocent victims who died in 1944.  A brutal reminder of all the pain and suffering that has been locked in the hearts and minds of the Italians.

  This little sign basically said to stay on the path because they were sure all the mines had been cleared from there but could not guarantee outside the path.  Yeah very scarry thought.  In all the time we have walked, we have never seen a sign  stating this.  A little unknown fact, every year they still find caches of bombs and weapons and in fact people are injured every year by explosives that are found in the rivers and in the mountains.  These thoughts are always in the back of our mind as we sometimes wonder off the trail .  Today though it really seemed the enemy did not want us up there and was trying to put fear in our hearts so we wouldn't be up there doing what we do which is taking back territory that belongs to the Kingdom of God.

The climb turned out to be a hard one due to it being the last one of three on the day but it was just a hard  walk, but when we arrived  there were butterflies everywhere again. We prayed, claimed, staked, broke bread,  asked for grace and mercy and forgave the Germans and the Italians for their role in the war and repented on their behalf for what they did in the war.  .   After a long exhausting day physical ,mentally and spiritually we made our way off the mountain and returned home for a much needed rest. .