The wooden arrow says “Molar” and points through a small split in the boulders on my right. I follow it and it opens to a great expanse. I go up one more bump and circle around a 40 foot cliff to find a path up.
Just before the path, there is a little cave which has been turned into a grotto by a 3-foot statue of our Blessed Mother. (Italians don’t have formalistic “separation of Church and State” like the USA; half a mile back a 12-foot bronze crossed topped the first peek.) I stop for a minute, half praying and half enjoying the best shade for a while.
Taking the last step before the summit I still only see sky, this mountain is called the molar for a reason, but with one final step I am on an figure-8-shaped platform about 25 feet by 40 feet. (You can probably figure out why it is called the Molar, it looks like a tooth rather than a peak from below.) From here the view is unobstructed: to the north, Naples; to the East, the Italian countryside; to the south, the gulf of Salerno; and to the West our long path from our house at the far end of the Sorento Peninsula.
Looking back, I can see the 3 large hills we climbed over coming here and make a reasonable guess of our 12.5 mile path but despite my exhaustion, I know this is only the half-way point of the trek.
After climbing down a 2.5 mile mountain trail, we reach the support van parked with Gatorade, fruit, and sandwiches. For 15 minutes I can only swallow a little Gatorade and water. I figure, if I can’t get a whole sandwich down, I am going for the free ride back in the van because that means I am already too far gone to finish. Fortunately just as the main group is about to leave, I can get down a whole sandwich without forcing it.
On the way to the mountain, I stayed near the front but now I am one of the last in the group. Fortunately I am not the only one with insufficient energy to run anymore. We form a smaller group and walk back to the house.
I enter the house, go up to my room, turn on the shower, and doubt one has ever felt so refreshing. For the next two days, my physical exertion is rather limited, short walks and playing bridge being my limits. Jesus has fortunately given me enough strength to finish this challenge which the brothers do every year as part of vacation.
