ROUTE DESCRIPTION
The itinerary departs from Povici (350 m in altitude), in the village of Resiutta, and follows the valley shaped by the Resartico river, offering the attentive hiker the chance to observe several significant geological and botanical features. The itinerary (yellow trail) swings between the left and right banks of the river, amongst vegetation typical of the Julian Prealps. Upon reaching 570 m altitude, the hiker has two equally interesting options. The first is for those who are willing to exert themselves a little so as to cross some of the most evocative and rugged landscapes. Passing between gravel and beech groves set against a backdrop of stark towers of rock, you tread in the footsteps of the miners who until a few decades ago extracted oil shale from Mount Plauris. This path leads directly to the ruins of their shelters, from which, with a little effort, you can reach the abandoned mine. With an electric torch you can visit, without trepidation, the former tunnels and enjoy the picturesque views from the openings bored into the sides of the mountain, now the uncontested domain of the chamois.
Less demanding, but just as interesting, is the route that runs downstream, along the old aqueduct. The first section gives those who walk it the feeling of being on a fully-equipped high mountain path, with exposed passes, safety cables and brief stretches in galleries. Even the flora here is of the alpine variety, despite the reduced altitude.

The route continues with long, relaxing stretches immersed in forests of mountain pine which lead back to the valley. The final, very scenic, leg of the itinerary crosses meadows and forests of birch and majestic beech trees before leading back to Povici.

FLORA
The Resartico river valley presents complex environmental features, characterised by a multiplicity of biotopes which have a positive effect on the richness of the flora. The observant hiker can personally experience the enormous diversity of flora growing along this route, to the extent that s/he would consider the area a true natural botanical garden. The most significant and valued biotopes are indicated as points of botanical interest on the environmental interpretation map, which gives more detailed information on the flora.
In all its complexity, the flora here is characterised by the high number of orophytes, many of which are found at particularly low altitudes, such as edelweiss (Leontopodium alpinum), reported at around 650 m.
In the underwood of the European black pine forest, there is a profusion of shrubby flora, the most abundant of which are winter flowering heather (Erica carnea), the garland flower (Daphne cneorum) and the hairy alpine rose (Rhododendron hirsutum). Less common is the rayed broom (Genista radiata), a leguminous pre-quaternary paleotropical plant that grows sporadically along the pre-alpine arc in sheltered, relatively confined areas for a thermophilic sub-Mediterranean species.
The beech groves, classed as belonging to the Illyrian type, given the presence of wood anemone (Anemone trifolia), along with honeysuckle, whitebeam (Sorbus aria) and the common laburnum (Laburnum anagyroides), are abundant in an underwood rich in liliaceae and orchidaceae.
The most interesting biotopes are of the rupicolous variety such as the large boulders at the bottom of the valley, covered in colonies of white lace spirea (Spiraea decumbens), and the vertical rock faces, their cracks home to the auricula primrose (Primula auricola), the carnivorous alpine butterwort (Pinguicula alpina), the Devil’s claw (Physoplexis comosa) and the yellow Veronica pederota (Paederota lutea), the latter being found in areas of high humidity.
In Casera del Nos, an area which has been reforested with spruce, you can find certain specimens of the European Yew (Taxus baccata) and the ash (Fraxinus excelsior).
The final part of the route crosses now unused pastureland which is undergoing forest recolonization by the European black pine and juniper (Juniperus communis).

FAUNA
The animals populating the valley are typical of Prealpine habitats. In particular, the ungulates include the chamois and the roe deer; the avifauna is represented by the grouse, diurnal and nocturnal birds of prey, woodpeckers and woodland passerines. The environmental conditions here are ideal for the many reptiles and amphibians, owing to the river waters. The amphibians include the fire salamander, newt and toad, while amongst the reptiles are the horned viper, adder, smooth snake, water snake and coluber.

VEGETATION
The embanked Resartico river valley is characterised by varied and diversified vegetation, in which the typical floral community of the eastern Prealps can be found. As indicated on the environmental interpretation map, there are extensive tree populations dominated by the European black pine (Pinus nigra subsp. austriaca), located along the steepest and roughest slopes. The entire Resia Valley is considered the valley of black pine par excellence, especially because of the weather conditions linked to the high level of rainfall. Biogeographically, black pine is currently classed as a species of the Illyrian sub-Mediterranean. Where the mountain slopes becomes less steep or open onto plateaus, the dominant forest species is beech (Fagus sylvatica) which, along with the European hornbeam (Ostrya carpinifolia) and flowering ash (Fraxinus ornus), form the thermophilic beech forest, or with the sycamore (Acer pseudoplatanus) and Norway maple (Acer platanoides) form the Mesophilic forest, located at higher altitudes. At higher altitudes and where the environmental conditions do not allow forest growth, there are extensive pioneer populations of mountain pine (Pinus mugo), long-living heliophilous conifers which prefer a high carbonate soil. Along the valley floor grow populations of spruce (Picea excelsa) planted in the same period, which are in a condition of ecological uncertainty, given the fact that as spruce trees self-sow in the area only sporadically, they are extraneous in this area.
Along its route, the Resartico river shapes certain environmental circumstances characterised by a high water supply, enabling growth in the riparian zone of trees and shrubs, comprising hygrophilous species such as the speckled alder (Alnus incana) and a variety of willows.

GEOLOGY
The geological formations which appear in the Resartico river valley are of sedimentary origin and include Main Dolomite and Dachstein limestone, both from the late Triassic period.
The lower valley slopes are covered in quaternary deposits which form debris layers and cones and scree deposits.
Noric dolomite rock is the most widespread formation in the area: the entire river valley is carved out of it. It is stratified rock, ranging in colour from white to tones of grey, deposited around 200 million years ago, in an environment of shallow, extensive riverbeds which are gradually subsiding.
This rock formation contains numerous joints and various fault systems, and therefore the steep slopes are prone to constantly falling rocks and landslides.
Along some of the faults, owing to intensive tectonic phenomena, the dolomite rock has been transformed into fractured rock fragments (cataclasis) and affected by severe erosion and surface deterioration which lead to the formation of vast deposits (debris cones and layers).
The upper heights of Mounts Lavara and Plauris are composed of an alternation of compact white and grey limestone with varying degrees of dolomite, attributable to the formation of Dachstein limestone from the Rhaetian stage.

FOSSILS
Fossils are the remains of animals, plants and other organisms which lived in past geological periods, or also any trace left during their existence such as footprints, transit tracks, eggs, leftovers of food and faeces.
Fossils are the result of an extremely complex process known as fossilisation.
During the diagenetic process which leads to the formation of dolomite rock (the transformation of limestone into dolomite through a process of substitution of one part ionic calcium with ionic magnesium), most of the remains of organisms present in the original sediment are destroyed, leaving the new rock low in fossils. For this reason, the subsequent formation of the Main Dolomite rock has not turned out to be very fossiliferous.
Almost all the fossils that are found here belong to the lamellibranch class, specifically the Megalodon and Dicerocards, whose size varies from one centimetre to more than half a metre. It is also possible to find fossils of gastropods intermingled with algae.
Of the invertebrates, only the internal moulds have been preserved, which were formed when the cavities were filled in with sediment which, after its transformation into rock, left an exact copy of the inside of the animal’s shell.
The bituminous shale interspersed with the dolomite rock found in the old mine contains indeterminable traces of fossilised fish.

THE MINE
In the upper valley of the Resartico river, on the eastern slopes of Mount Plauris at an altitude of 995 m, there is an old mine where, at various stages during the first decades of the 1900s, the miners of Resiutta and the surrounding area excavated the bituminous shale – intermingled with the dolomitic rock from the Main Dolomite – to extract a light, brown-coloured mineral containing conchoidal fractures and a high percentage of volatile compounds. The minerals were transported downhill via cableway, of which there are still traces today, under the ruins of the sheds which served as shelter for those who worked in the mine.
The minerals were then distilled in Resiutta in a building situated on the left bank of the Resia river, upstream from the village. Heavy grade oils were extracted from the minerals and the gases released as by-products of distillation were used as fuel; ichthyol – used as a medicine – was also obtained.
The first section of the mine can be visited, using an electric torch, up to an obstruction caused by a landslide.