Ortueri - Mui Muscas (T 509)

The path reaches an isolated clearing in the heart of the mountain and then begins to climb sharply, immersed in the dense and silent woods formed by young holly oaks and ancient strawberry trees that are slowly succumbing to the rising holm oak forest. Often one encounters the signs of predation by the goshawk, the true lord of these places, while its habitual prey, wood pigeons and jays, barely break the quiet of the woods with their flight.

When the slope breaks, you encounter a fence, put there to manage grazing, which you must open or close depending on how you found it. You are now on the ridge that separates the territory of Neoneli from that of Ortueri and, consequently, the historical regions of Barigadu 'e Susu, Mandrolisai and, a short distance away, the Barbagia di Ollolai. Here, you turn left on level ground, quickly reaching a beautiful dirt road and following it counter-clockwise, then bending to the southwest until you reach the Mui Muscas oasis in a reforested area.

This place is famous for the presence of a farm dedicated to the conservation and reproduction of the Sardinian donkey. Inside the enclosure that delimits the oasis, it is possible to observe the small pack animals, characterized by their grey color and the prominent dark cross on their rump. At Mui Muscas, precisely where the paved road coming from Ortueri ends, trail 509 also terminates, and here you can continue on 509A to return to the inhabited center.