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Many years before visiting it (the first time I saw it in 2004), I had mention of this gorgeous valley at the time of preparing my master's degree: according to what I read in my sources, the woods of this valley, together with others, are “reserved” by the Republic of Venice, way back in 1580, for the public uses of the Republic itself. It's assumed that the Republic adopted this measure to use fir wood in the foundations of buildings in Venice (which notoriously required enormous quantities of poles) and in shipyards.
But then – I read as well in those years – the provision for Val Visdende was revoked. The reasons weren't specified; but after having visited the valley, I can assume that the main one was the difficulty of conveying the logs downstream, even with the sophisticated technique of the so-called "stue" (sort of temporary dams), adopted in the Venetian Alps.
In fact, this seems to me to be the salient characteristic of Val Visdende: it's an open territory, plateau or gentle slopes, surrounded by majestic peaks, which however can be reached after traveling along a steep road starting from the Piave valley floor, and following a dark and narrow gorge: which contrasts sharply with the pleasantness of the valley which is then reached. It's no coincidence that the place you come across at the end of the climb is called "Cima Canale" (i.e. top of the gorge).
In my last visit to the valley, I followed a short stretch of the route coming from "Malga Pra Marino" (1288 m; recently burned down and not yet rebuilt) to "Forcella Zovo" (1606 m). This walk offered us a taste of the winter landscapes of the valley, through dark coniferous forests, snow-covered meadows, houses and "malghe" (i.e. buildings occupied seasonally for summer grazing and dairy activities) in evocative solitude.
In the background, beautiful rock mountains, among which the pyramid of Mount Peralba (2694 m) stands out, at the foot of which the source of the Piave river gushes.
Unfortunately, we can still see the large gaps created in the woods by the "Vaia" hurricane, which at the end of October 2018 knocked down millions of trees throughout the north-eastern Alps. More than five years later, we have verified that the removal and reuse of fallen trees is still underway in Val Visdende.
