Are We There Yet?

Today was a test of endurance. As I write this post in retrospect I can not emphasise enough how exhausted I was at the end of the day...although none of the trails or via ferratas that we did today was classified as difficult, the day was long as we were on the move for about 5 hours. Walking on loose rocks and exposed, steep mountain cliffsides was an experience in itself. It took a lot of concentration on foot placement as to not fall over or fall off!

We started from our rifugio to begin the Astaldi Trail, one of the oldest via ferrate routes in Cortina. It is unique in the colourful geological layers of rock that you can see and climb against. Luca informed us that fossils were recently found in the area and thus many geologists now come to visit. He took us to the very fun Tofana Cave, unique in that it is in a figure of 8 shape. We were completely disoriented in direction when we emerged! From there, the details become a bit hazy as the legs got progressively more and more fatigued hugging the side of the mountain. We didn't descend to Rifugio Dibona but continued on another trail. I'm sure I heard at some point that we had the Castelleto on our right...We did pass the ruins of the old Italian world war 1 hospital, and I knew we were walking in the direction of Passo Falzarego...and we saw a chamois deer skipping through the rocks like a champ. 

Sunrise from the Rifugio 

Our "path" today is to skirt the left side of that hunk of rock

The Astaldi Trail

Somewhere on the trail...

Uh yeah...those loose rocks and gravel are no joke stressful!

The cables were a safety relief!

You could make out the trail that we would walk, and how far we had to descend

The entrance to Cave Tofana

Pretty creature

Brief drinks break. Cinque Torri across the Valley where we stayed at Rifugio Averau last time seemed so small....

Another break

Almost Lord of the Rings-ish. Our faces are an indication of our dwindling energy levels

Scenery changed as we descended

Old WW1 military hospital

The descent felt never-ending. The feet, calves, quads and gluts were beginning to protest! Luca had to constantly remind us to focus so as not to fall! We were all super relieved to finally be able to relax at our end point of Strobel restaurant. Lunch tasted extra delicious. We celebrated with grappa to end our mini adventure. It was time to farewell Luca. He was fun, funny and most importantly he kept us safe! We were all grateful to have had him as our guide. Manuela picked us up and drove us to our hotel in Selva Val Gardena for our last little leg of our Dolomites trip. What a little gem of a hotel it is. We rejoiced at the free "wellness" spa facilities! By now, the whole of our lower limbs had ceased to function properly as we trudged to the spa. There was a momentary panic when we were confronted with a couple of nude old German men before they covered their privates in a hurry...Fortunately they left soon after, and we were able to enjoy the sauna and turkish bath in peace! Our hotel stay was on a half board basis, and everyone was happy not to have to walk anywhere to search for food. Dinner was quickly followed by drugs (ant-inflammatory and paracetamol!) before our heads hit the pillow. 

As an additional note, there's program at present where hotels are to provided guests with free bus passes. If you do stay in the region, be sure to ask for it!

Yummy bread and whipped butter at lunch

Our hotel

Our room

Very generous balcony

The lounging area of the spa

Free bus pass

Jacuzzi

Time to relax and soak that weary body

Melon and prosciutto!

Barley and pumpkin wrapped in speck

German sausage and ham

Via Ferrata

Another day, another adventure. It was via ferrata time. The via ferrata originated roughly around the first world war in the Dolomites to aid troop and supplies movement around the mountains, thus most are found in Italy and Austria. However, they are now found in other Alpine areas. They are essentially a climbing route using the aid of steel cables and rungs affixed to the rock wall. The climber would then attach themselves using 2 cables and a harness. 

We had organised our 2 day mini adventure to include an overnight rifugio stay, and a guide as we were absolute beginners with minimal climbing experience of ANY sort. We had to pack all our gear into a backpack which we had to carry at all times. This included our harness and helmet, clothes and toiletries for the overnight stay, as well as sunscreen water and snacks for the climbs/hikes. Manuela picked us up and introduced us to Luca, our mountain guide. We had Luca as our ski safari guide a few years back and we were glad to see him again! He brought the equipment required for the via ferrata. Manuela, the gem that she was sure, made sure we had water and snacks for our adventure. She then dropped us off at the base of the Pie Tofana chairlift, and hung on to our large suitcases for safekeeping. 

Base of the chairlift

Blissfully unaware of what is to come

Once at the top, Luca took us to the hunk of rock that was the "baby" via ferrata course. First up, he went through how to properly fit our equipment, how to use our equipment, and general safety on the mountain. Then he went through basic climbing techniques followed by specific dos and don'ts. Finally, we did a practice session on the ground. By this stage the head was spinning from concentration. When the sight of the first cables hit our line of vision, we all did a double take. Uh...that's beginner?!? We would be lying if we didn't admit that at this point we were all wondering why we were voluntarily agreeing to do this. The rockwall seemed almost vertical! The first 10-15 minutes were confronting and we were pushed well out of our comfort zones. We had a lot of think about technically, as well as getting over the fear of falling from great heights. After a while, when we got into a rhythm, it got progressively more relaxing and we were able to have fun and enjoy the scenery around us. 

The "baby" via ferrata. Take note of the lower "bridge" across the crevice, and note its size...then compare it to the size of a human in my later photos to get a sense of how high this rock is!

Vertical

Starting to relax

Said first bridge

Resting at the very top. Our AWESOME guide Luca!

What a view to admire while resting

Yes we were very high up and just had footholds not ledges to stand on

After our first climb, it was lunchtime! We hiked up the mountain towards our home for the night, Rifugio Pomedes, to check in, dump unnecessary gear, and refuel for our next climb. Our rifugio had a spectacular vista of the surrounding mountains. Luca pointed the course that was the women's slalom in the upcoming winter Olympics games, as well as other famous landmarks. The second climb was infinitely less nerve wrecking than the first as by then we were thinking less, and just enjoying the climb itself. The sense of achievement in reaching the summit, albeit only on the baby courses was amazing! 

Halfway through, Luca said we had to keep moving as the clouds were moving faster than expected. Lo and behold, about 15 minutes after arriving at our cozy rifugio, the rain and hail came. It passed through within a few hours but the clouds had not moved enough to give a good sunset. We had a lovely dinner chatting to Luca, hearing about his incredible adventures worldwide and discussing our options for when we hike DIY in a couple of days. He also did warn us that we may have to play things by ear tomorrow with regard to our hiking and climbing route because of the weather. No problems Luca! What do we know anyway...we'll just follow!

In case anyone is interested, the two via ferrata that we did today were Ra Pegna and Ra Bujela, described as "suitable for beginners and children". Yay us!

Refueling done time to go again!

K2! All the good stuff - cheese, eggs, bacon, potato

The panoramic view from our rifugio

Our loveshack. This photo makes the room look big

Bathroom is small but very new and clean

View from our balcony

Second climb. By now, we had learnt to trust our harness and cables.

View went from above to this...very very quickly!

Back to this by dinner time. View from our table.

Typical dumplings of the region

And we end with our 0.5 photo of the day

Two Lakes & Three Peaks

Lago di Braies

Today was the beginning of the hiking for Team Dolomites and what better way to start than to tackle the Tre Cime di Lavaredo. First up though, we had to take our obligatory photo at the instagram popular Lago di Braies. It was a quick stop as we were advised that there was always a line to enter the Tre Cime trailhead at Rifugio Auronzo. We soon understood why Walter was trying to get us there as soon as possible. Even with our 0700 start, we waited in line for around 40 minutes before we were able to enter the parking area and where Walter could drop us off. He continued onto our next hotel with our luggage.

Armed with Manuela's map and instructions, we set off on the 10km loop trail. It was like an ant trail...which did thin out as you went along. The hike was hard on the lungs and on the legs. The views though were spectacular. Our cameras just could not capture what we saw with our eyes. We stopped at Rifugio Locatelli, the second of the three rifugios (not counting the starting Rifugio Auronzo) on the trail for lunch. A word of warning, they don't have wifi and they don't accept credit cards. We scraped together 61 euros between us and our lunch came to a total of 60.60 euros. Talk about cutting it fine...We did calculate it several times prior to ordering!

Walter dropped us off at the carpark of Rifugio Auronzo

Said Rifugio. Manuela's instructions were NOT to eat here

And so we followed trail of humans curving around the mountain side

Occasionally steep sides

The second Rifugio in sight!

Stunning scenery

Tre Cime di Lavaredo

View of the peaks on the way to Rifugio Locatelli

Our very calculated lunch!

Fried "pancakes" with cranberry sauce

Please Sir, this is all the money that we have

The kids got that instagram shot

Didn't think it was possible but yes we were a little confused with where to go

Back on track

Sigh...lots of downs means lots of ups

The last Rifugio on route

On the home stretch

Happy cows to greet us near the end!

We were definitely glad that we made it to the end! We had a different driver pick us up. He took us to our second instragram lake, Lago di Misurina, again for a quick photo before driving us to our next family run hotel, Hotel Columbia, which was a very pretty hotel in Cortina d'Ampezzo. Our bags were already there and all we had to do was check in. Dinner was a quick pizza before we repacked for more hiking tomorrow!

Lago di Misurina

Our home for tonight

Our own duvets. yes!!

Very modern and new bathrooms

View from our balcony

My favourite cow photo!