Hiking in the Dolomites

day 7 – giorno sette

My goodness today was a day for the books. We knew it was supposed to rain today but I still don’t put a ton of weight on weather forecasts… They were right this time though.

We woke up to a partly cloudy sky, so I still had high hopes that they’d miraculously clear off for us. We all had breakfast at the hotel (Hotel Cavallino d’oro) and then took a bus up to Compatche. From there, a gondola took us up to the Seiser Alm and another short chair lift got us up to the Panorama trail. It was a very beautiful ride up and we could immediately see a bit of the majestic Dolomites despite the clouds. Sarah and much of the group were going to walk the Panorama “hike” (wheelchair accessible so not quite a hike in my book) but a few of us wanted something more challenging and longer so we peeled off and found our own route.

We used the map given to us at the hotel and found a hike that headed up to a decently high saddle, around a small peak, and back down the hillside to a hut where we could get snacks, drinks, etc. Happy with our plan, we set off on our trail #2, through the lush green cow pastures towards the jagged looming mountains. This area of Italy is much more Austrian-feeling than Italian and German is more the more prevalent language. It was a very nice change to see such healthy cattle with tons of room to roam. All of the livestock we saw also wore large bells so the pleasant sounds of cowbells rang around in the fields and valleys. It was just starting to sprinkle on us as we headed up the hill.

Eventually we started climbing fairly steeply, rocky switchbacks and stairs made using forked branches. As we ascended, the clouds descended and the fields we started in disappeared from view.

It was starting to rain decently on us as we reached the saddle. We kept checking the map and as we climbed I think Mom and Mariellyn were getting a little concerned about where we were headed. Norm just recently passed his whitewater rafting company to his son, so he’s definitely an adventure type and was great about checking in with everyone if we were comfortable. Mom’s knee was starting to bug her 😕

When we got to the top, the wind started whipping the rain around and I even saw a few snowflakes! Good thing I didn’t wear my Chaco sandals! Our adventure got really exciting at the saddle when we realized the trail on the map that we had planned to take was really just a little deer trail on a steep hillside. Time for plan B. At this point we were all getting soaked through by the rain, fingers were going numb, and we were a little concerned that we’d just have to go back down the way we came up. I personally wasn’t concerned, but somewhat disappointed that our grand plan had fallen through.

Luckily, we passed another couple hikers (we saw very few other people on our trail) and they said there was a hut just a little ways further to the right (we had planned to head to the left but…). Given our state, we abandoned all maps and set off at a quicker pace to get to this hut before we froze. My fingers were numb at this point so I didn’t take a ton of pictures for most of the rest of the hike. Thankfully the hut wasn’t terribly far and we hurried in out of the weather. It wasn’t terribly warm in the hut, but we were just happy to have shelter and take off our layers for a brief rest. The huts are larger than you’d imagine, with a bar and lots of seating. We all got hot chocolates with whipped cream and oh man that was what we needed. While we were sitting there, we studied maps to figure out the best way back down and Tara checked the weather… 35°F outside. No wonder we were freezing. The hut had baskets of slippers so everyone could take off their hiking boots which also kept the place much cleaner.

After we’d finished our drinks and gotten the route figured out, we rung out our socks and hit the trail again.

The way down the backside of the mountain was much easier, parts of it were actually the road that could be taken to drive up to the hut. Despite the non-stop rain, the whole ordeal was beautiful. No one else in our group got to see the side of the Dolomites that we did and it was quite a bonding experience. I was a little bummed we couldn’t see more of the Alps from the top, but it did clear just enough on our way down to see that the highest peaks had gotten some fresh snow. We also passed this really creative picnic table.

Finally, after something like 9 miles traveled, we made it back (soaked and shivering) to the gondola and headed for home base. We were supposed to be meeting the group at 6 for another happy hour and buddy introductions, so we cut it pretty close when we arrived back at the hotel around 5:30. We peeled off our wet clothes and hung them to dry as best we could. Conveniently, the hotel actually has a shoe drying rack that was downstairs, accessed from outside through this cool little door.

In order to make sure no one gets left behind at any point in the trip, we have a buddy system. Pretty self-explanatory. Sarah calls “buddy check” and we all eyeball our buddy to make sure everyone’s accounted for. My buddy is Deanne, from Phoenix, AZ. Her husband Ron is also on the tour with us. So we gathered up with a glass of wine and introduced our buddies to the group, in an effort to help everyone remember everyone’s names and learn a bit more about our crew.

Exhausted but hungry, Tara, Mom and I tried to find a restaurant recommended to us but we couldn’t find it so we ended up running into our hiking buddies, Norm and Mariellyn, at Toni’s.