I am really looking forward to today. While it’s not high-high altitude, we’ll be in the real mountains for today’s hike. I’ve scouted a route that allows us to get a taste of the Dolomites but skips any via ferrata (iron rungs, staples, and cables fixed to the mountains to aid your journey). That’s a bit too much for my taste at the moment.
The day starts with a forecast check. Things have actually improved a bit since last night. The projected rain/thunderstorms aren’t expected until around 2, giving us a bit more time. This also still looks like the best day of the trip, as the following days are promising “unsettled” weather or outright storms. I know that the Rockies, for example, commonly get thunderstorms in the afternoon, so I’m not sure if “unsettled” is the usual forecast or if this is truly stormy weather.
Anyway, we start the drive up the valley. Unlike yesterday’s last segment, which ended in essentially a one-lane but bidirectional road (yikes!), this drive is easy and uneventful. I even manage to find the parking lot on the first try! We decide to stop in the bar for an espresso and a pastry (strudel for Kris and a jam-filled croissant for me. Both, surprisingly, excellent!) while contemplating the slope ahead of us. It wasn’t even possible to see the mountaintop from where we were in the valley.
We buy our gondola tickets and proceed to take the longest lift I’ve ever experienced. I’m sure it was no more than 10 minutes, but it felt like we went on forever. We hit the midway point and prepare to exit the lift to take the second stage when I realize that the people in the gondola ahead of us aren’t getting out. I then notice the signs that explain that if you are headed to the top, stay in your gondola. I watch the mechanics of this handoff between lifts; truly some fascinating engineering.
The second lift is much shorter, and we see the rifugio I have mapped out for lunch from the lift. We also see how steep the mountain is! We make it to the top, have a quick pit stop, and consult the maps. A ton of trails converge here, so the start is a bit confusing, but we quickly figure it out. We cut across the slope, and after rounding a corner, we see a pretty steep climb to a boulder/scree field. We scramble down the first segment and get into the granite blocks. The footing is a bit rough-and-tumble, but the views—the views are stellar!
We also quickly notice that this is a really popular route. We’re essentially on an out-and-back to a different rifugio. Due to the rocky footing, our pace is pretty slow, and we’re further impeded by the fact that we frequently stop to let others pass us so we don’t feel pushed to go faster than we’d like. We finally make it off the scree field and into an alpine meadow. We find a sunny spot in the grass and take a minute to catch our breath.
As we sit, I take a look at the GPS and our stats. We’re averaging less than a mile an hour. We still have another mile to the first rifugio, and I estimate that coming back, we’ll be even slower because, in addition to the rocky footing, we’ll be headed uphill. Kris and I have a short conference and decide that, while disappointing, we’re better off turning around early rather than pushing through.
We head back, and even though we’re a bit slower going uphill, we make slightly better time since the morning crowds have thinned and we don’t have to stop to let people pass. It’s now well past lunchtime when we get to the fork to either head back to the lift or down to the rifugio for a beer and a snack. We figured that since the weather seemed to be holding, we deserved a beer for our good decision-making.
The rifugio was pretty underwhelming but serviceable. So after a short rest, we trek back up the hill. We get back on the gondola for the first section, and about a quarter of the way down, it just…stops. I do not like this. I do not like this at all. A few seconds later, the lift starts up again. We descend past two more towers and slow…and then stop again. Blargh. Two more starts/stops and we get to the midpoint. I strongly considered getting off there and just taking a beat, but decided that I just wanted to get this over with. Sure enough, three towers in on the really long segment, we slam to a stop again. This time, due to the length of the cable, in addition to swaying, we bounce up and down for a bit. Once it starts up, we seem to catch a break until we’re two towers from the end, where we stop—longer this time. We are so close I can see the table we sat at for coffee in the morning. It finally restarts, and I practically bound off the lift when the doors finally open at the platform.
Having survived the hike and the ordeal, we decide that an aperitivo is in order, so we go back to the bar. After some confusion about snacks (generally, an aperitivo includes some sort of small nibble, but the bartender didn’t ask/offer, so I tried to buy a bag of chips from the cashier. She was incensed and yelled at the bartender, then not only carried out the drinks for me but also brought us peanuts and chips and salse).
While we were having our drinks, my colleague’s mother texted me and asked if it would be okay if she dropped off some homegrown tomatoes. Um, yes, please! This then became the basis for dinner. We grabbed some bread and lettuce on the way home and, with the tomatoes and cheese from yesterday, had a nice, easy dinner at the house. We were also touched that they added a bottle of an excellent local red. A great end to a pivot-y day!
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