In this post, I’m looking back on my one-day hikes in July as I will cover the week-long trip in a separate post.

I have done only two one-day hikes in July, partially because I skipped the third weekend due to unpredictable weather, and the fourth weekend was spent preparing for my holiday.

The first hike led me to the same area as the last June hike, though I headed in a different direction. Instead of taking a less frequented trail, I sped through the main valley to the chalet at the end. The mountains that were my day’s goal loomed right above it.

The reason for a hasty start was purely practical – the parking lot was quite full and I wanted to do my best to avoid crowds at the hardest part of the trail. The best course to achieve that was to reach sooner than most other hikers. Compared to the previous week, the weather was nicer from the start, with almost clear skies and quite nice views, which I enjoyed as I took the zigzagging path to the first pass.

Below the first peak, I had a great view covering a fair part of the whole mountain range, much better than the previous week.

As I progressed toward the first (and easiest) peak, I also enjoyed seeing the lakes I visited a week before from above, in addition to the mountains rising in most directions.

Reaching the first peak took me a little over two hours, being already almost an hour ahead of the official time. The second peak with its jagged slopes was now in full view.

Despite the ragged and worn appearance, the peak only has a small number of tricky passages that are secured with chains to help with traversing the terrain – two on the way up and one on the way down (in the direction I took). Before I reached the first one, I took the time to admire a pair of smaller lakes at the peak’s slopes.

By noon, just three hours since leaving the parking lot, I reached the peak and took a short break to enjoy the scenery.

After passing through the trickiest part of the descent – going down an almost sheer rock wall some 10 meters tall – I decided that there’s no more need for speed, and continued at a more relaxing pace.

From the third peak (and final, for the day), I also had a limited view in different directions, including a mountain range across from me.

I took another break in the final pass before starting the main descent, knowing I was in no need to hurry and I had more time to spare than I expected. For a moment, my mind considered the idea of extending the hike more, but that’d mean going through the tricky part I did last year, which would’ve been quite tight with the timeframe I had available, even with the speed I’ve had so far. Thus, I decided to enjoy the rest of the day in a more relaxed way.

I descended through the valley and took a turn towards the lakes, though I only went to the first one, where I just rested for an hour in the sun, letting my mind go blank.

After that, it was a short descent back to the chalet, then through the main valley to the parking lot, where I still had over an hour to spare to rest and read a bit.

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The second hike was more relaxed – I took my sister to a location I’ve visited, in part, a couple of years before. It was reasonably close, but utilized trails and paths that aren’t used as much. The first part kept us slightly above the valley, passing around some rock formations here and there.

Some of which were partially covered or overgrown by various forest plants.

For the first half of the hike, it was usually mild ascension, followed by short descents, and then repeating two more times. When we reached a lookout above the spa town, we took a road to the pass, and diverted to a path that isn’t an official trail but it is still used, even if not much, and I consider it a good place to relax.

Especially considering some of the rock formations at each of the three peaks, though only the second one allows at least some views, as the rest aren’t higher than the trees around.

These were welcome distractions for my sister, who wasn’t feeling at her strongest in the last weeks, so it was a welcome break to admire them.

Even though some were quite tightly surrounded by the forest. Especially the descent from the third peak is tricky, as the paths there can disappear in the woods, so having a good sense of direction is necessary.

Having been there a couple of years ago was definitely an advantage, as I recognized many of those places, though I still had to improvise a bit. Despite being on the lower end for me when it comes to both difficulty and length, I definitely enjoyed spending a day with my sister, and finally having the chance to take her to this area, which I’ve been planning for almost two years.

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So, that’s it with my one-day hikes last month. I’ll be back soon with the first part of my trip to the Dolomites.