As mentioned in the monthly summary, I had an unexpected offer to spend a couple of days in the Dolomites. Here’s the first part of that journey.

I have mentioned before that I was a bit apprehensive about spending some 12 hours in a bus, especially as my ability to sleep (or not) on board has been unpredictable. Fortunately enough, the journey wasn’t as problematic as I feared as for the bus ride itself. The departure was definitely far from simple – that day, it rained like hell, so getting to the pick-up point was more than a bit gloomy.

That said, the rain grew progressively weaker and eventually stopped, so we didn’t get too wet when we stopped to give people a chance to stretch or use the toilets (even though most of the highway parking lots were quite busy even overnight).

Shortly after sunrise, we crossed the border to Italy, which meant the last hour of our journey. By that time, we were surrounded by mountains on all sides, which did get us in the mood. The skies were cloudy, but as long as it doesn’t rain, that can be good enough. The forecast mentioned a low chance of rain showers, so I kept a rainproof jacket in my backpack as we headed off for the first hike.

The trail we took was, in fact, quite great for our still sleepy bodies – a long start through the valleys let us stretch and wake up before we started ascending. We could see jagged peaks of all shapes – the typical sight in the area – all around at each step, so I did enjoy the landscape that was foreign to me, with its crude beauty.

Soon enough, the trail started to ascend, following above a mountain stream. After some time, we saw the hint of a waterfall in the distance.

At this point, the first hints of trouble came. The long bus journey, disrupted sleep schedule, and now the sharp ascension upset my digestion, so I found myself increasing my pace, intending to reach the chalet (and much needed relief) faster. Even with trouble brewing inside, I didn’t shirk on enjoying the scenery, though.

And there was definitely a lot to see.

That said, when I reached the chalet, I first took care of my body’s needs before enjoying one of the most iconic sceneries of the Dolomites. Even though the clouds didn’t let it shine as much as it could.

After the break, we continued towards another chalet in the direction of finishing the loop, which meant going a bit more uphill, though at a gentler patch. A few raindrops fell, but it didn’t even turn into a real rain shower. The clouds kept wrapping around the higher peaks, obscuring parts of them seemingly at random.

When we were a bit into our descent, we also saw a marmot that was a bit more curious than usual, and with just the four of us, he kept popping up from its burrow often, which let us try to take a few photos.

We kept enjoying the views during our descent, though the clouds became more frequent – without rain, this time. It took us almost two more hours to reach the hotel, in a village surrounded by orchards, which definitely had its charm.

I do admit that another thing I was a bit wary of was the fact that I don’t speak Italian, and I didn’t know how many people in the area speak English (turned out to be common enough in major chalets) but, fortunately for me, this area has been part of Austria until the first world war. Thus it has a large German-speaking minority – to the point that most signs are in both languages and my very basic knowledge of German was good enough.

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To alleviate the long journey, the second day’s hike was located in an area quite close to the hotel. Given that we wanted to see some higher peaks, I spent most of my time with the two men I go on many club hikes with, and our second day was quite ambitious: Seefeldspitze, with the peak at 2719m, over 200m more than my previous highest point.

Again, we had some time to warm up as we started through the valley, following a river, until we took a sharp turn to ascend. There, we came across a waterfall, even though the better part was below the edge of what we could see (and too far to take a decent photo from the valley where we had glimpses between the trees).

As we made it above the tree line – after gaining almost half of the elevation we needed – the landscape started opening up around us, gracing us with beautiful views.

I did enjoy the strange combination of highland fields and larch trees – something that my country doesn’t have – as well as the sights of the peak around, whether near or far. We’ve made good progress, so we took a short break at a chalet that was a bit higher, with a nice view similar to the photo above.

The cows on those pastures didn’t seem to care about us, but they did add some personality to the scenery. At this point, the trail zigzagged ever uphill, getting us closer to our goal. We had two options when it came to reaching the peak – either ascend through the rocky upper valley between two peaks, or go to the pass above and then take the trail on the ridge. Hoping for some further views, we decided to take the ridge, and it was a choice that paid off.

The lush green below contrasting with the blue skies, the clouds, and the snow-capped peaks in the background created a breathtaking view. The peak itself then let us gaze in more directions, as well as look at the lakes below.

This was where our next steps led, given that we had enough time to loop around the area instead of returning the same way.

And it was a good choice, as the views of the lakes were amazing.

The stream also creates a handful of waterfalls after it leaves the lower of those two lakes.

Unfortunately, our time was too short to go to the lower (and largest) lake, though even the view from above, as we ascended to the pass, was breathtaking.

The view definitely helped our mood as we pushed what was left of our strength to get above and turn back towards the valley we came from, and the pass provided some further views, too.

Though, as often, the highest peaks (especially those reaching over 3000m) were hidden in clouds. Which made me glad we didn’t choose any of those to try – our trip was in what was a bit colder week for summer, and while hiking warmed us up nicely, the temperature at the peaks above 2500m was often around 10°C at most.

At the end, we had the opportunity to take a longer but gentler trail, stopping for a break in a small mountain village nestled in the valley.

And the way back to the parking lot had one more great view prepared for us – a cascade of waterfalls with a total height of probably around 50 meters.

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The third day took a bit longer bus trip from the hotel, taking us up a high valley with gentle slopes near the resort, with sharper peaks rising all around. Just the bus trip was breathtaking, though the sharp turns on the roads wouldn’t be pleasant for some people.

One of the main goals for the day didn’t look as menacing, but it took some weaving around the rolling hills to get closer, at which point the perception changed a fair amount.

Before we got to the foot of the mountain, we could enjoy the scenery all around us.

Which, for such elevation, felt quite vibrant. The zigzagging path didn’t go easy on us, especially as it was the third day already, but we still had enough to give to enjoy the day and get the views from above.

Especially when it meant more of those bizarre-shaped mountains.

And some mountaineous flora as well.

The chalet below the peak was bustling with activity – not that far from the resort below, a lot of people decided to walk uphill to enjoy the views. And, as seems to be common in the area, animals can be seen grazing even this way up in the hills. In this case, almost all the way up the Monte Pez peak at 2568m.

After taking some photos at the peak and stopping for a warm tea at the chalet, we took the trail across the upper portions, which was relatively gentle, to the next peak.

Roterdspitze, the next peak, was a bit taller, at 2655m (coincidentally, exactly the same as the highest peak of Slovakia), with a view of the surroundings as well as the chalet below.

I couldn’t resist taking some “adventurous” photos that I knew would give my mother and my grandmother a sense of vertigo even from afar.

Looping around the peak to descend towards the chalet wasn’t always easy and, in all honesty, would be quite scary if the trail was wet. But the views made it worth it.

And the same could be said for the pass above the chalet.

From there on, all that remained was descending back to the resort, while enjoying some further views. Which, for me, included more sights of clouds swallowing and letting go of various nearby peaks.

Which was the end of the third day, halfway through our trip. The second half is coming soon-ish in another post. Until then, have a great summer.