Dolomites Hike Day One: 20km
/Day One Hike: The base of Drei Zinnen (at Dobiacco) → Val Rinbianco → Monte Piana → Misurina
Distance: 25 kilometres
A birthday. Some people like to celebrate a birthday by relaxing with a cocktail by a pool, or sharing a vineyard restaurant dinner with family, or taking a lakeside stroll.
Mr Darcy is not some people. Which is why today, thankfully in glorious Italian sunshine, we hiked 25 km up and down a mountain.
Our hike. For the six day hike we’ve planned, we are in a guided tour of eleven (in our past hikes, we have set our agenda and guided ourselves), so our lovely expert hiker and climber Christiana will be in charge of much of the navigation. However, as in previous hikes, Mr Darcy and I are likely to let the road lead us where it will (there are as many different walking goals in a group of eleven as there are hikers).
The scenery was absolutely glorious today and there was so much astounding beauty. All self explanatory I hope, so much as I should be researching volcanic eruptions and geological formations and ancient sea levels and subsequent landslides and such things, I am going to let this very limited sample of pictures tell the story.
This morning, we left our accommodation in the shadows of Drei Zinnen (Three Peaks) and walked up winding trails into the Rienza Valley and Val Rinbianco. Then we took the path to Monte Piana, which presented a summit with magnificent views, and a fascinating World War I ‘open museum.’ From 1915 – 1917 this region was a frontline in battles between Italy and the Austro-Hungarian empire, and there are many stone remnants of the trench warfare—many trenches, bunkers and tunnels. Over 14,000 soldiers were estimated to have perished here, some in combat but many others due to the harsh conditions, particularly through winter.
Our hotel. We had a lovely view of Drei Zinnen (also affectionately known as the three sisters though it means one of our daughters misses out ….) from our window. There are also many red geraniums in window boxes. Firm bed. Boiled eggs for breakfast (and I didn’t mind that a German group took two eggs each as I’m not particularly partial to a boiled egg unless it has a hard white and soft yolk and is accompanied by toast soldiers, but some in our party were displeased). Excellent bread and apricot marmalade.
Did my walking preparation pay off? It’s been a busy few months with work, on the farm, with caring responsibilities and with life generally, so besides cattle and horse wrangling and gardening and two or three 10-15km hikes in the national park close to our home, I’ve done very little preparation. Mr Darcy has done slightly more (such as walking around the harbour when he’s been in Sydney for work) so we weren’t too sure how we would go with a steep trail and a long warm day, but we were surprisingly solid. And most importantly ….
Less walking preparation, yes, but my nemesis (also known as big toe of right foot) did very well in its podiatrist approved gel condom thingy and I am taking this as a sign that I might not lose a toenail. Does visiting the podiatrist count as preparation? I believe it does. As does climbing aboard Noddy and over fences, cleaning up manure, pruning reckless wisteria and pushing grandchildren’s prams up hills.
Post walk beer. I don’t drink beer, except post walk when I really enjoy it! I also enjoy chips and in Italy, chips are often served with post walk beer which makes me very happy. As for the pictured woodpile, I’m a homebody at heart so always looking for inspiration for when we go home. This woodpile is, indeed, a thing of beauty.
Tired legs tonight, but another day tomorrow so now we are off to bed.
Did Mr Darcy have a nice birthday? Over the past few years, we have lost dear friends and family members who are younger than we are now, so we’re very grateful to still be hiking and laughing and breathing in fresh mountain air. We’re also still aspirational - hence our plans to create a woodpile like this for next winter at home!
