Dolomites Hike Day Six: 24km

Day Six: The base of Drei Zinnen → Rienza Valley (Rienztal) → Landro

Distance: 24 kilometres

To save waiting for a second bus to take us to the Rienza Valley, three of us hikes up an extra six kilometres. Yes, it was a steep walk, but the mountain paths were shady and winding, and there was a sense of achievement in making it to the top of the track. Also, there was an excellent breeze to welcome us. I’m still not into elevations, but 600m in a 90 minute walk is apparently quite challenging. Another 200m elevation with our hike today, and then an 1100m descent to walk to our accomodation tonight. We start and finish in different spots, Mr Darcy tells me, which is why the ups and downs don’t ever match up!

Finally on ascents though, our lovely guide Christiana has a different language. If I said, ‘it is only 400m to our destination,’ I would think I am walking 8 lengths of an Olympic pool. When Christiana says it, I now know I am walking 8 lengths of an Olympic pool vertically!

Note: the photo is of me in a pool from hiking day three. This is not at all typical of our hotels, but I am very happy we took the opportunity to wallow!

Tonight, we are back at our original accommodation. The first time we were here, the food was great, but there was a wedding here yesterday which I fear exhausted the staff and emptied their cupboards. There are no chips to accompany my beer. Shame. But even worse, there are beef cheeks with polenta for dinner. As mentioned before, I never eat beef cheeks (I’m not a vegetarian so this doesn’t make sense, but cheeks are … cheeks).  Our set meal last night included beef cheeks which compounds this situation as I couldn’t eat them either. Tonight, when I said no thank you to the beef cheeks and said I would merely have extra salad from the salad bar, the hotel owner (who I had previously thought charming) turned into Cruella de Ville and was very cross that I took an extra serving of lettuce and carrot. For dessert, not tirimasu but a blob of cream something, so I had to decline that too. On the whole though, the food on our journey has been excellent, particularly as most of our meals have been included so we would have to have accepted anything. One night we had pizza which was also good - some thought the toppings were too thin on local pizzas, but I love the crusts!

To finish. Sorry that some hiking photos might be out of order, but a photo sorter I am not. Be assured however, they would only be a day or two out of order. My apologies also that some of my posts are more informative/ engaging/ amusing than others. For this I blame weariness and possibly beer. Note to self: blog before beer. Also apologies that the posts are appearing close together, but there is Wifi and there are websites and all sorts of things to deal with in the hour or two at the end of every day. Leaving very early in the mornings haven’t made things easy either, as it means we basically pack our bags the night before we leave.

Fun Observation 1: I have taken a lot of photos of things that would be useful for the farm (also ideally things that I hope Mr Darcy can build (with my assistance and encouragement). This gate, for example. The weight of the rock keeps it closed! I think it will be a good thing for Noddy (until he works it out as he is one smart pony). I have also seen some brilliant water troughs which use springs as a source (we have two great springs on the farm and while they fill our water tanks, these troughs would be an excellent thing in other places). So … watch this space.

Toilets. Pretty good generally, though I’d never use a hand towel which hangs above a bidet.

Fun Observation 2: Flowers make you welcome. They make you smile. They are universal. Petunias, geraniums and the tiny native flowers we encountered on our hikes. The natural world is precious.

The lowlights: beef cheeks

The highlights: the beauty of the Dolomites, the warm local welcomes, the cool mountain air, Mr Darcy and our travelling companions. Also the quirky things we have found in our hotels and guesthouses (some are pictured below).

Next: We are off to Verona to meet our London daughter who will, in the way of young women with the ability to find excellent attractions, out of the way restaurants, and interesting walks, will henceforth be our guide. A few days of rest, and then we return home!

Dolomite Hike Day Three: 23k

Day Three

Lake Braies → climb to Rifugio Biella → climb to Rifugio Sennes → trail through Fodara Vedla → descend to Pederü

Distance: 23 kilometres

This was a tough day but a very beautiful one. Lake Braies is an extremely pretty milky-peacock-blue lake at the foot of magnificent Dolomite peaks. It was also apparently made famous by an Italian television series (One Step From Heaven, set in a scenic hut by the lake) and is now VERY popular with tourists (and brides and grooms and wedding parties) as a photoshoot location. Mr Darcy thought it might also be good for water skiing, which rather shocked our Italian guide!

Dripping with sweat, puffing and red in the face aren’t features that present a great many Instagram worthy photo shoots, but Lake Braise is a different thing altogether. There is also a booming boat hire trade on the lake, but these boats became more and more like matchsticks as we climbed higher and higher up the mountain.

We were a smaller hiking group today, and had a wonderful journey together. All the hikers are of a similar vintage and there is a lot to talk about, particularly as many of us have had a number of pivots in our careers and family lives. Doctor, lawyers, educators, a filmmaker and scriptwriter, people who work on the land and in business. Hiking is an equaliser and a good test of character as everyone sweats and struggles and relies on others at different times of the day. One of our party, The Oricle (named for his mastery of all things altitude) hands out jellybeans at stressful parts of the climb, which is surprisingly morale boosting (even when not keen on jellybeans, one tends to have an opinion on what flavour is best). A positive attitude is very important during a strenuous hike - if there is a problem we all support each other, but there’s no point complaining or worrying about what lies ahead because there is no rest until we reach our final destination and …

Beer and chips.

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!