Grumpy old mountain man living in Spain
Continuing our journey we headed SE from San Martino passing through mature forests & stunning alpine meadows. A few hours later we emerged at the Forcella Col dei Cistri & the magnificent peaks of the Val Canali appeared ahead. Our next challenge.
If the weather allows we head up the Val Canali valley tomorrow morning to do the "Ferrata de Canalone" just above the Rifugio Treviso.
Dolomites Alta Via 2 day 7
Italian Meteo had multiple alerts out over the next few days for rain and thunderstorms. We made the decision to take a lower variant of the AV2 that skirted the west side of Pale di San Martino massif.
This 11km trail led us down through beautiful alpine meadows & over rolling hills to Passo Rolle. There we caught local bus to the chic alpine resort of San Martino di Castrozza.
Tomorrow depends again on the weather.
Its a tough life in the mountains, especially on a long distance trek like the Italian Alta Via 2. But tonight I must be honest. We are staying at the lovely Hotel/Rifugio Capanna Passo Valles where we are indulging in such local luxuries as Aperol Spritz, Apfel Strudel and flavoured grappas.
Making the most of it as tomorrow we head back up to the more basic mountain refuges for 3 nights
Chucking it down at Passo Valles. Storms. Not a time to be playing about on iron cables and ladders! Staying here and hoping things clear up tomorrow
Dolomites Alta Via 2 day 6
Passo San Pellegrino to Passo Valles
Short rest day today so a lie in, leisurely breakfast & a 6km stroll to our overnight refuge. Just arrived at midday when the heavens opened & an incredible rain and hail storm erupted. What luck we had not been caught out.
Now tucking into "gnocchi con ricotta affumicata" (delicate potato dumplings with smoked cheese)
Photos from our approach walk to the Pale di San Martino range
All during the long afternoon descent from the pass at Forca Rossa these jagged mountains were in view. They are our next challenge to cross. Much more technical evidently. They look it!
5 days on the trot are beginning to tell. Thankfully as we are near the half way point we have built in 2 half days for the next section to the Rifugio Mulaz.
Looking forward to a short break to let the legs and lungs recover.
Dolomites Alta Via 2 day 5
Rifugio Castiglioni Marmolada to Passo San Pellegrino. 14km, 1000+m ascent.
Very tough day ascending through the humid, oppressive pine forests near Malga to the pass at Forca Rossa. Then nice descent through colourful alpine meadows lined with wild flowers to San Pellegrino.
I'm finding the bedroom via ferratas much more dangerous and exposed than the mountain ones 🤣
Dolomites Alta Via 2 day 4
Rifugio Pisciadu - Rifugio Castiglioni Marmolada
Threat of afternoon thunderstorms had us leaving refuge early at 6am. Had these glorious mountains to ourselves as we climbed steep snowfields & scrambled along cable assisted passages. We crossed over the alti plano, lunar landscape of the Sella Group to drop down to the busy road pass at Passo Pordoi and onto our overnight stay at the base of the magnificent Marmolada.
Some photos taken by a friend from today's trip between the Rifugio Puez and the Rifugio Pisciadu on the Alta Via 2
Dolomites Alta Via 2 day 3
Rifugio Puez to Rifugio Pisciadu
Another tough day of startling contrasts. From the beautiful early morning departure and excellent traverse to the dramatic Cir pinnacles to the crowded mass of noisy humanity at Passo Gardena.
The final 450m climb up the gully (Val Setus) to the refuge was as expected, very gnarly with cables assisting uplift in the upper section. Stunning scenery though.
Dolomites Alta Via 2 day 2
Rifugio Genova to Rifugio Puez today. An exciting and interesting day travelling 11 km with 900 m ascent/descent. Up and over steep passes, stunning views and the added interest of mid morning coffee stop in a beautifully situated refuge and an optional via ferrata along the route, that we loved.
Wild flowers galore, chirping marmots, dramatic scenery. A tough day certainly but extremely rewarding.
Dolomites Alta Via 2 day 1- Tough first day on the trail. Bressanone to the Prose Hutte and then onto Rifugio Genova. 16 km and over 1100m ascent. Enjoyed the spectacular scenery and the apple strudel lunch. Didn't enjoy the post lunch brutal ascent that eventually led to the lovely Rifugio Genova.
An extremely frustrating day of tiring travel on crowded trains with many changes and much confusion. But, we've ended the day with some cold beers and tasty pizza in the lovely south Tirol town of Bressanone/Brixen. Tomorrow we head into the mountains for 13 days on the long distance Alta Via 2 trail. Its going to be tough. It will stretch me to the limit and who knows what adventures are just around the corner.
Although Italian in many ways is so similar to Spanish I am really struggling to convey a sentence in Italian without adding in the odd Spanish filler word. Its automatic, I can't stop it! The result is a Spanish/Italian mix that confuses everybody. Fun though 🤣🤣🤣
Benvenuti a Treviso, Italia 🤣
Treviso airport - thunderstorms in the Dolomites to the north
Just taken delivery of a new lightweight harness in preparation for the Dolomites. Replacing my Black Diamond Couloir harness (240 grams) with a Camp Alp Race (68 grams)! Said to be the lightest harness in the world! Extremely compact, it folds down inside a special case to the size of a wallet. Should be fine for low grade via ferratas that I am likely to meet.
Short (44 secs) video of the Barranco de la Luna hike today before I dropped my video camera into the water whilst clambering down some rock steps 😱. Camera is now resting in a bowl of rice 😂
https://video.infosec.exchange/w/5yqMEC3b9y9gtGfhCxx9qJ
An early start today to walk the stunning Barranco de la Luna at Saleres before it got busy. Justifiably popular, an early start rewards with quiet and dramatic gorge scenery. Only problem is that it is quite short and leaves you wanting more.
We start the long distance trek Alta Via 2 in the Italian Dolomites soon. Conflicting reports over whether its necessary to take Via Ferrata gear which weighs nearly 1kg (helmet, harness, lanyard). Desperately trying to reduce pack weight & I feel confident about doing the route without safety gear BUT I couldn't then take advantage of interesting Via Ferrata alternatives met on the way .
Choice is a balance of Weight v Safety v Interest?
An interesting conundrum.