The Dolomites

For the past few days, Jacob and I have been soaking up the sun at a beach resort campsite in the south of France. It’s been sun, sand, surf, and non-stop reading! We needed some R&R after a packed week of hiking and running in the Dolomites, and I slacked on the blogging front in favour of some Outlander escapism and frequent dips in the Mediterranean. But I’m very excited to share our photos and stories from a fantastic week in the mountains, so here we go!

We drove into Italy from Slovenia and spent our first night in a small town which had a free motorhome parking area. Our arrival gave us a good idea of what to expect from driving in Italy! The roads were very narrow, twisting and turning around buildings with barely any sidewalk in between. We were lucky to only encounter one car, which kindly did all the reversing so we could squeeze past. Even as a pedestrian I was nervous to encounter any traffic, as the Italians seem to be able to speed around the town much faster than I’d expect.

Some more observations about driving in Italy: primarily, it seems that drivers are not content to stay in a single lane. Usually I find motorway driving fairly relaxing, as we just trundle along in the slow lane. Not so in Italy! Cars were cruising down the fast lane, overhanging the white line by a significant margin, and I had visions of us being side-swiped the entire way. It sort of looks like they’re about to overtake, or considering changing lanes, but they just continue along in that fashion without moving out one way or the other. The other phenomenon we witnessed was extreme congestion which seemed to form and then dissipate for no apparent reason. We spent one long driving day sitting in queue after queue, with only one or two caused by traffic accidents. Jacob’s clutch leg was definitely sore by the end of the day! For my part, I struggled more with Italian toll booths than any others we’ve encountered. The first time I approached one where we needed to take a ticket (versus making a payment), I couldn’t figure out how to get it to spit the ticket out. Turns out, the big red button is not always the wrong thing to push!

The other thing we noticed when we arrived in the Dolomites was a strong Germanic influence. A lot of the signs (including official road signs) were in Italian and in German, and all of the “refugios” were also “hüttes”. Apparently this area used to be part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and there are still very clear ties to Austria throughout the region. (I’m sure my dad could expand on this topic much further!)

Anyhow, when we got up the next morning in the town, there was a huge line of traffic on the main road which looked to extend for quite some time. We decided to wait for the congestion to die down, so we went for an espresso! Rather, Jacob ordered an espresso, and I ordered a “latte macchiato,” which I hoped would be coffee with milk in it. I apparently didn’t order it quite correctly, as the barista gave a small chuckle when I asked for it, but she did get the gist as I ended up with exactly what I was looking for. The place we went seemed like a very typical Italian coffee bar, which is a mix between what I would call a cafe and a bar (they also serve alcohol), and also sells newspapers and lottery tickets and the like. It had a super local feel, as there were some old Italian men enjoying their espresso in a corner, and the barista/owner was very friendly and welcoming.

After our coffee stop, we made our way to Pozza di Fassa, where we were staying for the week. The traffic there was also very heavy! We’d hoped that we were late enough in August that the crowds would have dissipated slightly, but the Dolomites were still bumping. It turns out we were very lucky with timing, though, as the previous week had been terrible weather, and the following week also looked bad. During our stay, however, we had mostly gorgeous sunshine and only a few cloudy patches. And being back in the mountains was once again relief from the heat - we actually got a bit chilly at night!

We really enjoyed the location we were staying in, as the entire Val di Fassa region was full of good hiking accessible by chairlifts and gondolas, and there was a decent bus service connecting all the towns in the valley. Jacob had done a bunch of research and found several hikes for us to do, plus some ridge options for trail running. We arrived on Saturday and were leaving the campsite on Thursday, so we had four days in Val di Fassa, plus the hike at Tre Cime di Lavaredo which we planned to do on Friday morning.

Given how busy everything still seemed, we wanted to get a reasonably early start, so on Sunday we were up and waiting for the bus by 8:30am. Already the traffic was so busy on the main road that it was stop-and-go! When the bus arrived, we discovered that you had to wear an FFP2/N95 mask in order to ride, and unfortunately we didn’t have ours with us. By the time we’d walked back to the campsite to get them and were back at the bus stop, it was 9am and the next bus was nearly full. Because of the delay, we decided to change our plans and do the Torri del Vajolet (Vajolet Towers) hike rather than the Sassolungo loop, as we hoped the former would be less popular and it was slightly shorter. As it turns out, it was still very busy, but we had a good time regardless.

We took three lifts up to Ciampedie, where there were several restaurants scattered around, and even a kids’ fun park. The first part of the hike was quite easy, a wide gravel path through the trees, and accordingly we saw a lot of families and folks wearing Decathlon backpacks. We also noticed that many people had picnic blankets rolled up and tied to their packs, a trend we continued to see throughout Italy. Clearly a must-have item for any hike!

View on our way to Vajolet Towers

Our first view of the Towers came as we started the climb towards Rifugio Paul Preuss. The path was still nice and wide, and not technical, but quite steep. We took a short break near the refugio to enjoy the views and catch our breath before continuing on to the technical section. This was a big scramble up to the viewpoint, where there was (of course) another refugio. I found it a bit tricky in sections, but they did have some pins and cables to hold on to while hoisting yourself up the rocks. The view of the towers was magnificent at the top, and by climbing up a little further we could see down along the valley as well.

Vajolet Towers

The climb down was quite challenging, and I struggled a lot with my vision, especially since there was a mix of sun and shade. Unfortunately someone else was hurt along the way, as we noticed a medic going up to check on them, and then later watched a helicopter do a mountain-side rescue. The emergency responders seemed very capable, though, so hopefully the person was okay.

One interesting thing we noticed when using the showers at the campsite after the hike was that everyone wore robes on their way to and from the shower block. We are used to wearing our clothes to the shower and bringing fresh ones along to change into, but it seems the Italian way is to don a robe instead. I think a picnic blanket and robes will top our Christmas lists this year!

On Monday we headed to Piz Boè, a peak at 3152m with fairly convenient gondola access: a short but steep 5km hike gets you right to the summit from the lift station. This makes it an extremely popular outing, and it was indeed very busy when we were there, which soured our experience somewhat. Heading up to the summit, I felt like an ant marching in a long line of ants to the top of the ant hill, with frequent congestion at some of the more technical parts of the trail. The summit itself was crawling with people taking photos and eating at the refugio, so we stopped only briefly to eat our sandwiches and then started our descent.

View from Piz Boè peak

We decided to take a different trail down, which worked out well as it was less technical and less crowded. This allowed us to enjoy our surroundings more and take our time. (I think it was meant to be a one-way system but people seemed to be doing whatever they liked.) The scenery on this hike was stunning - it felt like we were on the moon! A barren, rocky landscape with no plant life to speak of.

Hiking down from Piz Boè

Getting to and from this hike was also a bit of an adventure. We’d purchased the Panorama Pass, which allowed us unlimited lift access in Val di Fassa for three days out of six. We decided to have some fun with it, and ended up taking seven different gondolas that day!

On Tuesday we decided to have a “rest day” and opted for a relaxing trail run in favour of a hike. Naturally, the trail we ended up on had way more elevation than we’d planned, so it wasn’t much of a rest! The trail was also less well maintained than we’d hoped, but there was one lovely section along a ridge that was a trail running dream, so we enjoyed ourselves regardless.

Trail running above Pozza di Fassa

As usual, we treated ourselves to an ice cream when we got back to the van, but as a bonus we went out for a lovely dinner to a local pizza restaurant. You can’t go to Italy without eating pizza, after all!

Dinner at Pizzeria Le Giare

Having learned from our experiences earlier in the week, on Wednesday morning we were determined to be on the first gondola of the day in order to minimize crowds along the trail. We were hiking the Sassolungo loop, a 17km circuit around a distinct group of mountains (also pictured at the top of this post).

Sassolungo range

Although it meant an early start, we were indeed on the first lift, and it was so worth it! The trail felt quiet and peaceful, and I relished the fresh morning air and the warmth of the rising sun on my arms. The trail was really lovely at the start, nice hard-packed dirt with only a few rocky sections, so I could look around and enjoy the view rather than focusing exclusively on not tripping over something. We also saw a herd of cattle being driven along a ridge by a dog and a farmer, which was comical because the ringing cowbells would increase in volume and intensity immediately following a series of barks, and then die down again until the dog got impatient and started barking again.

Along the shady side of the Sassolungo loop

We spent a very enjoyable morning hiking along, but around noon noticed a steady increase in the number of hikers approaching from the other direction. We got rather perturbed in one section where folks were not moving aside to let faster hikers past, and by the time we reached a group of restaurants and a large grassy area filled with people picnicking, we were feeling pretty done with other humans. After a quick pit stop and bite to eat there, we continued on our way, with only a quarter of the distance left.

When we’d almost reached the end, we came across the “Telecabin Forcella del Sassolungo,” a rather rickety-looking cable car that runs 500m up to a col. It was built sometime in the 70s, and the coffin-style cars are standing-room-only for two people. To get on the lift, two burly men hoist you up one after the other and shut the door behind you in about two seconds flat. No lift-off mechanism here, folks! Those cars aren’t slowing down one iota in the station! Then the long journey upwards begins, which becomes rather arduous by the end, especially when you start to think about how sketchy the whole setup seems. To get off the lift, the two burly men at the top yank open the door and grab you by the arms to lift you out before proceeding to the other side of the bay to load on the next set of passengers. It’s a remarkable operation, and certainly the most unique gondola experience I’ve had!

Sketchy Sassolungo “coffin lift”

View from the top of the gondola (taken by J)

By this point in the week, we’d covered 47km and 2450m of elevation gain, and our feet were being held together by Compeed (the only blister plaster that actually works). It was time for an actual rest day! We left Val di Fassa and drove to Rifugio Auronzo to spend the night at 2320m, beneath the famous Tre Cime di Lavaredo. It was pouring rain when we arrived, so we had a quick dinner and went straight to bed, hoping that we would wake up to clear skies. Tre Cime is probably the most popular hiking area in the Dolomites, so we were up at 5am to watch the sun rise over the peaks and beat the rush. Once again, it was super worth it to get up early, as there were not too many people around, and we could enjoy the peace and quiet and take in the view. We were so lucky that the weather was clear, as the sunrise was absolutely breathtaking!

Sunrise at Tre Cime di Lavaredo

I haven’t had a chance to go through and edit all the photos I took that morning, and want to take my time with them, so keep an eye out for a whole post of Tre Cime photos coming soon(ish).

By the time we got back to the van, it was only 9am or so, and we had a leisurely breakfast before starting the long drive to France. We split the drive into two days, but it was still a long and tiresome drive, so we were good and ready for the beach when we arrived in Vias!

A quick summary of the remainder of our trip, as we have just under two weeks left before we’re back in the UK! We’ll be in Andorra until September 7, and then spend a few days in the Pyrenees before heading to the Picos de Europa. We’ve reserved a night at a mountain refugio for my birthday, so cross your fingers and toes for good weather! Then on September 15 we set sail for Old Blighty from Santander, and take a leisurely drive back up to Edinburgh before settling in to an Airbnb while we (reluctantly) sell the van and finalize our relocation plans. We’ve decided to move to Annecy, and hope to be settled there by late November or early December, depending on work permit timelines. I’ll be sure to keep the blog up-to-date with the last few trip posts and any moving updates as they happen! Thanks for reading!