17 Sept 2007 - Italy Day 2

We woke up on our 2nd day and drove just 11km more and we were in the Brenta Dolomites. We should have driven the extra 11km yesterday as the views from here were much better than in Pinzolo. After breakfast, we headed out for a hike in the ski area in Madona di Campiglio. We were able to drive part way up and then started hiking. We kept hearing bells ringing and then as we came around corner, we spotted cows grazing and they each had a bell.

As we were driving to our hike we spotted several people with baskets in hands and wonder what they were doing. When we started our hike we determined that they were out looking for mushrooms. September must be the season as we continued to see them out almost every day as we continued around Northern Italy.

Hiking in Northern Italy is great. You started out and almost immediately you are above tree line and have fantastic views of the mountains. Also, most hiking trails have a Refugio at the top or along the way. These Refugio's have hot food and drinks and many have rooms if you wish to stay overnight.

Today's hike we stopped at Refugio Viviani Pradalago at 2082m. We started at 1500m. After having lunch we continued up and were going to hike to a top of a peak that was 2500m but it was very windy, the trail got very narrow, and the ridge about looked steep on both sides. We had also spotted a warning sign that indicated that you could clamp onto a cable. We had travelled all this way to view the mountains and decided it might be best to start back down and continue on our trip.

Click here to view more photos of the Brenta Dolomites.