19 Sept 2007 - Italy Day 4

Sept 7, 2007. After a wonderful nights sleep in our warm accomodations, we decided to go hiking on the opposite of the valley we were staying in. Driving over we spotted farmers cutting and stacking the hay to dry. They use these wooden rakes like devices to wrap their harvest and then let it dry out. We had seen these wooden devices on the side of barns earlier but did not know how they were used until today. Click here to see more photos of our hike.

We found a wonderful hike that started at about 1600m and ended at a Rifugio at 2236m. It was a very steep hike and covered about 14km round trip. We were amazed at the number of people hiking the trail that day and also the number of older people. When we arrived at the Rifugio there were people eating and drinking. All food and supplies are delivered to these Rigugios by helicopters.

Along the trail we encountered signs about a 17.5im mountain race that was planned for the weekend. It was hard enough just hiking it.

It was a Once again it was nice to start a hike and be able to have fantastic views the entire hike.

On the way out, we drove through a little village or town called Moos. It would have to win the "Best Flower" award for Italian cities. We were there during the peak of the flowers on buildings.

17 Sept 2007 - Italy Day 3

Yes, that is snow. Today was our travel day. We planned to drive further north and then head across a pass into Austria but because the weather looked like a white out was going to happen, we decided to drive east to the Northern Italian Dolomites. As we started up the pass, the weather continued to deteriorate until there was a whiteout at the top of the pass. So we pulled into another Rifugio to wait out the weather and have lunch. It was really nice sitting inside have a warm meal and watching it snow.


The drive up to the pass was wonderful and clear. We would cross over a pass and then down the other side to a valley and then back up to another pass and then another valley. In Summit County the forest are dead from beetle kill but here the forest are healthy and green. Almost no dead limbs on the floor of the forest. They cleaning them out, drag them down to the road side and stack them neatly.

Many years ago when I first visited Italy, I was amazed at the litter and trash all around. This time I am amazed by the lack of trash and litter. On our entire trip, we really did not see litter along side the roads. No plastic grocery bags floating across the road nor stuck in the fences.

After lunch we continued driving up and down S-curve passes and end up finding an complex that had a room with kitchen for 3 nights. We decided to stay this area just 11km south of Dobbiaco, Italy, which is the center of the Dolomiti di Sesto National Park.

Click here to view other photos of Day 3.

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.

13 Sept 2007 - Italian Dolomites

Just a quick post that we have returned safely to London from our holiday in the Italian Dolomite's . We had a fabulous time, excellent weather, food, and lots of hiking among these amazing mountains.

I am currently reviewing the photos we took and will post more photos on the web either later today or tomorrow.