Sesto Dolomites; Refugio LocatelliJul 11, 2011
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| July 11th, Monday, Tre Cime di Laveredo Today we will start on a 3 day trip into the Tre Cime di Laveredo area, the "Yosemite" of the Dolomites. This area is in the NE portion of the Dolomites and close to the Austrian border. The Austro-Italian front was here during WWI, and, therefore, there are numerous remnants of the war here, including old trenches, fortifications, tunnels, caves, and roads (now used as trails.) The 3 peaks of the Tre Cime are the remembered symbols of the Dolomites and attract many visitors. We got up fairly early, left our luggage with our hotel in Dobbiaco to which we would return on Thursday, and caught the bus up and over several passes to the trailhead at about 7500 ft. Carol had several blisters from our long descent of 2 days ago, so we were uncertain of how far she could go. She is a trooper, however, and extremely motivated when it comes to mountain exploring and managed 7 mi with about 2000 ft of ascent and descent without much difficulty. As on most of the hikes in this area, it is almost entirely above treeline and with the limestone reflecting so much light, one almost needs glacier glasses. Needless to say, the scenery again was outstanding as peaks after peaks confronted us around each bend. We tried to identify each one from our maps, but the Italian and German names combined with my poor memory for place names made it a rather futile effort. We stopped at Refugio Cegia for lunch marvelling again at the mountain scenery and thought we might have some rain, but only a few drops materialized. (We have had no significant rain in the almost 4 wks we've been in Italy.) We then hiked another 2-3 mi losing about 750 ft and then gaining it again before arriving at Refugio Locatelli, which will be our home for the next 2 nights. It sits across a small valley from the famous Tre Cime with outstanding views ever changing with the lighting. We secured a 4 bed room which was much better than the dormitory rooms and shared it with a British woman, who is a guide with a trekking company based in the U.K. We had a great dinner with an Italian soup, pasta, and sishkabobs followed by dessert and accompanied by a red Italian wine. Beats camping food any day!! We enjoyed the company of a Dutch couple and their 5 year-old twins whose birthdays they were celebrating the next morning with balloons and banners strung from the ceiling of the dining room. They were having lots of fun. We headed for bed hoping for a good night's sleep though our room was next to the WC with the loud slamming of doors and boisterous conversations. Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T |
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