Hike Day 12: Tre Cime, The Grand Finale

After 12 days on the trail we called it a wrap at the most iconic Dolomite massif, Tre Cime. A fairytale location to end a storybook hike. We took the path slightly less traveled and found a quiet farmhouse for morning cake and coffee with Tre Cime towering overhead. (I regret not lining up three pieces of cake with the peaks.) At the top, cousin Chris met us to make our hike complete. Three's company at Tre Cime. Thanks to the Italians for the tradition of cake for breakfast, for building and maintaining all the chairlifts, for always saying a friendly Bongiorno on the trail, for pizza, and for gelato fun. Legendairy!

Hike Day 11: Rifugio Col de Varda to Rifugio Auronzo

A huge thunderstorm and lightning rattled the hut during the night but in the morning the cook warmed our hearts with cappuccino and hot crepes with jam. The weather prediction for 1.6 inches of rain had us jittery. After spectacular weather for the entire trip we thought our luck had run out. It reminded me of some climbers who stomped into our hut before 9 am and ordered beer then asked the hut manager about the current weather report. The manager shrugged and said, "It's the mountains, only God knows." Nevertheless, we persisted and hit the trail where we found blue skies, a man with the critical job of stocking the hut with beer-necessities via a tow lift, and amoosing cows. We walked past a small lake and hundreds of tiny froglets crossed our path leapfrogging toward the water. It was ribbiting. We were glad we weren't wearing open-toad sandals! The rain and hail struck but by then we were fat and happy eating a light dinner at the hut cafeteria.

Hike Day 10: Rifugio Vandelli to Rifugio Col de Varda

As the dino-snores in our bunk room, we handed out earplugs to our four roommates ensuring they were still our friends in the morning. After breakfast chow we said Ciao and slid our way down the mountain. If you haven't noticed yet, mileage isn't mentioned because it's all about the ups and downs we face each day. On other Alp hikes, the trail signs at least give estimates of how many hours it will take. Here the signs don't even dare to estimate it! A light rain all afternoon didn't phase us because Arlo engineered a way to strap our umbrellas on our packs so we still had both hands for our trusty hiking poles. At the warm and cozy hut we met five others who had also worked with Brittany to plan and book their route so we dubbed ourselves the Brittany Brigade. Two minutes before the group photo was snapped there were seven pieces of tiramisu in front of us. This group really takes the cake!

Hike Day 9: Rifugio Faloria to Rifugio Vandelli/Lake Sorapis

The day's hike started with a traverse and a charade of chamois goats. Then things got tougher when we had to pretend to be mountain goats ourselves and scramble over a steep pass on loose rock. At the top
of the pass, edelweiss and more wildflowers greeted us before we plunged down the mountainside. Our next cliffhanger via ferrata awaited so we couldn't pat ourselves on the back yet (we had to hang on for dear life). Then we faced an even more punishing vertical hike down a rocky trail full of ankle busters and deep knee bends. But in the distance, like a mirage, we saw our next hut and the pale blue glacial waters of Lake Sorapis.

Hike Day 8: Cortina to Rifugio Faloria

Our next hut was at the top of a lift! Unfortunately the lift was closed due to "administrative issues" but they offered us a Jeep ride later in the day. We bumped our way up a 3000 foot gravel road in a 4-wheel-drive adventure. One of the locations for the Sylvester Stallone film "Cliffhanger" was a short hike away and the building that stood in for a Colorado mine truly hangs on the cliff. I am not recommending the film but the location scout deserves an Oscar.

Hike Day 7: Rifugio Pomedes to Cortina

We woke up with our head in the clouds from our skybox hut room. We didn't want to mist any views so we stalled before heading down the mountain to the town of Cortina d'Ampezzo. The afternoon unfolded at the self-serve laundromat when we stripped down to our rain gear so we could wash everything else. Our underwear wasn't quite dry so we hung it on the hotel TV. Arlo asked if we were going to watch undie films. After loads of fun, we deserved pizza and gelato to be ready for the rest of our mountain marathong.

Hike Day 6: Mt Lagazuoi to Rifugio Pomedes

We started an epic day of hiking at the top of Mt Lagazuoi where WWI troops dug tunnels, gun emplacements, and lookouts throughout the mountain. You can even crawl through the tunnels to the top with helmets and headlamps but, hey, there's a gondola! The view from the summit took our breath away. Each day we can't imagine views getting more splendid and then they do. A long line of Italians passed us on a pilgrimage to the cross at the top of the mountain. The nuns wore habits and hiking boots and carried rosaries in their hands. We wished we had rosaries when we ended up on the 404: Trail Not Found.

Hike Day 5: WWI Open Air Museum

A layover day at Rifugio Gallina gave us time to hike to the Cinque Torri rock formations and the World War I Open Air Museum. The Italian Army set up trenches, lookouts, and storehouses for food and weapons in the rocks as they battled the Austro-Hungarian troops. The limestone rocks certainly provided a great vantage point and held strong for them. It still holds for all the rock climbers scaling the towers. They don't take it for granite.

Wildflower Wednesday

Here are some of my favorite Dolomite wildflowers to make your daisy.

1. Black vanilla orchid listed as an endangered species in Italy.
2. Turk's cap lily also known as martagon lily.
3. Hairy alpenrose, a species of rhododendron found widely in the Alps.
4. Spotted orchid.
5. Pink cinquefoil endemic to the Alps and found at 10,000 feet.

Hike Day 4: Incisa Lodge to Rifugio Col Gallina

Today's hike took us across the Pralongia high plateau known as the "amphitheater of the Dolomites." We could look back at the Puez range where we started and see the Marmolada range and the Fanes group. We climbed over the rocky Valparolo pass and then past a gulp-inducing cable car. No sooner had we arrived at our hut than the sky went dark, the wind whipped through the pass, and hail and rain pelted the roof. We were cozy in our private hut room after dinner of penne with gorgonzola and zucchini, pork in plum sauce, and dessert of panna cotta. Arlo tried to take my panna cotta due to my off-pudding remarks but I held my own — custard's last stand.

Hike Day 3: Corvara to Incisa Lodge

A hiking day that starts with a chairlift gets us high. Up we went and then had a short hike to our next hut that is quiet, off the main track, has only 10 beds (and not stacked on top of each other), and gave us a private room. We arrived before lunch and decided to…go hiking! We found a loop trail through hillsides of wildflowers — we couldn't get clover it! No sooner had we finished our trail lunch of pb&j than we found gelato at a restaurant perched with a distant view of the Marmolada glacier that collapsed last summer and killed 11 hikers. No, we are not going that way. Back at our hut, the chef prepared one of the best meals we've had starting with local beer, a charcuterie board, homemade spinach ravioli, grilled pork and polenta and wild mushrooms, apple strudel, and camomile grappa. Tomorrow we will be working that off with a long day of hiking over two mountain passes.