Janice's Journeys: 7 day Hike in the Dolomites

I had searched on the Internet for guided hikes in Italy and found that there was quite a wide choice. I settled on using the organisation Sherpa as the cost was reasonable and the dates fitted in with my other plans to include a visit to Graham and Myriam during their June stay in Spain.

I had been instructed to meet the leader and group at 19h00 on Tuesday 19th June in the Panda Hotel in Cortina, Italian Dolomites.

Making my way to Cortina had been simple as the instructions were clear. A walk back from my hotel to St. Lucia station in Venice was much more straightforward than in the reverse direction as there was a stream of commuters making their way from the station into the city so it was easy to find the way. I knew that I had left it a little late to catch the train considering that there were uneven streets and five or six bridges to wheel the suitcase up and down. But I was lucky, the train was delayed and I bought the ticket to Calalzo for €8.90. Not a bad price for a a journey lasting more than two and a half hours.

The train seemed to take a good 30 minutes to leave the built up areas of Venice and then travelled across plains with prosperous looking farms intersected by rivers in a couple of places.

My excitement grew as mountains appeared and we started to climb past lakes and through tunnels.

In Calalzo the Dolomitibus was waiting to take passengers to Cortina. The bus ticket cost €3.50 for me and another €1.50 for my suitcase!

Once we arrived in Cortina it was a bit of a mission to find the Panda hotel from the instructions provided and I had to ask at the Tourist Information centre.

Cortina is a resort town with a thriving tourism industry based on skiing in winter and hiking in summer. There are also Via Ferrata's (iron stairways) that can be used to climb up the peaks. The town is largely made up of hotels.

The church bells chimed a long peal as I wheeled my case down the road.

I checked in and found that the lady that I was to share a room with had gone out for the day. I left her a note and went off to explore and to buy some supplies for a packed lunch the for the following day's hike.

My roommate's name was Jeanne and she came from Utah. The 3 couples in the group were all Australian and I was thrilled to find that Mark, the leader came from Kendal which is only a few miles from the village in England where I was born.

We had an introductory meeting and a briefing on the next day's hike.

The hotel provided an early breakfast at 7h15 so that we would have time to walk up to the bus station and catch the Dobbiaco bus for a 30 minute ride to Hotel Drei Zinnen. We met outside and walked up together.

We all climbed off the bus and then Stephen realized he had left his wallet by his seat and he and Dana decided to wait by the road for the bus returning from Dobbiaco. They managed to catch us up half way through the morning, with the wallet which had been handed over by a smiling driver.

We gathered at the route board to check the map and found that we must follow route 102.

We had a steady climb beside a river with stunning views of the surrounding mountains.

We paused in a grassy meadow where many of the flowers that I grew up with in England, also in a limestone area, were thriving.

We zig zagged up the mountain to the Rifugio Locatelli (not quite a small mountain hut!)

I took a photo of Jeanne standing in front of the three jagged peaks of the Tre Cime to the south.

The Rifugio was closed for repair work so we ate our packed lunches outside.

We passed a snow drift and a limestone pavement which reminded me of Malham in the Yorkshire Dales.

Overhead a helicopter seemed to be practicing rescue operations.
We had a long climb up from the Rifugio and I was quite stunned when a vehicle came driving towards us along the track. Then once we were over the ridge we could see a car park down below and I realized that they would have to get supplies somehow to the Rifugio which was more like a hotel than a hut.

From the col Forc Lavaredo we descended below the Tre Cime to the Refugio Auroza arriving just as the rain started. A good opportunity to relax and wait for the bus back to Cortina.

After an hour or so we left to catch the bus back and made it just as a thunderstorm began. The rain started to flood the road and the bus driver descended the hairpin bends very carefully.