Condensed version: We hiked in the Dolomites in 2011. Loved it. Returned in July this year. Loved it again. See pictures. :D
Link: Dolomites 2013
Long version:
Steve, Norah, and I spent two weeks hiking in the Dolomites in 2011 and we were hooked. The stunning scenery, delicious food, friendly people, and an extensive trail and mountain hut system made this a terrific destination for a hiking vacation. No question we wanted to return to Italy some day and we had an opportunity to do so in July 2013. We had two weeks to explore the Dolomites and it was another amazing hiking vacation. Steve devoted a lot of time and research to planning a killer itinerary; a fifteen day hike that would take us through some of the most stunning scenery the Dolomites has to offer, including the Rosengarten (Catinaccio), the Sella Group, and Puez-Odle Nature Park. Well, best laid plans and all that, right?
A cold and snowy winter combined with an unusually cold spring resulted in above average amounts of snow remaining well into summer. A snowstorm at the end of May (up to 50cm and in some places one meter!) just added to the snow. We still had a month before we left, so we were hoping for some warm days to help melt the snow before our departure on June 28th. The week we left I wondered why a number of rifugios were posting winter pictures on their webpages. Well, those weren’t winter pictures. They were current pictures of a snowstorm that dumped 30cm on the Dolomites! This much snow this time of year, while not impossible, is certainly not the norm. Skilifts reopened and this was only the second time in forty years skiing was possible in late June/early July. So naturally that’s when we left for our hiking adventure.
After hiking snowbound Passo Cigolade in the Rosengarten on our first day it quickly became clear we couldn’t adhere to our original schedule which included a number of high passes. But luckily from his thorough research Steve had a good working knowledge of the mountains, trails, rifugios, access points, and various alternatives available to us. The rest of our trip we pretty much only planned a few days in advance and our itinerary was in flux. This was possible given the layout of the Dolomites, which are not a continuous, unbroken mountain chain. Instead the Dolomites are a collection of compact, rugged mountains separated by numerous valleys (this map is a good illustration of this). The valleys are well serviced by buses (of varying frequency) and chairlifts, which allow for many route possibilities. The Dolomites are a skiers paradise and accordingly there are a number of chairlifts, gondolas, and cable cars. On one hand this means a lot of hikers and a loss of a “wilderness” feel, but there are advantages as well (even if it did feel like cheating to use them!). It helped us keep the mileage reasonable for Norah, we saved time, it allowed for a retreat if the weather was poor, we maximized our time about tree level, and it saved our knees from some long descents.
Avoiding the high passes meant we were in the valleys more and we did spend a few nights at bed and breakfasts or motels (our favorite was Le Chalet in San Cristina). The rest of our time was spent in the mountain huts, called “rifugios” in Italian. The rifugios ranged in amenities and style (depending on their location and how accessible they were), but all offered lodging, hot meals, and usually showers. As we're used to backpacking and camping - this felt rather luxurious to us! The only requirement of the rifugios is you have to provide your own travel sheet. The rifugios make it possible to sleep in the mountains and string together a longer trek without having to carry that much weight. It’s also nice to watch sunrise/sunset in the mountains and get an early start before all the dayhikers arrive from the valleys.
On average the rifugios cost 50 euro per person (Norah’s price varied from free to full price) and this included lodging, dinner, and breakfast (we often purchased lunch and/or drinks as well). Lodging was usually a private room with a shared bathroom or a dormitory room with multiple bunk beds, although we did have a private room and bathroom a few nights. Some nights we had half-board (a more reasonable price) and there was only one dinner option. And other nights we had a choice of three dinners or it was À la carte off the menu. The simpler breakfasts were rolls with butter/jam/nutella and hot drinks and if there was a buffet there was additionally yogurt, cheese, cold cuts, granola, fruit, and sometimes fresh pastries.
Lunch and dinner varied upon the rifugio and their access to supplies (e.g. Rifugio Puez only receives supplies by helicopter). Simple plates such as spaghetti and potatoes/eggs/speck were common in the more remote rifugios. More accessible rifugios had larger menus, including different gnocchi and ravioli dishes that are specialties of the region. By far our best meal was at Rifugio Fuchiade and we also had great meals at rifugios Friedrich August, Fredarola, and Vajolet. The Dolomites were part of the Austro-Hungarian empire before WWI and still show this influence in the food. In addition to Italian dishes, there was a lot of goulash (usually served with polenta), Knödel (savory bread dumplings with speck), apple strudel, and Kaiserschmarrn (a shredded pancake dish). It was all quite tasty!
The German influence is also evident in names. The towns, mountains, and rifugios had both an Italian and German name and in some regions Ladin can still be found. Most, if not all, of the people working in the rifugios spoke both Italian and German. This makes the Dolomites very popular with German hikers and indeed, many of the hikers we encountered were German. We were prepared with our Italian/German language book and tried to use Italian when we could (greetings, key phrases, etc), but often did not need it as somebody spoke enough English to converse. Nearly everybody we encountered was friendly and helpful and this made our trip run smoothly.
Our September 2011 trip focused on the Alta Via 1 trail and Tre Cime de Lavaredo. From these mountains we would sometimes have views of Marmolada or the Rosengarten, so it was fun on this trip to reverse our view. We spent time in the Rosengarten, Sassopiatto-Sassolungo, Odle-Puez Nature Park, Viel de Pan, Passo San Nicolo/Val Contrin, and around Marmolada. At some of the highpoints we had wonderful views of the mountains on the Alta Via 1 trail and enjoyed seeing routes we had previously hiked. Some main differences we noticed between our two trips was the wildflowers (incredible in July, pretty much nonexistent in September), the number of hikers (many more in July, although this could’ve also been related to the areas we were in), and lighting conditions for pictures (better in September). We were fortunate and had good weather for both trips.
One difference we noticed about hiking in the Dolomites is that both our guide book and the trail signs listed times to destinations, rather than distance. This of course it begs the question on what exactly this time is based (relevant when you are hiking with both a five year old and an ultra runner!). We found that sometimes we were a little faster than book/sign time and sometimes slower. It’s hard to tell an exact distance we hiked, but I did total up the book times (not including breaks) and total elevation gain/loss:
- 52.5 hours
- 6514m/21,371 ft elevation gain
- 7082m/23,234 ft elevation loss
Assuming an average rate of 2 miles/hour, this works out to roughly 105 miles (169 km). With 15 days hiking this averages out to 7 miles a day. This was a comfortable amount of miles - we never felt rushed and it allowed for plenty of breaks and relaxation time (or if you’re Steve, time to do via ferratas or go running up mountains).
Despite the snow, we were able to see most of what we had planned to see, just by a different route. We loved our time hiking and if pressed to choose, I would say I especially liked our nights at Malga Brogles and Passo San Nicolo. Other rifugios at which we stayed were Vajolet, Friedrich August, Vicenza, Firenze, Puez, Fredarola, and Fuchiade. All in all, we loved our time in the Dolomites. Each day we marveled at the dramatic mountains and stunning panoramas - we hope our pictures can convey some of this beauty and that you enjoy browsing the galleries!
Resources:
- For help in planning our trip and for information while hiking we relied heavily upon these books from the Cicerone Press:Trekking in the Dolomites and Walking in the Dolomites by Gillian Price.
- Tabacco has the best maps for the Dolomites and can be purchased at omnimap.com. The Tabacco maps are available in 1:50,000 and 1:25,000 scale.
- we also found useful the small tourist maps we picked up at visitor’s centers, motels, etc. (example: Val Gardena map. The Tabacco maps were large and a little unwieldy to constantly pull out. If we were just wanting to check the general route, get a lay of the land, locate a rifugio, or figure out what mountains and valleys we saw from viewpoints, these were really handy to carry in our pocket
- Google Earth, rifugio websites, trip reports, and forums were also useful in planning. Thanks to Gerd for answering our questions on the Tripadvisor forums! Gerd’s website can be found here.
- We saw a lot of WWI artifacts on our 2011 trip which inspired me to read more about Italy and the Great War. Two books I would recommend are The White War Life and Death on the Italian Front 1915-191 by Mark Thompson (non-fiction) and A Soldier of the Great War by Mark Helprin (historical fiction). I also enjoyed A Midsummer Ramble in the Dolomites by Amelia B. Edwards. Published in 1889, Edwards minces no words recounting her trip to the Dolomites and her descriptions bring alive the Dolomites in the 19th century.