Stop number two in the Dolomites would be Parco Naturale Tre Cime. The itinerary was:

• Day 1: Bus to Rifugio Piano Fiscalino.
  • Hike up trail 103 to Rifugio Comici.
  • Hike on trail 101 to Rifugio Pian di Cengia.
  • Hike on trail 101 to Rifugio Locatelli, and stay the night.
• Day 2: Hike into the valley on the trail between 102 and 105.
  • Continue on that trail until it reconnected at M.ga Langalm.
  • Stay on trail 105 to Rifugio Auronzo.
  • Bus back to the hotel.

The first two parts of the hike was the toughest. The day started out bright, sunny, hot, and a bit humid. The trails climbed 3996-ft in about 3.66-miles, but the view was pretty rad.

A few hours later, clouds moved in, and we had this view in our face.

We stopped and had ourselves a fabulous lunch

From there, we hiked down the steep and slippery passage to Alpe dei Piani. This was a wonderful place where the views constantly changed for the hour or so it took to hike through.

At the bottom of the valley between P.ta Sasso Vecchio and Einser Cime Una, was a gorgeous lake. The chunks of ice at the bottom of the photo were calving as we hiked through

Once we got past this view, were greeted with two more lakes

Climbing out of the valley got you to Tre Cime di Lavaredro!!!

We stopped here for the night at the wonderful Rifugio Locatelli. They probably had the tastiest food of the whole trip. The dinner menu consisted of pumpkin gnocchi for starters. A choice of bacon over fried potatoes, or a BBQ pork skewer with potatoes for the main course, and a cheese based dessert with berries or cake for dessert. All of this with some lovely wine from Südtirol.

The clouds made for a lovely sunset

…and then we took our boots off and passed out for the night.

^Locatelli requires you to trade in your boots for a pair of Crocs.

We woke up to thunderstorms in the morning, but those mostly cleared after breakfast… so we set off for the valley between Tre Cime and the Valle della Rienza (between trails 102 and 105).

From around here, we had nice views of some grazing dairy cows

By the time we got out of the valley, the sky started to clear up nicely

…and then proceed to re-appear when we reached Rifugio Auronzo.

^it would have been nice to see Le Ciampedele!!!

The next day, we hit the road to to continue the city portion of our trip…

Some thoughts of the Dolomiti…

• It’s gorgeous.
• You say, “buongiorno!” or “hallo!” as you probably won’t run into any Americans doing this. We only heard one group of ppl w/ American accents.
  • What am I thinking… they were probably Canadian.
• These Parco Naturales are much better run than America’s NPS… Also, better food.
• Dairy Cows w/ cowbells… Everywhere.
  • Resulting in excellent yogurts and cheeses.
• Old(er) people. Everywhere
  • We were probably the youngest on the trails? I would say the majority of the folks in the hills were in their mid 30’s to 55 range.
  • I want to be doing this in 30-yrs.
• Haribo Dinosaur Gummies > Clif Shot Bloks.
• Rifugio meals were better than all of the Ethan Stowell restaurants in Seattle, combined.
• We lucked out on the weather. It rained the night at Locatelli, and a few hours after we got back to town.
• The Dolomites saw some action during WW2. There are some caves and plaques scattered around the trail system.
• If you go, and rent a car… be sure to rent something more powerful than the standard Fiat Puunto… unless you enjoy driving around in the mountains in only 1st or 2nd gear.
  • But mostly 1st.
  • Also, good luck passing (not that you’ll ever get the opportunity to do so…)
• I need to go back. Maybe Zermatt and more Tre Cime hikes for 2015… New Zealand can wait.
  • I should probably learn some German.