Three Days in the Dolomites
I'd talked about the Dolomites for a long time, but I was never able to sacrifice a whole week to actually go there. For a long weekend it felt too far, because by car you can reach them from the Czech Republic in about 7-8 hours. This year I started thinking about a trip to these mountains again, because I discovered you can get there fairly easily by train. I figured I could board in Brno on Wednesday evening and be in Toblach before nine the next morning. From there it's quite easy to carry on by bus.
But accommodation in a hotel or guesthouse is terribly expensive in this area. The cheapest was around 2,700 CZK per night, and the average price was about 4,000 CZK for one night in a double room. And even the train journey didn't work out particularly cheap. So I started looking into whether there was a suitable campsite nearby. I found several right away, and one was even at an altitude of 1,770 m above sea level (Camping Alla Baita by Lago di Misurina). I mulled it all over for a while and in the end reached a compromise. I drove there by car and brought comfortable camping gear.
The roughly seven and a half hours of driving passed quickly enough. Only the last stretch, where you drive about 120 km through a valley with no motorway, drags a little. The Dolomites didn't greet me very kindly. Dark clouds were chasing across the mountains and the temperature was dropping below 15 degrees. After I reached the campsite in Misurina and found it to be more of a small camping ground, and that it could get really cold there from Friday into Saturday, I decided to turn back and return to Lago di Dobbiaco. There's a very well-equipped campsite there at an altitude of about 1,300 m above sea level. On the way to the campsite I drove through a thunderstorm with hail, and thought to myself, this is off to a fine start. And indeed, this day wasn't much of a success. No sooner had I pitched the tent than it began to drizzle. After a while it stopped, just barely long enough for me to cook dinner, and then came a thunderstorm, this time a proper one. It poured for over an hour, and the dry patch where the tent stood turned into one big puddle. So I went to sleep on a sort of waterbed, and after a few hours and more overnight rain I woke to a cold, overcast morning.
But the Dolomites were probably just testing me, because around eight in the morning it began to clear up and I set off into the mountains. At the end of the article I've prepared maps of both routes I hiked here. I drove up to the hut Rifugio Auronzo, which lies at an altitude of 2,333 m, so the start of the hike was greatly simplified (the price you pay is the expensive parking, which here costs 30 EUR per day for a car, though you can also come by bus). A lot of people come here, because you can do a fairly easy 9 km walk along the beautiful peaks of Tre Cime di Lavaredo. I set out along this route too at first, but because there really were a great many tourists, I turned off at the Lavaredo Hütte hut onto route 104, which takes a detour to Rifugio Pian di Cengia. This change almost doubled the length of my walk, but at the same time it shook off about 90% of the tourists. And suddenly I could enjoy the peace of the majestic mountains almost alone.
The trails in the Tre Cime di Lavaredo area are gorgeous. They lead around the individual mountains, so ever-new views keep opening up. That, of course, meant I kept taking photos. From Lavaredo Hütte you walk downhill for a while and then climb up green slopes to a mountain saddle that towered ahead of me. From there it's just a ten-minute detour to Rifugio Pian di Cengia, where you can get refreshments (they cook until 3 p.m.). It's definitely worth picking up a map of this area at the tourist information office, because the Mapy.cz app, for example, lists a route through the via ferratas as a hiking trail, and its difficulty could come as quite an unpleasant surprise. That said, the routes I describe here are purely for walking, and a moderately fit person will manage them just fine. The only technically more demanding section is between Rifugio Pian di Cengia and Dreizinnen Hut, where you walk along a path through rocky scree, sometimes across patches of leftover snow, so you need to take extra care in this part. On top of that, a nicely icy wind was blowing here. But it was all made up for by a magnificent view of the peaks opposite and the three little lakes that gradually revealed themselves in the valley below me.
After about an hour and a half I reached the Dreizinnen Hut, which is currently closed, so my hope of getting something to eat or drink here went unanswered. Once I'd recovered a little strength by resting, and above all feasted on the incredible panoramic views in every direction, and after letting the small camera film a time-lapse for a while, I set off on the final stretch. I could take the shorter, wider path via Lavaredo Hütte straight back to the starting point at Rifugio Auronzo, or stretch the walk out a bit more via Langalm. Naturally I chose the longer route, so today's hike came to just under 18 km with 1,286 m of elevation gain.
The cold wind brought chilly weather, so even arriving at the campsite 1,000 m lower didn't mean any comfort or a chance to warm up. The north wind was blowing here too, so all I could do after a quick dinner was crawl into my sleeping bag and try to get warm. But I didn't really manage it, and the almost frosty morning had me awake at first light. My salvation was a warm morning cup of tea, and later the sun, which slowly began to warm things up. I spent a very long time looking for a route for the day. I didn't feel like traveling far by car, and at the same time the smaller green hills around Toblach didn't appeal to me. In the end I planned a route similar to yesterday's, but this time setting out from the other side (from the town of Moos).
The road led me to a park-and-ride lot, and beyond that vehicles were banned. Parking here costs 5 EUR per day. I set off past the Rifugio Fondo Valle hut, and after that you can go either left or right, but in any case fairly steeply uphill. Today an 18.6 km route with 1,732 m of elevation gain awaited me, so I got plenty of climbing in. I chose the right-hand path and headed toward Dreizinnen Hut. On this section of the route, 5 km long with 1 km of elevation gain, you have to expect the going to be quite physically demanding. But the climb is made pleasant by a walk through a beautiful valley where a mountain river flows, the last remnants of snow are melting, and a tall waterfall cascades down the cliffs. The whole way you skirt the beautiful Crode Fiscaline mountain. Then comes a traverse across the mountain saddle to the Rifugio Pian di Cengia hut, which I'd already done yesterday, but in the opposite direction. Once I reached the mountain hut I could breathe easy, because no more climbing awaited me today. But I knew I still wouldn't get any rest, because whatever I'd climbed up I now had to go back down, so this time it would be my knees that took a beating.
If you have enough energy, you can also climb route 101A above the hut and take in the view from a peak 2,675 m high. I forgot about this detour, so I carried straight on via Rifugio Zsigmondy-Comici back down into the valley. As I wrote above, it's a fairly steep descent, often over rocks and stone steps, so it's no rest at all. But the whole route is so beautiful and photogenic that it's definitely worth a little effort. After about 8 hours I was back at Rifugio Fondo Valle and could treat myself to a great Italian coffee. My camera was full of beautiful shots and my head was full of memories. In two days I'd seen far more than I'd expected.
The cold wind had almost died down, so the third night at the campsite was more pleasant. For the last day I'd planned to ride the old, funny cable car up Monte Cristallo, hoping to look out from an altitude of 3,000 m and then head home. Unfortunately the cable car was closed, so I didn't get to enjoy this attraction, and around ten o'clock, after another Italian espresso, I set off on the return journey to the Czech Republic. The Dolomites really are beautiful, and there are so many hiking and cycling trails and via ferratas here that you could enjoy outdoor activities for many days. Of course it's a paradise for lovers of landscape photography, though perfectly capturing the local beauty would be a job of several years. In two days I only got a fleeting impression of this part of Italy, but I hope I'll soon find the time to come back and spend more days here.
Tip 1: For accommodation in this area I can recommend the excellent Camping Lago di Dobbiaco - www.toblachersee.com (34 EUR for 2 people, 1 tent and 1 car for 1 night).
Tip 2: Anyone wanting to save money can use the more modest but cheaper Camping Alla Baita, where 2 people, 1 tent and 1 car will cost you 21 EUR.
Tip 3: The weather at altitudes above 2,000 m is already a bit unpredictable, so pack a rain jacket, a windbreaker and some warmer clothing for the hike. Good boots are also pretty much a necessity.
Tip 4: Set out on the hike as early as possible, so there's plenty of time before sunset and you can enjoy the walk without rushing, with the chance to sit somewhere for a good while and drink in the incredible panoramic views that are sure to fascinate any attentive observer.
Gear: Mountains that make such a monumental impression on me create in me the urge to make my photographs as high-quality as possible too. That's why I think you need to prepare for creating panoramic photographs. So either equip yourself with a camera capable of shooting panoramas automatically, or better still, pack a tripod with a panoramic head. When shooting panoramic images, prime lenses with a fixed focal length of 35mm or even 50mm work brilliantly. A very dark ND filter will also come in handy, letting you shoot with long exposures and thus capture nice, dynamic shots of water in the river or clouds racing quickly over the mountains.
Route 1 - 17.8 km (ascent and descent approx. 1,280 m)