Via Ferrata (Via della Trincee): Dolomites

This would be our 8th day in a row of hiking and climbing, so all of our legs were dragging a little bit.  But it was the last day in the Dolomites before returning to Venice so we determined to make the best of it.   It's always hard to look at a guidebook description and compare routes, but with our third via ferrata of the week, we really saved the best for last.  This one was in the guidebook (Via Ferratas of the Dolomites, Vol. 1) as ARABBA 2.

Save the legs strategy #1:  Take the cable car up.  And up, and up, and up.  At the top station, we were already looking over the Lake di Fedaia with the Marmolada glacier in the background, easily at a higher elevation than we had been all week.

Save the legs strategy #2:  Tackle the hardest climbing first.  Luckily the via ferrata route did that for this this time...after just 15 minutes of hiking up we were already at the start of the cables.  It did seem to go straight up for a while, but the book had warned us that this was just at the start.  So we rose vertically and quickly for a few meters, then found ourselves clambering along a knife ridge, with views down both valleys, of lakes and glaciers and lovely swirling clouds.

Save the legs strategy #3: Skip a section.  The cables were arranged in three parts, where it was possible to enter and leave the ferrata from the parallel hiking trail.  Sarah headed around to the second section and met us there.   Unfortunately she missed a nice bit of ferrata aside from the steep start, so perhaps she'll get to come back to this one someday.

The first section included quite a bit of downclimbing, a rickety bridge, and monumentous drops to the north.  The fog swirled in and out, giving us uncommon views of the air beneath our feet.  I lent Rob my GoPro video camera, and he was entranced by it for a few hours, resulting in the best bits of video we captured during the trip.  See the finished video here   That might be why we have less real photos of this one, we were distracted by video equipment.  :)

The second section, Sarah back with us, had a bunch of falling apart wooden and brick structures from the wars.  Well, there really wasn't much left of them but rotten beams, and a lot more downclimbing.  It was a short section, really. 

The third section was more knife ridge stuff, very cool, with a couple of tunnels including one with lots of side trails and sniper holes.  It looked a rather wet dreary place to camp out, but it was probably better for the soldiers than being outside in the winter.

Save the legs strategy #4:  Find a shortcut back to the start.   After exiting the tunnels at the end of the ferrata, the trail had us winding down and around to the trail in the lower valley.  I determined that we could go back through the tunnels a ways and then take a steep goat trail back to where we had started.  This certainly saved us some time and effort, although Rob had a few stumbles on the narrow trail with butt meeting grass. Luckily no injuries except loss of face...doubly lucky my video camera wasn't on at the time!

It is possible to walk down the hill, but the cable car was just so enticing, and fast!    Although the other two ferratas had taken us slightly longer than the guidebook predicted, this one was quite a bit fast than we expected.    Good for us, as it allowed us to reluctantly wave goodbye to the mountains and head down to Venice for a last day of sunshine and heat.

Via Ferrata (Sandro Pertini): Dolomites

Our second Via Ferrata was near the town of Selva, again not far from our campground so an easy drive.  Listed in the guidebook (Via Ferratas of the Dolomites, Vol. 1) as SELVA 5, it was the most technically challenging routes we had selected.  This was also a newer route, having been installed less than 10 years ago. 

Again, the parking lot was filling up as we arrived, but the valley was also popular with hikers so the cables themselves weren't as crowded.  It was a short hike to the start of the climb, which went pretty much up the nose of a cliff face.  It was very steep, very sustained, and only had one real location to rest and eat on the way up.  We were more than ready for a break by the time we reached it! 

We had chosen this route because it was a fairly short approach and descent afterwards...we were trying to save our legs a little. After all, this would be the 6th day in a row that we had been hiking up hills with some serious elevation changes, and we were all feeling a little pooped. So to rest our legs, we tested our arms instead. Which turned out ok, as the route was really beautiful, and fun to climb. The knife-edged rock ridges across the valley were stunning, and the cumulous clouds just made the scenery more dramatic.

I particularily enjoyed the ladder/bridge, but we were all happy to rest our arms when we finally arrived at the top.   We took a few minutes to just lay in the grass and look at the gorgeous scenery.  The Dolomites will take your breath away, they really will.   Little did we know, though, that we were laying on top of a shallow, natural bridge of rock, which connected the flake of cliff we had climbed to the rest of the ridge!   Luckily we didn't find out about that until we had hiked up and around by the hut and back around onto another finger. 

The descent was fairly modest, with good trails and no scrambling (unlike previous days) so we did get a bit of a rest.   Not enough, though, unfortunately.  Rob and I set off to do a via ferrata the next day at Falzarego Pass, and I was so tired (after 35 hours of hiking in just 7 days, ouch!) that I barely made the hour's climb up the pass, and after arriving at the start of the via ferrata, could only look at it and shake my head.  I knew I was too tired to safely tackle the cliffs ahead of me.   So we'll save that one for a future trip, as it did look to be a cracking route for energetic legs!

View of the natural bridge from the descent route, the via ferrata comes up the other side.

       

 



Have GoPro, will Video!

As you might have seen in some of the photos from our recent vacation to the Alps, I've got a GoPro strapped to my helmet.  Now that I've managed to get some footage of both White Water Rafting and Via Ferrata, I've put together a short video of our adventures.  Luckily I also managed to avoid hitting my camera on a rock while climbing!

Via Ferrata (Brigata Tridentina): Dolomites

After a break of at least 5 years, we have returned to the Dolmonites to indulge in one of war's few positive achievements, the Via Ferrata.    Started in World War I as a way to get troops up into the high mountain ridges to defend their countries, Via Ferrata means "Iron Way".   These mountain paths use cables, pegs, ladders, bridges, tunnels, and sometimes even ziplines to go up and over cliffs and otherwise impossible terrain.  Via Ferratas are now built around the world, but remain concentrated in the Alps.  The old war routes are maintained and new routes are still being designed and installed.  Best of all, the routes are free!   Although some do require the use of a cable car to get up to them, therefore saving the legs...

 

The route: up the waterfall in the right valley,descent on the left.  Simples.

Our first via ferrata in Italy was chosen because it was just up the road from our campground in Corvara.  In fact, we could see the start of the route before even setting off.   The parking lot was filling up as we drove in, and a steady line of people headed down the trail in front of us.  The guidebook (Via Ferratas of the Dolomites, Vol. 1) had warned that this route, listed as CORV 4, would be really popular, and they weren't exagerating.  By the time we were geared up at 9am, the lot was full.   

Wearing a helmet, harness, gloves, and special via ferrata landyards, we arrived at the start of the cables, which were just a few minutes from our car.  No wonder the route was popular!   The line of climbers was already clambering up the side of the waterfall, but once on the route, everyone went mostly at the same pace and it didn't feel crowded.   

The waterfall was coming down off of the Sella Massif, the heart of the Italian Dolomites.  We had wonderful weather and the views were absolutely stunning.  Slowly climbing the 700 vertical meters of the via ferrata gave us time to enjoy the views, and gasp as each new range came into view.   

The climb got steadily more difficult (perhaps we were more tired), concluding with a vertical ladder and then a bridge across a deep, narrow chasm.  Pisciadu Hut was waiting at the top, offering refreshing beverages to the steady stream of climbers.  The gorgeous backdrop of a mountain lake and further high summits set off the hut perfectly, and we got to enjoy snatches of song from a large group of men worshiping at the lakeside.

The shortest descent back to our car was reputed to be very steep and not so nice, according to a family of Brits resting at the top.  So we took a longer route home, dropping us into a scree valley home to a few mountain goats.  A steep descent opened up into the valley and multiple gentle routes choices;  Rob and I walked back to the car, and Sarah took the path to the campground.  Once again the rain held off until we were all back in the tent.

A busy route but well worth the crowds.  The scenery was absolutely stunning.

Our campground is down there somewhere....



Rob leads the way

 

Triglav Summit and Hut Hike, Slovenia

The original plan for this vacation called for a multiday hut hike on the part of Sarah, Heather and Nicki.  Unfortunately Heather and Nicki couldn't come along, so Sarah and I took it upon ourselves to visit at least one hut in Slovenia.  (Actually, all we really wanted was to sleep on a proper mattress after a few days on the hard ground of our tents!)

We had to earn our soft pillows, though, with a hike up from the Savica Waterfall on the west end of Lake Bohinj.  It was about 1000 meters of elevation gain from the word go, and several hours later we were still toiling up the steep trail.  Luckily the scenery was pleasantly distracting near the top, with thick forests, cliffs, green lakes, and towering summits to keep our minds off our lack of lungpower.
 

Arriving at the hut

The Triglav Lakes Valley runs between two long high ridges of rock, deep in the Julian Alps.  Midday found us approaching our hut, which was set near a green lake and set back in the trees.  It was the best hut location we saw in our travels.   Luckily the hut, named Koca pri Triglavskih, had room for us, and we emptied a bit of gear onto our bunks to reserve them, regretting the sleeping bags we had carried up after seeing the sheets and blankets provided.  Turned out we really didn't need anything, either, as our tiny room (crammed with 12 bunks, 10 people, and everyone's gear) was so suffocatingly hot that we sweated through the night.  I guess no one realized the windows could have been opened wide?

Triglav Lakes Valley

With pack suitably lightened, I took my leave from Sarah and the hut, and picked up the pace for my intended destination, the summit of Triglav!  Sarah wisely decided to spend the day enjoying the views from the valley (good choice!), plus she had summitted Triglav some years back and didn't need to do it again. Climbing to the highest point in Slovenia at 2864 meters is a rite of passage for the locals, and almost without exception requires a night spent in a hut to accomplish it.   Although I was ascending from the longest approach, I felt I had the speed to make the summit about 5 p.m., before retracing my steps to return to the hut before dark.  Just.


We didn't have the best of weather for our 2 days out, as the clouds were hanging on the peaks and rain was threatening.  Once above the Triglav Lakes Valley, I was into bare rock and into the clouds.  I kept my trail only by following the frequent circular trail markers painted on the rock.  When I stopped to rest, there was NO SOUND in the still air, not of bugs or grass or wind or people or the screaming calls of marmots.  In fact the fog was the same color as the rock, and it was almost total sensory deprivation, except for the sharp rocks, and at times I had no idea which direction I was going.   Yes, I did have map, compass and altimeter in case of emergency! 

The shortest route to Triglav required a short scree descent to the next hut, Koca ni Dolicu.  From then on the clouds lifted a little and I could see the trail more easily, and the thousands of feet down into the valley below.  Triglav summit remained shrouded in clouds except for about 20 seconds, appearing to loom above me as I started the final climb to the top.   A few pegs and cables were there to aid in the climb, as the rocks were so steep I couldn't have done it otherwise.   At 4:30 p.m. I was standing on top of Slovenia, oddly enough not in clouds, but they surrounded the mountains and I had no views from where I stood.   There were a few people still on the summit, although I had only seen a few hikers on the trail. 

It was amazingly warm on the summit and I stayed in the same clothes I had warn all day, just shorts, t-shirt and arm warmers.  Darkess was looming, though, so I didn't rest long.  The descent was welcome, although I had a few moments of fright halfway down the cable section, which suddenly started to look unfamilar!?!  I realized that I had missed a trail interection and was no going down the wrong face.  Uh-oh.   Getting back to the correct path meant climbing back up the cables, with loose rock bouncing down the mountain below me. 

From there it was just a race to get home before dark, retracing my steps to the hut and up to the high valley, and back to the lakes.   The trail didn't always look terribly familiar in reverse, and I had a few moments where I had to stop and scan the area around me for a trail marker, any trail marker.   A red circle usually appeared in time but it wasn't a fast trail by any means, the rocks were sharp and jagged and waiting to shift under my feet. 

The rain held off as I got closer to the hut, thankfully, as the rocks were treacherous enough without being wet, too!  At 8:30 pm I finished my 12 hour hike and walked into the hut.  The rain started less than an hour later, whew, close call there!  I put on the hut's slippers to walk up to my bunk room, where I found 8 new souls already snoring in the bunks (at 830!) and Sarah happily reading by flashlight.  In the dining room, a few guys attempted to play the guitar and last drink orders were taken quickly.   Having missed the dinner hour, I contented myself with snacks from my pack and a quick wash in the sink before turning in myself.
 

Triglav Lakes Valley

So after a sweltering nights sleep, our morning goal was to walk back down to the carpark, where Rob would be waiting to whisk us out of Slovenia and into the Italian Dolomites.  But our feet were dragging as we took in the perfectly clear blue skies, white cliffs, the sunshine on the trees, and the green lakes.  We could have easily stayed up high for another day and hung out to enjoy the views.  We did linger a little by one of the lakes, feeding animal crackers to the frenzied fish (how did so many get in the lake, anyway?) and delaying the steep trail back down for just a few more minutes.


Triglav (as seen from Lake Bohinj)





Lake Bohinj