Italy: Dobbiaco, Day 1

After 3 days in Val Gardena, we changed bases to Dobbiaco, to the northeast. We decided on Dobbiaco over Cortina D'Ampezzo, because there is the direct "reservation required" bus 444 to Tre Cime (Three Peaks). In the end, because of weather and bad timing, we didn't manage to get a reservation on bus 444 - AI to the rescue - there is an alternate route of 445 to Misurina then bus 50 up the mountain to trail head.

As the weather was expected to change for the worse, we decided to accomplish Tre Cime on our transfer day. John says, "Oh my!" We left Ortisei at 6am, bused then trained to Dobbiaco, dropped off our bags at the hotel, and caught the 10am bus from Dobbiaco to Misurina, so far so good. When we arrived in Misurina, there were about 200 people queued for bus 50 - Misurina has a big parking lot. We decided to tough it out and wait. An hour and half later, we finally got up the mountain. We knew there wasn't going to be enough time to do the entire Tre Cime circuit as we originally planned. Being on the ground, we realized it was sufficient to walk to the Forcella viewpoint, as 90+% of the people on the trail had long figured out - there are a lot of them too.

I was not particularly impressed with Tre Cime, but they are considered the symbols of the Dolomites. Now that we have them checked off, we scurried back to the bus stop and waited about half an hour. When bus 50 came, not everyone fit on the bus. When we got to Misurina, we had an hour to wait for 445 to take us back to Dobbiaco. John busied himself hitching a ride. After about 15 minutes, and with a helpful suggestion from a policeman, we were on our way to Dobbiaco; picked up by a French couple.

Leaving Ortiseai and Villa Luise at the Crack of Dawn.


On the Train to Dobbiaco.


Finally on the Tre Cime circuit. Great views past the celebrating cyclists down to the valley and Lake Misurina.




Walking below the Tre Cime (Three Peaks).


An alternate trail that we did not take.


The Tre Cime.


Forcella Viewpoint




John takes a photo at the Forcella Viewpoint (1st below). And the photo he took (2nd below)




Returning from the Forcella Viewpoint. The return was downhill, rocky, dusty, and sunny. Not easy at 2,454 meters (8,051 feet).




The kind policeman in the blue shirt saw we were hitch-hiking to Dobbiaco (I was using my phone as a digital sign) and suggested we walk 100 meters to the crossroads with the main route to Dobbiaco. Thanks!

Italy: Ortisei, Day 3

There was just one last hike we had planned for Val Gardena - Mount Pic Summit at 2363 meters. We first took the bus to the next village up the valley, Santa Cristina, then walked to catch the Col Raiser gondola (~1546m - ~2090m). After we reached the top station, we started walking towards Pic. It wasn't until we were at the top, I realized that while it is not particularly high, Pic is in the middle of everything. It's a 360 view of the surrounding mountains.

We walked down from Pic to the bottom station of the Fermeda chairlift (~2026m - ~2500) and lifted back up to Seceda, then rode the gondola back down to Ortisei. The weather was a little different this time; cloudy and cool.

We started our Val Gardena visit with Seceda and ended with it. Overall, we ended up hiking less than we expected, but saw a lot more than we expected.

Sunrise Views from our room at Villa Luise.




After a short bus ride, it was a 15-mInute walk from the bus stop to the Col Raiser Lift.




It was very busy at the top of the lift. There is a photo point, a restaurant, and trails for several directions.






We took the trail towards the summit of Mount Pic. On the way there were great views to the Sassolungo Group (2nd below) and Seceda Ridge (3rd).






Sun-Ling is almost at the Summit of Pic. The weather is sunny and nice - no jackets needed.


Woohoo! The Summit at 2393 m.a.s.l (7859 feet)! The wind picked up as we ate our lunch, so we put on more layers.




View on the descent to the Fermeda Lift: Sassolungo Group (right) - Seceda Ridge and Odle Group (left)


Ourselfies on the Fermeda Chairlift. Plus a view to the ground (3rd below)






A cinematic exit from the Fermeda Lift.


A final selfie with the Odle Group in the background before we took the Seceda Gondola down to Ortisei.


And our last Golden Hour views from our room at Villa Luise.

Italy: Ortisei, Day 2

The second day we took a bus to Passo Sella to ride the Forcella del Sassolungo gondola (~2180m - ~2680m), nicknamed the "Coffin Lift", as it fits only two people standing, for the novelty of it.

After riding down, we started on the Sassolungo Circuit trail which goes around the base of the Sassolungo Group. Rather than walking the whole circuit as in our original plan, we walked a part of it to catch the Ciampinoi Lift (~2248m - ~1566m) down to Selva di Val Gardena towards the upper end of the valley.

The village of Selva di Val Gardena didn't seem nearly as busy as Ortisei. We walked across town to catch the Dantercepies gondola (~1646m - ~2291m) up to the Cir Peak in the Puez Group (east of Odle/Geisler), right across from the walls of the Sella Group. We had a very short walk before going back down in the gondola.

Selva di Val Gardena is just a short bus ride home to Ortisei. I feel like I'm being spoiled by lifting up and down. We're so used to slowly trudging up and down mountains.

The coffin lift will take us up to the center right notch of the Sassolungo Group. There is a mountain hut / restaurant up there.




Standing in the "Coffin Lift" and watching the hikers (ascending) and cyclists below was fun for sure.








At the top, we found a spot on a bench near where the hikers finished their ascent. Not to mention the view of the circling paragliders.




Then we set out to Ciampinoi, first passing under the Coffin Lift.




Then some stunning views of the Majestic Marmolada Group and the Marmolada Glacier.


This Chair Lift Also Moves Bikes


Our Lunch Spot in an Alpine Meadow at the Rifugio Emilio Comici (Emilio-Comici-Hütte) Facing the Sella Group. It's a popular spot to take a break.




Onward and upward to the Ciampinoi Lift which took us down to Selva di Val Gardena Village.






Dantercepies Lift in Selva di Val Gardena Village.


Nice set of MTB tracks at the top of the Dantercëpies Lift.




And it's a fun and relaxing lift ride back down to Selva di Val Gardena and the bus home.