Italy: Dobbiaco, Day 2

The weather turned out to be better than the earlier forecast. We set out early for Lake Braies, a popular destination, though I didn't think it was particularly photogenic. It looked better in person. We did a counterclockwise loop, before it got too crowded. By the time we got back to Dobbiaco, we missed the bus to Cortina d'Ampezzo.

After a two-hour gap, we took the 1pm bus towards Cortina, back to Misurina. Since it's afternoon, there were only a handful of people waiting for Bus 50, contrasting our experience the previous day. This time we walked along Lake Misurina towards Bus 51 stop for Cortina, hoping to hitch a ride for Cortina. (Notes to fellow travelers: Cortina is in Veneto. Its buses are not covered by the Suditirol guest pass, but the pass does cover 445 between Dobbiaco and Cortina).

We didn't have the same luck as the day before with hitchhiking. We ended up taking bus 51 to Cortina, reaching Cortina just in time for bus 445 back to Dobbiaco. Our tour of Cortina thus was a bus tour only. The town is bigger than Ortisei, and much busier, quite a bit of construction projects going on, but I had the impression it's a place to be seen, therefore I don't think we'll be basing here for future Dolomites visits either.

Misty Morning view from the bus on our way to Lake Braies.


When we arrived at Lake Braises the rowboats were not officially ready to rent but somehow one couple was out there taking photos.




The sun was up, but not yet shining on the very still surface of the lake. Chilly!








The lake water was super clear; in fact, the combo of 1) the reflections of the green trees, rocky mountains, and blue sky, with 2) the clearness of the water was almost disconcerting at times.








We walked counterclockwise on the trail around the lake.


The first sunlight to hit the lake struck on the beach full of small rock towers/cairns at the south end of the lake


When the sun finally landed on the water, a beautiful mist flowed off the beach.


And in a few minutes most of the lake was lit.






When we returned to the boat dock, all the boats were rented; many photo sessions in progress. ;-)


There is only one road into the huge parking lot at the lake. The traffic backup (below) caused our bus to be late, so we changed plans and rode the bus to Lake Misurina.


The bus dropped us off at the same spot where 200 people queued yesterday; now just a few.


We walked along Lake Misurina enjoying the views, then failed to catch a ride to Cortina and took the bus instead.


Cortina, as seen from the bus window.

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 tail was super busy that day.




At ont point there were some rock climbers high above us.


Forcella Viewpoint




John took a few photos at the Forcella Viewpoint (1st below). And the photos he took (2nd and 3rd 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.