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!