This is the Südtirol, or Alto Adige region of Italy, and it contains some of the most beautiful mountains in the world: The Dolomites.
They are so beautiful that the entire area is a UNESCO World Heritage Center, an area with outstanding universal value. The famous mountaineer, Reinhold Messner, grew up here, and his partner Peter Habeler is from just across the border.
The people who live here are bilingual, German and Italian, as the border has shifted several times over the years. The signs, menus, everything is in two languages. This made it really easy for us to get around, as I speak German, and my Italian was getting better day by day.
We took the train to the city of Bolzano – Bozen, where we caught a shuttle bus that took us about 20KM up, up winding roads into the mountains and dropped us off in a small municipal parking lot in Castelrotto – Kastelruth.
I will just use the Italian names from now on, since we are on an Italian vacation.
Castelrotto is a pretty little town, maybe six thousand people, with a very pretty church and bell tower, great views over the surrounding countryside, and some stores and restaurants which all close early in the evening so you can turn in and be refreshed for the next day hiking. It is at an elevation of about 1060 meters (3500 feet).
Because that is what there is to do here: hike and climb, then ski in the winter.
We stayed in the Hotel Cavallino d’Oro, and ended up eating most of our meals here as well, because we could get a “late” dinner service at about 20:00. One night when we were out walking the quiet, dark streets we did find a small place open, or maybe they were closing up, but left the lights on by mistake, because they only had coffee and dessert available. We had a great apple strudel sitting outside by candlelight.
Our room had a balcony full of red flowers and a great view over the surrounding farms and up to the grey peaks in the distance. The hotel itself also had a sauna, so we booked it every evening we stayed, and what a treat that was after a day of walking. I fell asleep in the “cooling off” chair the last evening there.
Well, we were up early, ate a hearty breakfast, then took the free shuttle bus to the next town over, Seis am Schlern, where we boarded a huge cable car that carried us about a thousand meters higher to the lift station at Compatsch. From here we hiked a little ways and took another chair lift up to the Panorama station, where we really began our hike.
We were walking in the great meadows of the Alpe di Siusi, or Seiser Alm area. The meadows rise and fall, but you are about 1800 to 2000 meters up (5900-6600 feet elevation). The paths are easy to follow, and well marked with arrows that not only have trail numbers, but they are color coded as well. You can hike the uphill sections, or take lifts. It was like walking in a sea of wildflowers, more than I have ever seen, a wall to wall carpet of them as far as we could see. We came around one corner and head downhill into a slight valley, when we heard accordion music. It was like a soundtrack to a 1950’s movie. As we cam a little further around, there, sitting by the side of the trail, was a kid on the accordion with his basket out for tips. (Yes, we tipped him.) A little further on were some local kids selling rocks. Black rocks, like the ones on the ground all around us. (We bought one and donated it back further down the trail.) There was a herd of horses grazing peacefully; when they got spooked they were suddenly running, manes blowing as they effortlessly glided up and over the hillside like water. Groups of cows, bells jingling, on the trail and grazing alongside, and best of all, every couple of kilometers was a hut, with full bar and restaurant, and beds for rent.
So we just walked and walked, soaking in the sights, and anytime we started to get a little thirst or hungry or tired, there was a hut! And we’d stop in, grab a drink or some food, then set out again.
It was effortless to cover 20 or 25 kilometers. A series of lifts and shuttle busses got us home again.
Gail spent a spa day, while I went climbing with a local guide. I wanted to do a via ferrata route. Via Ferrata means “iron road” and it is a sort of sport climbing where all the protection is there for you: wire cables, rebar steps and anchor points. All you need are climbing shoes, a harness and perhaps a helmet.
I mountaineer at home, and have the equipment, but I hired a guide for two reasons. First, I did not want to carry any equipment with me for six weeks, just to use it for a day or two. It is too heavy and bulky for my carry on pack. Second, we did not have a car, and I knew it would be a problem trying to figure out the public transportation to the climbing sites.
I went climbing with this company. The guide was great, and we got along well. The cost was very reasonable for a full day of climbing, though I have to admit that I was a little disappointed by the challenge of it. We were clipped in for “climbing” sections that I would not even think twice about free-climbing at home. In fact most of the route I would grade 5.4 at the hardest, with maybe the toughest section a 5.5 due to exposure. Still, it was a fun day with great views. There was a second client, a girl from Barcelona, so we did well with a mix of English, Italian, German and Spanish.
We set out to climb Mt. Sciliar (the Schlern) which is a famous and prominent peak at 2563 meters (8400 feet). The peculiar shape is an emblem of the region, and that combined with the elevation causes it to create (stormy) weather patterns.
So, of course, in Medieval times people thought that it was an evil gathering place for witches, who came from all over, flying on their broomsticks. In the day, nine women were sentenced to death as they were said to be witches and weather makers.
Today the witches and their broomsticks serve as a kind of regional folk art thing. I am happy to report we made it to the top and back without being burned at the stake.
We spent another long day hiking over to the town of Seis am Schlern and then the Alpe di Siusi.
One of these nights I had what is the most beautiful meal I have ever had, a wild boar ravoli covered in edible wildflowers from the meadows. See the photo below, or this blog post.
We were walking around the town after dark, our last night there, when we noticed the door to the bell tower was open, and the lights were on. I wanted to go explore, Gail was kind of holding me back, but we just pushed on in and started climbing up the stairs. We walked right into a very small gathering of people, an artist was having a show. He is the sculptor, Erich Trocker and I really loved his whimsical wooden carvings of people, especially this one where the guy has a look on his face that says, “Are you fucking kidding me?!?!”
I know that look.
Another artist friend of his, Egon Dejori, was hosting the party. Well, they just welcomed us right in like we were family or perhaps big money buyers, and invited us to eat and drink with them. Egon especially was impressed that we could converse so fluently in a mix of Italian and German, and so he practiced his English on me while I worked on the other two languages with him. We spent a few hours talking, eating and just hanging out before it all broke up.
The Dolomites are a region that is probably better known in Europe than in the US. It is probably the easiest, most fun, and spectacular hiking I have ever done.
-July 2010