Sunday 2 July 2023
No, really. The day dawned cloudy but at least dry and we set off really early for our chosen hike – the somewhat challenging Kaiserjager Route up to the top of Lagazuoi where there are incredible views. Gnarly opener, but we picked this because the forecast suggested the weather would get worse from today onwards.
So imagine our joy after 30 minutes of driving to meet a police car blocking the road. Today is the day of the annual Dolomite gruelling bike race thingy, and so all the roads in the middle of the mountains are closed. After checking our book of hikes we confirmed that our 2nd and 3rd choice hikes were also in this area. We settled on hiking up the Val Ombreta in the shadow of Marmalota (highest peak in the Dolomites) and started on the 30 minute drive back the way we just came.
The Val Ombreta is very pretty, and when there were gaps in the clouds the views were impressive. But either because other hiking areas were closed or because this hike is described as “family friendly” the trail was absolutely queued in places. Reminder: we love solitude and our favourite hikes involve seeing zero other people. Obviously an unfair expectation if you want to walk in the most beautiful places in the world, but it’s certainly the very opposite of the crowds on this trail.
But there was a little bonus on this hike! A colony of marmots in the open valley near the trail. Sure enough, on the way up we spotted them briefly and decided to stop on the way back for a longer look. When we got back we discovered that a family had also decided to try and see the marmots… so had settled down for a picnic right beside the colony. Even though we waited a good ten minutes (in a chilly breeze) after they packed up and left, no marmots.
So instead we settled on taking the cablecar up to near the very top of Marmalota, to gaze down on the shrinking glacier and craggy peaks. Except that we got back 2 minutes after the last cablecar for the day had left! Cursed, I tell you.
Well, we were hungry as well as grumpy, so needing a late lunch. But apparently too late for anywhere much to be open. So we chewed through a pretty crappy sandwich in a bit of a sulk.
However, praise the internet! Some random hotel website had an article about a location (a mere 45 minutes drive away!) where a marmot colony is pretty comfortable with humans, because climbers have been climbing the cliffs at that spot for years. So right at the end of the day we got a little silver lining and some really close-up views of chunky Alpine marmots squeaking in the sun.
Dinner at Hotel Albe tonight was dismal, even compared to the fairly average food the previous night. So there’s that too.
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