2023 Dolomites

Tuesday 29th August:  Weather: 8°C to 12°C: Cold overcast day with a few showers

Castiglioni to Malga Ciapela: 8.4k walk:  2hrs 30 mins: 9.30am to 12.00: no stops: Asc: 35m Des 624m

Accommodation: Residence Regina delle Dolomiti  

Highlight today was just getting to Malga Ciapela at the bottom of the highest peak in the Dolomites - the Marmolada. The anti-climax was that it was mist shrouded and was a waste of time going up in the three stage 1800 metre ascent in the cable car just to say we’d been there.  Part of the reason for doing the Alta Via 2 was that it came close to the Marmolada.  Though we weren’t able to get to the top of the Marmolada, we’d seen it’s impressive peak on several different occasions in the past few weeks.  

We slept in til almost 7am.  Yesterday was an exhausting day and our room was so quiet and peaceful.  We shower - because we can - and we’re down to breakfast at 8am, most of the hikers are gone, but we know we have a short 8 k day.  Breakfast is simple.  As I’ve said, the Rifugio Castiglioni is a great place to stay but the food was pretty ordinary - a few pieces of bread and jam, meusli but you had to ask for the yoghurt, cup of tea but you had to ask for the milk, and that was it.  No specialty cake or tart that some of the mountain refuges had.  

We take our time packing.  We’ve already opened the door to the outside and tested the temperature - it’s cold - less tha 8°C and looks like rain.  We dress as though it’s going to rain with wet gear and poncho and leave at a rather late 9.30am.  Across the dam wall and along the old road strewn with avalanche debris - which is why it is now closed to vehicular traffic.  It’s a pretty road beside Lago di Fedaia and quiet - with the main road now on the other side.  

Soon the track turns into a ski piste and for the next 6k of the 600 metre descent, we’re following the often muddy ski piste down under and around chairlifts, parallel to the main road, often dodging earthworks in preparation for the winter ski season  There’s a little shower of rain but the further we descend into the valley, the warmer it gets and the sun is “almost” shining when we arrive in the little village of Malga Ciapela.  

We arrive at midday with no rain and “almost sunshine”.  Malga Ciapela is a small village with a few hotels, one shop, one cafe and one sports store.  It’s coffee time and we find a seat a bit away from the cafe and have a jet boiled cup of coffee with apple strudel for Ian, and for me, a piece of last night's dried chocolate cake.  We sit for more than an hour checking the misty clouds above to decide whether it’s worth going up in the cable car to the peak of the Marmolada.  We can’t see past the 1st stage so there’s probably not much view from the top, and we’ve already seen it yesterday on the Viel del Pan and on several other days from a distance. 

It’s 1.30pm when we stroll down to find the Hotel Malga Ciapela in the hope we can retrieve the keys for our apartment earlier than the noted 2.30pm time.  The Hotel’s address is 1 via Malga Ciapela, which it owns/runs the Residence Regina delle Dominati, about 200 metres back up the road.  The residence is probably mostly used as a ski resort.  Luck is in and we’re given the keys to the apartment with a map of the area. 

Returning up the road, we firstly check out the route for tomorrow to Passo di San Pellegrino which we find sign posted near the caravan park.  That done, we walk up to our Residence Regina delle Dolomiti and find it’s so lovely.  Just perfect for us - a separate bed room, a small kitchenette with a small dining table and mini lounge room. It’s warm inside, the place must be centrally heated.  We hang up our our clothes which didn’t dry last night, wash our socks from today which are wet,  plus our shirts. Then have a cup of tea with a spicy fruit roll.   

I spend the rest of the afternoon blogging and catching up on what I didn’t do yesterday while Ian trots off in the cold mizzly rain to the small shop which opened again at 3.30pm to buy a few basics for dinner - wine, beer, cheese, ham, bread, butter and yoghurt for breakfast. We have an early pre-dinner drink with some cheese.  Usually the red wine in Italy is the standard light red served at 14°C, most unoffensive and almost identical to the McGuigans $7 bottle of red from Australia.  But tonights wine for 3 euro was decidely vinegarish - but drinkable under the circumstances - it’s warming on a cold night.  Soon it’s time for our picnic dinner.  You can’t g wrong with fresh bread, butter, ham, cheese and tomato. 

More time to blog and sort photos and re-arrange our washing while watching the rain drizzling down outside our warm cozy apartment.  Ian is watching the US Open streamed on his phone.