Saturday: 12th August: Weather: 12°C to 24°C: Sunny morning, blue skies, warm day, overcast afternoon
Cortina: 12.5k walk: 7 hrs: 8.15am to 3.15pm: 2 x 30 min stops: Ascent: 710m Descent: 710m
Day Walk: From Col Gallina to Cinque Torri and up the Nuvolau
Accommodation: Rifugio Col Gallina at Falzarego Pass near Cortina
Early start from Rifugio Col Gallina
On the way to Cinque Torri
Steep climb to Cinque Torri
The magnificent Cinque Torri
Rock Climbers Cinque Torri
Rock climbers at top Cinque Torri
WW1 Trenches Cinque Torri
On way to Nuvolau
Finally at Nuvolau
Cars in valley below Nuvolau
Ian’s special coffee cup at Nuvolau
View to Cinque Torrie from Nuvolau
Nuvolau crawling with climbers
Lunch at Falzarego Pass
Track 441 where we went today
Highlights today were so many. A beautiful sunny day for our first hike in the Dolomites. We climbed to the Cinque Torri, walked through WW1 Trenches, climbed up the Nuvolau with hundreds of other day hikers, then down to Falzarego Pass beneath the Lagazuoi Tunnels, before a stroll back to our Rifugio Col Gallina. Any wonder the Dolomites are so popular with magnificent scenery, and easy access by car, cable cars and chairlifts.
We’re awake at 5.45 am and jetboil a cup of tea before heading down to brealfast at 7am. We’re amazed at such a nice buffet with everything you could want from hot croissants to meusli and yoghurt. We’re full after 2 courses and save a piece of tart and cake for morning tea. We’re out the door by 8am and as the temperature has already jumped from 12°C to 16°C, we’re stripping off before we even start to climb up track 440 towards the Cinque Torri. It’s quite a steep climb over a stony track through pine forrests and an hour later we emerge from the trees to see the magnificent towers of the Cinque Torri, adjacent to a chair lift which has brought hundreds of day trippers up from the valley.
Too early for coffee, so time to wander through the WW1 trenches and read about the history of the battles between the Italian and Austrian troops. The challenging terrain made both countries rely on innovative methods of warfare involving trenches and tunnels to help survive the harsh winters of heavy snowfall. The Dolomites attract rock climbers in their droves, and we watched in awe as they climbed the highest tower of the Cinque Torrie.
We join a steady stream of day hikers making their up the Nuvolau, a bare rocky outcrop just a few kilometres from the Cinque Torri. It’s a steep but short climb, with an ascent of about 500 metres to Rifugio Nuvoleau at 2,575 metres, which is already buzzing with hikers swilling beer and eating hamburgers on the terraces. There's breath-taking 360° views over the Ampezzo valley, the Cinque Torri group below, and over the Tofane mountains and the Marmolada group. Now it’s time for a coffee and cake ona platform with spectacular views.
We pick our way back down the rocky trail, dodging hikers on the way up to the Nuvolau, and arrive back at the base of Mt Averau where there’s more hikers clusted at the Rifugio before attempting the Novolau. Following track 441 around the Mt Averau on a shaly shelf, we weave our way around more rock climbers perched on the path waiting their turn to climb. On to Forcella Averau then down a steep rocky gorge that seemed to go on forever before flatening out towards Passo Falzarego, an historic pass for the Giro d'Italie. The souvenir shop is doing a roaring trade with tourists, hikers, bikies and cyclists and has a large array of Tabacco 1:25000 maps. I buy the 03 Cortina map for the next few days of hiking, then we find a quiet spot to have lunch at 2.30pm - a cup of tea and Spicy Fruit Roll - our favourite snack on hikes and I’ve bought 5 packets with me.
A leisurely stroll back along a path parallel to the main road, to our Rifugio Col Gallina where we have time to shower and wash - the stony tracks of crushed limestone are very dusty when it’s dry. Dinner is at 7pm so time to sort photos and blog before a pre dinner beer at 6pm. THe set menu of three courses has three options for the first two courses and teh dessert is fixed. we choose a pasta dish for entre and for the mains, I choose the roast beef and salad and and Ian has the chicken curry. Dessert is pan cotta. Yum.
Bed at 9.30pm, and our washing is almost dry.