At 5:32am, the sun 'hit' this mountain in an amazing way.
The editor trudges, later she had four limbs on the surface.
Meantime, 'our hero' takes helicopter ride up for photo-shoot
There are a myriad of hikes in this area, some are brutal and others seem impossible. We thought the Swiss
hikes were steep. The difference is that the Italians appear to do little with their trails. They have a
start point and an endpoint and up you go. The trails are wild; switchbacks are rare or unknown. Whereas
in Switzerland, the terrain is very steep, the Swiss take to it like gardeners, tinkering here and there to
make it look well-tended. Both systems have merit. At the time of writing, we’ve only
had four hikes so we are not too qualified to criticize the Italians although that won’t stop us.
Foreground gives an idea of the slope and the surround.
After seeing some of the cableways over the last few days, we think it’s not only the Swiss that are ‘nuts’;
the Italians are also into the idea of building refugios, restaurants and gymnastic cableways at and to peaks.
We saw one on today’s hike that caused us to gape in awe. It extends nearly 8,000 feet in two sections, a
single span type of cable system between mountains. There are no supporting pylons, just hanging steel rope.
Our editor expressed her feelings well while balancing on the steepest incline we have ever undertaken: “You
won’t catch me on that.” We wanted to add, “Have you any idea where you are standing, climbing and at times,
crawling on all fours as you make the comment?”
When we saw the lonely tree at our peak, it resonated with us. We can't always choose our circumstances
but survivors/fighters 'deal with the hand they hold'. The tree provides a lesson for us.
We are becoming quite upset with her courage. She is proving to be fearless which puts much stress on us. Why?
We can’t snivel, whine and moan that we want to return when the going gets scary. She appears to take these
dangerous slopes in her stride. We wish one of her friends would give her a hint that maybe an ‘old woman’
shouldn’t be accumulating 2,600 feet per mile on very slippery inclines. We’ll try anything, that’s how
desperate we are. Besides, hasn’t she learned it’s not smart to outshine the husband?
Today, as we made our way up the ski-slope, we suggested that perhaps it is too dangerous for her. Of course,
we were really thinking about our own fears. When she answered that it was a great challenge, we thought perhaps
we had married a ‘monster’.
Editor continues, approaching and crossing snow, on steep incline
"Hero' is tired of waiting. Shouts to editor he is going to ride down.
The hike was short (not on a trail) but gained 1,500 feet in elevation, crossing snowfields, near and at the
top. The short length made the angle of ascent almost impossible—we estimate 2,600 feet per mile. (We normally
rate 1,000 feet per mile as strenuous.) We arrived at a deserted refugio, a hut or rustic hotel, at which
hikers rent a bunk and purchase a meal. We were surrounded by mountains, ski slopes, both above and below us,
the town of Cortina in the valley and beauty everywhere. It's another of the world’s many treasures.
Changes mind and agrees to walk down provided editor holds his hand
When we reached the top, after breathtaking views all the way up, we were even more staggered to see the
wonders. The mountains are high, rugged, a few somewhat refined in having smooth shapes but all with slippery,
rough paths to below peak levels. It was a humbling feeling standing below these magnificent specimens. There
are few peaks attainable for the ordinary hiker; in addition, it requires much guts, determination and strength.
We felt very small, both figuratively and literally, speaking. Standing in the shadows of these giants put a lot
into perspective, once again.
At peak, editor looks like it was a walk in the park
Our editor, probably sensing our melancholy, suggested when (if) we got down safely that we climb a further
500 feet to Col Druscie, just to show we were not quite that useless. When we arrived at the pinnacle, again we
were amazed to see another two cable systems reaching that point before continuing further up to a ski-slope and the top
of Mount Tofana di Mezzo respectively. Man’s ingenuity never ceases to astound us. Man’s destructive nature
never ceases to depress us.
This hike took place the following day. As we have not seen much water, we wished to
include a few pictures of a glacial lake that stunned us.
Jen contemplates a dive into partly ice-covered glacial lake
When we saw the color of the water, we gasped...when we touched it, we gasped again
From another angle, color changes slightly.
Cheers,
Jenni and Jeffrey
A little Italian daring, single span cableway...'loco' at Tofana di Mezzo.
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