Adventures in the Dolomites

From Italy: Hike to Prager Wildsee (Dolomites)">Now, in my silent moments, I remember that Obama is the president-elect and I become giddy as a child with a bit of a squeal and a quick hop up and down. I just finished his book as tears streamed down my face with the inside knowledge of his essence. I am filled with joy knowing that this man just changed the vector of the Earth’s course in a positive direction. Yes, hope is alive and well!

Andy and I are in the Dolomites, a unique section of the Alps in Northern Italy close to the Austrian border. It is a fusion of both cultures in architecture, food and language. Danke and grazi both work. We found a contemporary 1-bedroom apartment just outside of a tiny village called Stefansdorf at 962 meters (~3,100 feet) located on a small farm. Each morning we are enjoying fresh milk from one of the 15 cows with our coffee and muesli. November is the only month of the off-season all year as it is well past the warm months but there is no snow yet for skiing. We can see the Kronplatz mountaintop/ski resort from our 3rd floor balcony. I learned from our host Marcus that we are his first American guests. Forst (Forest) beer is the local brew and quite tasty.

Recently, we’ve been challenging ourselves both mentally and physically. The other day, a mountain bike ride into the town Brunico (in Italian) or Bruneck (in German) 5 km away took us down 100 meters, knowing we’d have to make the climb back up. We discovered an old castle on the hill and a forest cemetery – the most unique and beautiful I have ever seen (photo).

From Italy: The Dolomites in the Alps

Since there was an actual supermarket here, we loaded up our backpacks full of food (and wine of course) and trudged up the steep hill, sweating and panting all the way.

Another great challenge was our hike yesterday. Photo Album. We explained to Marcus that we wanted to embark on a day hike in the classic Dolomites (giant, jagged limestone peaks) and he suggested starting at Pragser Wildee, an azure glacial lake. Perfect. Marcus kindly drove us to the train station where we needed to switch to a bus in Welsberg, except there was no bus. We must have had an old schedule because this bus doesn’t run on Sunday, we learned through broken English and hand signals from a local. Now what? Our map showed that we could hike to Prager Wildsee from here. Our eyes looked to the direction of the lake which was directly over a giant mountain. Topographically, the map said it was about a 920 meter climb up and over and total trek of 4 ½ hours. Well, what the hell, we are here to hike – let’s go.

Impressively, the trail was marked well much like New Zealand’s effiicient trail directives. I experienced my first feeling of vertigo as we traversed the mountainside with it straight up on one side and straight down the other. Dizziness at this high elevation hiking already for an hour uphill caused me to sit on a mossy stump with my back to the valley slope. I panted with my head between my knees until my heart slowed down and the dizziness passed. Onward and upward.

Finally, after singing all the Christmas songs I could remember, we approached the summit and what a beautiful sight it was with the classic snow-covered Alps on the one side with the grey, jagged Dolomite peaks on the other! But it was below freezing, clearly, as we passed patches of large snowflakes on the mossy ground as we walked along the ridge at 2020 meters. And look – there is Prager Wildsee!

We stopped for a picnic lunch along a meadow in the shining sun facing the Dolomites and relaxed for a half hour with a beautiful view. A sense of satisfaction washed over us as our destination stared back at us from below. In 3 hours, we passed only 4 people.

A couple of kilometers along the road finally got us to the lake. We had a look at the permanent sign at the lakefront to see just how far we’d gone when Andy stepped in dog poo, ha ha! Ok, now we are here – now what? Surprisingly, the souvenir shop at the hotel on the lake was open so we popped inside. I tentatively asked, “Spreken zie Englick?” when the clerk answered “Yes” to my great surprise (no one around here speaks any English!!!). We chatted with Yas for a while, checking out his shop and learning he had lived in Santa Barbara, CA for 6 months – what a small world. We bought cappuccinos and relished in the indoor warmth as we explained about no bus, the hike over the mountain and would he mind calling us a taxi? Yas happened to be driving near the train station in an hour with his son and could give us a ride. Great! We played with his giant Newfoundland puppy named Happy, and that is just how we felt.

A day of unexpectedness turned into a wonderful memory. I am consistently in awe at when we as humans let go and surrender to what is, the most beautiful and magical things happen if you let them.