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| View of Torre Venezia, south of Tissi |
With 2/3rds of the hike complete we began our final push to the end of the trek. A bit of overcast and light drizzle caught up to us Day 7 and we opted for a taxi ride around a difficult description of the route. (In hindsight, I would rethink that detour now). We celebrated Don's birthday at Refugio Carestiato, then trekked in fog to Malga Pramper on Day 8. Sunshine found us again on Day 9 as we finished the trip with a downhill walk into the village of Val di Zoldo.
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| Map showing the route for Days 7, 8, and 9 - the blue line is by taxi, yellow on foot |
Day 7 - Refugio Tissi to Refugio Carestiato
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| The valley south of Tissi made for pleasant downhill walking |
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| It was a beautiful valley with wide views and turreted peaks |
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| Helen and Don passing a rickety gate along the trail |
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| Outwash from a relatively recent debris flow |
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| The Torre Venezia (Venice Tower) in increasingly cloudy skies |
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| The forcella (pass or saddle) in the distance is where we would have walked |
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| Mountain scenery in Italy |
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| Look at the depth of rocky debris in the wall of that arroyo! |
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| More debris flows near Capanna Trieste - we met our van driver at the bottom of the canyon |
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| Capanna Trieste and our ride to Agordo and Passo Duran - next time I will walk it! |
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| A rural water source along the way to Carestiato |
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| Refugio Carestiato was a pleasant stop with great food |
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| View of the ranges to the southeast from Carestiato |
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| Don and Anne share a moment on the porch of the refugio - view to the west |
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| View to the southeast from Carestiato |
Day 8 - Refugio Carestiato to Malga Pramper
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| Leaving Refugio Carestiato through trees and mountains |
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| This huge debris flow looked really recent and is visible on Google Earth |
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| A quiet morning walk through the green |
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| This area south of Passo Duran was boggy |
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| And quite lush! |
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| Mountain ferns |
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| This is the ruins of an old farm that took advantage of a large boulder for one of the walls |
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| After the dark forest walk, I really enjoyed this contour path across a rocky slope |
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| We saw so many flowers and I've posted so few photos of them - this one is called Dianthus hyssopifolius. |
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| Looking back to the contour path on the rocky slope |
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| Into the clouds - I'm sure we missed out on some great scenery here |
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| There are many different kinds of preserves in the Dolomites - this is one of them. |
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| A World War I ruin built in 1915 |
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| The tail junction to Malga Pramper (malga is Italian for "farm") |
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| The Cima Pramper tucked into the clouds |
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| Look at those debris flows issuing from the mountain! |
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| Malga Pramper sleeps only a maximum of 8 people - there were six of us this night |
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| They make fresh cheeses at this farm with all of the dairy cows |
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| Fresh cheeses made here at the farm |
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| The ricotta was made in the morning and consumed in about 10 minutes in the afternoon |
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| Painting on the wall inside the farm |
Day 9 - Malga Pramper to Val di Zoldo Village
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| The last day was bittersweet - the trek was over as the sun emerged |
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| The setting of Val di Zoldo |
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| I want to thank my hiking mates who made this trip so remarkable - Thank you! |
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| And to this special lady who is the light of my life! |
