Monday, August 17th
Refugio Vazzoler to Belluno
1,950’ vertical
10.5 miles
It’s 6pm - I’m resting in our hotel room in Belluno, Italy. We did it!! We completed our 8-day trek of the Dolomites! What an unbelievable trip - so thankful that we made it through with no injuries or sickness. Total stats - 19,608’ vertical, 63 miles. There’s so many different routes through the Dolomites on the Alta Via 1 - that stats can vary depending the itinerary.
Today was another tough day to end the trip. 1,950’ vertical gain - with over 5,500’ descent. We started the day with a great breakfast - including a couple boiled eggs and yogurt. We got out early on the hike - hitting the trail around 7:20am.
The first hour involved a 1,000’ descent down a gravel road. You really had to watch your footing on loose rocks - very easy to slip and fall on the steeper sections. After our descent, we started a grueling 1,900’ ascent over some rough, steep terrain - mostly on the side of a mountain slope with some exposure as well. This area was really beautiful - with the high mountains towering above us. We hiked this section largely with a couple we’ve come to know the past few days. We encouraged each other and we helped locate the trail through areas that were a bit overgrown.
We finally topped out on our climb - and had a chance to rest on this awesome bench - feeling proud/content - knowing we had just finished our final climb of the Alta Via 1. We then proceeded to descend 3,000-4,000’ over steep trail in about 4-5 miles. The first 1-1/2 miles were through the woods and the final 5k was mostly on a paved road. The quads took a beating - and we were happy to arrive at the Agordo bus station about 1pm. We had perfect timing - as we were able to get tickets for the 1:10 bus to Belluno.
We continued to get lucky with our timing - as we checked into our hotel in Belluno at 2pm. We were informed that all local restaurants generally close down at 2:30pm and usually open again for dinner around 7pm. We were able to find a local restaurant recommended by the hotel within a 10-minute walk. We arrived just in time to get our order in. They allowed us to stay and finish our lunch - even after the closure time. Perfect!
We spent the rest of the afternoon walking around Belluno and finding the train station for our trip tomorrow. We hung in the hotel room until our celebration dinner at 7pm. We had dinner on the outside deck of Hotel Astor - overlooking the mountains and river below. It was an amazing setting for our last dinner in Italy.
The Dolomites were everything we had hoped when booking this trip over a year ago. I can’t believe I’ve never been in this area before - and so thankful for this opportunity to experience this place. It’s such a popular area - and so difficult to get a place at the local Refugios - you usually have to book the season before to secure your reservation. Well worth the effort and coordination.
Tomorrow will be a big travel day for us. We leave Belluno by train at 6:15am - working our way back to Venice - then catching our flights back to the US.
I’ll check in tomorrow during the down times of my travel.
Signing out for the last time from the Dolomites!!
No comments:
Post a Comment