Hiking in the Dolomites

No switchbacks up the hill for us today! This morning we boarded the Resciesa funicular which carried us up the track to 6300 ft into the Val Gardena Dolomites! Mark expertly loaded our trek into his phone so we could follow the map along the way. And what a trek it was! The weather was perfect, about 70° the whole day, ( we were told it was 32° and snowing last week!). Because it is early in the hiking season, most of the time Mark and I were the only ones enjoying these trails and beautiful scenery!
When we hopped off the funucular, we headed to the Resciesa summit cross and were able to gaze across the deep valley and into Austria. From there we headed to the Resciesa mountain hut and enjoyed a cup of coffee sitting on the balcony, soaking up the sun. Following Sophia's advice, we continued our hike across Brogles to the Odel Nature Park. The scenery was absolutely breathtaking, with: mountain spiers reaching into the sky; contrasts of white snow, green hills and blue skies; wildflowers blanketing the hills; rushing streams; and gorgeous views at every turn of the path.
When we came to Furnes, we decided to continue our walk down the mountainside instead of taking the lift down. Though extremely steep, we got to see more of the forest and mountain homes of the people who live there. We were surprised to see people keeping deer as livestock, small vegetable gardens, and stacks of wood at the side of the house to prepare for cold winter weather.
Our hike ended back in Ortisei, 13 mountainous miles and one of the most beautiful hikes we've ever encountered! We toasted our amazing adventure with tall beers, a large pizza and apple strudel for dessert!Read more