Dolomiti: Giau Pass … Hike #2

Our second hike of the afternoon was just a short ways down SP638. Technically, we could have left the car where it was and walked to the trailhead. But what goes down, must come back up. So, we decided to save our energy and drove to the small roadside parking area instead.

The reason we wanted to do the hike was simple … it was marked on Google Maps as “Ra Gusela Pond Reflection.” Can you say double the pleasure?

There was no real trail per se. We essentially looked ahead to where the grass seemed to have been trampled through an area where cows graze and followed it. Today our bovine friends were resting on the next hill over.

When Google Maps said that we had arrived, we looked around for a body of water. What we found was more of a mud pit … with some water. A couple seated on a nearby rock confirmed that this was the spot. Hmmm!

Disappointing? That was our first reaction. However, our initial grimace at what we found, quickly turned into wide smiles when we realized that we could still get a reflection of Ra Gusela. We just had to walk around to the other side of the mud pit. Even the clouds cooperated and the light brightened to match our grins. Best of all … the wind that came out of nowhere, waited to do so after we completed our photo ops.

Here’s the funny thing about the Ra Gusela Pond Reflection. We didn’t know it at the time we decided to do the short hike, but what we’d be seeing was the same view that is on the wall behind our bed at Cesa dele Angele!Read more