Exploring Lagazuoi and Cinque Torri

Today we continued our hiking adventures in the Dolomites, hiking down Mount Lagazuoi and hiking across Cinque Torri.

We started our day with breakfast and coffee at our new bed and breakfast, and then immediately hit the road towards Mount Lagazuoi. Upon arriving, we took a cable car to the top of the mountain, and were greeted by an impressive vista, and more snow. This mountain saw a ton of combat in World War 1, as the Italians and the Austrians engaged here, and it is covered in trenches, bunkers, and tunnels. We clambered into a number of the bunkers, and were frankly shocked by how many there were and by what a good vantage point they had on the opposing mountain range. The bunkers are carved into the mountain itself, making the mountain a natural fortress. Both the Italians and Austrians would use sharpshooters to fire at the opposing side, and had wide arrays of artillery that would be used to bombard the opposition. There were also vast tunnel networks within the mountain itself, that were used to transport troops and supplies. Shockingly, the Italian soldiers would actually wear suits of armor(helmet, breastplate) and charge the Austrians after artillery fire, in some cases wielding melee weapons like spears or clubs.

As we hiked down the mountain we would periodically see a hole in the mountainside marking yet another bunker or sharpshooter spot. Additionally, we were able to check out some of the tunnels. There’s actually an entire route that can be hiked through these, but we opted to stay above ground for views of the mountains.

Once we made our way down Mount Lagazuoi, we headed to Cinque Torri. We took a cable car to a plateau here, where we were able to get a view on all of the surrounding mountains that was out of this world. We grabbed a meal at the rifugio here that was excellent, and then hiked to the trenches and bunkers lining one side of the mountain. One cool thing about Cinque Torri is that many of the wooden bunkers and trench reinforcements have been restored, so it essentially has an outdoor museum with replicas of the original infrastructure. There are also a ton of signs explaining what happened in each location. We were wowed by the sheer volume of military buildout that took place here, especially considering it was one of the most picturesque views we’d ever seen.

After exploring the military fortifications, we hiked up to the peak of Cinque Torri for more panoramic views. After we headed back to our lodging and grabbed dinner, and then called it a night as we have a lot more hiking tomorrow!Lue lisää