Our last day in the Dolomites and we had to choose between Via Farrate and the main attraction of Val Gardena - the Sassalunga. The Sassalunga is a big rock of mountain that stands watch over the valley at a towering 3300 metres. The hike goes up the center and through a high pass and down the other side. Via Farrate is a mix of hiking and rock-climbing where fixed, steel guide-ropes have been put into rock faces and one uses rock climbing equipment to solo-climb/hike the route. These were first installed by Italian soldiers to out-maneuver enemies in the mountains. It is a unique way to see the mountains, especially the Dolomites but we chose to keep that activity for another day and set out to conquer the Sassalunga.
It was well worth it. The climb is steep and the terrain is rocky but Jess kept a constant pace in leading us up and soon we were close enough to see the faces of the tourists who decided to take little gondolas up. They looked funny to us, as the gondolas were about the size of a telephone box (or maybe they looked like coffins dangling on a wire).
At the top we had some hearty Alpine food, goulash for him, wurst and sauerkraut for her. We found some small patches of snow and took some photos before heading down the other side. The clouds were constantly closing in, making everything muffled and eerie before the wind would blow them away and the sun would once again brighten the day. It was a great hike with a bit of every kind of Alpine landscape and we felt almost as full of energy at the end of our fourth day of action as we did when we arrived fuelled by the amazing views and fresh mountain air.
Not wanting to take a chance on the quality of our last meal in the Dolomites we returned to the scene of last night's dinner for seconds and retired to a wine-bar afterwards to chat about how great the Dolomites have been on our adventure. We will definitely be back.
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