Trans Euro Trail - “Rest” Day in Italy - Sella Nevea

1st August 2017

We drove across the border from Slovenia into Italy last night and laughed as we had forgotten how easy western European border crossings were. There was no-one at the border and we were free to drive through – a little different to our hour long search of the van from Albania into Montenegro.

We had slept by a lake and were really in need of a day off driving, which Slovenia hadn’t provided as anywhere near the National Park camper vans were not allowed to park between 22.00 and 7.00 and all of the campsites were jammed full. Steve and I are not really campsite type folk anyway but the aversion to campervans parking overnight was somewhat surprising after all the great little places we had found to park up throughout our travels.

Not long after we had set off driving, with no Italian map and no idea of where we were really headed, we came around a corner and saw a ski lift running up into the mountains above. We parked up and went to investigate how much it was and where it went to. We decided that for 10 euros each and the fact it was dog friendly that it was worth it, so a day of walking/exploring went into the plans.

I have been on many ski lifts but for some reason today I was like an excited child as we got whisked up high into the mountains. When we arrived on the plateau we were both a little disappointed as we had arrived to a moonscape with so many bulldozed pistes that looked a bit odd without a covering of snow.

Going with the theme of the day, we didn’t really have a plan so we followed a marked trail number 636. The route took us over varied terrain and as we eventually headed away from the lift area we realised what a beautiful region we were in. We heard marmots calling out warning calls to each other and found some burrows but they were too clever to let us see them.

Further along the route we came across two old disused lookout posts, remnants from the mountain war between Italy and Austria. We were amazed by these little structures carved into the rock, which were occupied 12 months of the year. They must have been freezing in the winter. These “caves” exist all over the western Dolomites through to the Slovenian border.

We continued along the path and climbed up to a col, me enjoying all the different wild flowers. When we arrived sweaty and hot we found yet another lookout post or possibly a gunning station and spent some more time exploring it. It’s hard to imagine how tough it must have been for the men that fought in that war. Thousands were killed in avalanches and they must have suffered from the severe cold and frostbite.

Me and Steve, being the way we are, were going to call it a day but there was another lift going up to a higher saddle. This was a simple chair lift that Roxy wouldn’t have stayed on so we decided to walk up the piste, fairly tough going in the baking heat. The views though were stunning with the peaks going on for miles.

We were pretty sure the big peak in the distance was Triglav, Slovenia’s highest peak. After lots of biscuits and a rest in the shade we headed down the piste, which was a bit like scree running really – great fun! Not sure I could ride my bike down there – it would end up in tears!

As we got nearer to the lift station and the mountain refuge, a heard a small rock fall. As I looked across to where the noise had come from I realised we had startled 2 chamois. That completely made my day as we stood for a while watching and photographing these graceful animals leap up near vertical rock faces.

We headed back down the valley for beer, a swim in the ice cold river and a much need quiet afternoon and evening.