2 August 2017
The Italian Linesman, Alessandro was hugely helpful with sorting us out some information about where to ride in Northern Italy, so a bi thanks goes to him for that. We have been studying the maps for the north eastern part of
Italy and we had also heard that a lot of the dirt trails had been closed here. You can see on the maps that there a little red and white circles at the bottom
of pretty much every trail, so we decided to just enjoy the Dolomites and pick
up the TET further along the route.
After a good night’s sleep we decided to head to the pretty
little village of Sappada, it's not on the TET but to look for a via ferrata route.
Sappada is a very pretty little village with lots of traditional buildings and
wonderfully crafted scarecrows sitting outside their houses depicting what
their trade was.
We had a quiet walk around the village taking photos and generally enjoying this sleepy town. We couldn’t drive the van up the road we wanted to take to get to the start of the via ferrata as it had a no entry sign for campers.
So… we had a rethink and decided to head in the direction of Cortina but also to follow some of the mountain passes.
We had a quiet walk around the village taking photos and generally enjoying this sleepy town. We couldn’t drive the van up the road we wanted to take to get to the start of the via ferrata as it had a no entry sign for campers.
So… we had a rethink and decided to head in the direction of Cortina but also to follow some of the mountain passes.
We headed for Misurina and stopped for a wander around the
lake. The mountains are beautiful and reminded me of rock formations that you
would get in the States. We started to head over the Tre Cime Pass but retraced
our steps when we got to the entrance to the National Park and there was a fee
of 40 euros. It is a bit strange as we hadn’t found this elsewhere in the
Dolomites.
We decided to head towards the Marmolada to see if we could get some good views of this magnificent 3343 metre high peak. This route took us through Cortina and a little village called Pocol where we stopped for coffee and internet and then on and up the Passo de Giau in a dramatic thunderstorm. The scenery is constantly stunning and at the col we got our views of the Marmolada. We went for a wander to explore the area and watched the sun drop behind the mountains.
We decided to head towards the Marmolada to see if we could get some good views of this magnificent 3343 metre high peak. This route took us through Cortina and a little village called Pocol where we stopped for coffee and internet and then on and up the Passo de Giau in a dramatic thunderstorm. The scenery is constantly stunning and at the col we got our views of the Marmolada. We went for a wander to explore the area and watched the sun drop behind the mountains.
3rd August 2017
A friend of our recommended that we visit the tiny hamlet of Ronch, as it wasn’t that far from us we decided that was what we would do. We dropped down from the Passo Giau and as we reached the town of Selva di Cadore, we stopped to top up bread and beer supplies. Steve reversed into a tree and realised that we had no brakes – judging by the smell coming from them – they were extremely hot!
We had a coffee to try and let them cool down and then crept down to the town of Masare, where we spoke to a mechanic about getting the brake fluid changed. He basically said he hadn’t got time and “told us off” for driving down the pass in a big van and suggested 1st and 2nd gear might be preferable to 3rd!
We had a coffee to try and let them cool down and then crept down to the town of Masare, where we spoke to a mechanic about getting the brake fluid changed. He basically said he hadn’t got time and “told us off” for driving down the pass in a big van and suggested 1st and 2nd gear might be preferable to 3rd!
We climbed up out of the valley again and arrived at Ronch – a delightful little spot with a great water source and a lovely little picnic table. We went for an explore and found the via ferrata and some great crags with bolted climbs on them. Steve headed back to the van and I continued on for a longer walk up through the forest and above the tree line. There was a beautiful old wooden hut in the forest with names carved into it from the 1940's...
We decided to move on from Ronch as it was pretty busy with climbers and so we looked at trying to get back on the general direction of the TET. We joined the TET near to Forno Di Zaldo and followed the route to Gosaldo and Imer on tarmac. We headed over more mountain passes and again enjoyed big limestone walls in every direction. This north eastern section of the TET does follow quite a bit of tarmac road but the views are so stunning and the passes so much fun that it really doesn’t matter.
We took the main road across to Trento and the plan was to stop for the night near Anfo so that we could pick up the TET again in the morning. However, as things change, we decided to have a little look down the Valle Di Doane as I thought there might be some good camping spots. I didn’t quite expect the valley to go on for as far as it did. After a long drive we arrived at the dam and lo and behold a bar with cold beer and a great camping spot tucked away off the road – perfect.
4th August 2017.
We awoke to another beautiful morning and the sun glinting off the waterfall on the opposite side of the lake.
A helicopter was delivering material up the valley for some avalanche repairs and collecting it from just above our heads, so that was quite entertaining for a while!
We drove a little way back down the valley to a roadside crag Steve had spotted the night before, parked up and decided to go climbing! Steve lead a great climb and was going well until when I came to lower him and we realised the rope wasn’t quite long enough – oops!
I didn’t have such a good climb as I don’t have the head for it any more and so after a retreat we got back on the road and decided to head over to the West where it seemed there might be some more possibilities of trails.
A helicopter was delivering material up the valley for some avalanche repairs and collecting it from just above our heads, so that was quite entertaining for a while!
We drove a little way back down the valley to a roadside crag Steve had spotted the night before, parked up and decided to go climbing! Steve lead a great climb and was going well until when I came to lower him and we realised the rope wasn’t quite long enough – oops!
I didn’t have such a good climb as I don’t have the head for it any more and so after a retreat we got back on the road and decided to head over to the West where it seemed there might be some more possibilities of trails.
We arrived later in the day at the town of Oulx and things looked promising as there were Landrovers and a number of enduro bikes around. We stocked up on supplies and then headed up the valley to the little hamlet of Rossmolles where we found another perfect little spot to sleep by the river and with great views.
After a few good days off, we were looking forward to tomorrow and getting back on the bikes.
After a few good days off, we were looking forward to tomorrow and getting back on the bikes.
