Alta Via 1: Trekking the Dolomites - Arrival in Italy

Alta Via 1: Trekking the Dolomites - Arrival In Italy 8/6-8/7/23

Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy

What are the Dolomites? A mountain range in northeastern Italy, on the border of Austria (but not part of Austria), mainly composed of dolomite rock (calcium magnesium carbonate) and featuring jagged sharp spires. Yes, this will be on the test.

Thumbs up: our flights from Charlotte to Munich and then to Venice were on time and non-dramatic. Thumbs down: every year the seats shrink and rows squeeze closer together. How many internation flights do I have left in my life? Next time I’ll pay up for the big girl seats.

We landed in Venice early in the morning, quickly passed through customs and settled in for our 2-hour wait for the express bus to Cortina d’ Ampezzo (aka Cortina). Jim noticed an itchy insect bite on the back of his leg (this will become a “thing” later on). During the bus ride, we both nodded off as we passed through the dramatic mountains.

History lesson: Cortina d’ Ampezzo was part of the Austrian Empire known as Tyrol until the end of World War I, when the area was divided into two parts. Italy annexed what is known as South Tyrol and Austria kept North Tyrol. Communities in the northernmost part of the Dolomites are bilingual.

Upon arrival in Cortina, we took a taxi to our hotel because we had two rolling suitcases and weren’t sure what the walk was like. The taxi driver charged us tourists 13 Euro to go one mile! Lesson learned about distances and honest taxis.

Hotel Menardi was built as a private home in 1836 and eventually upgraded to become the hotel. During World War I it served as barracks for Austrian troops, then as living quarters for Italian troops when they occupied the territory. I found the hotel by dumb luck, and it was lovely. We didn’t have time to appreciate all the cozy spaces (a reading room!) Our little room opened onto a balcony bursting with geraniums. If you’re going to Cortina, we recommend Hotel Menardi.

The town center was buzzing with people and every building was postcard-adorable. (Do Europeans think our grocery stores are adorable?) 

We stopped at La Cooperativa department store to buy Tabacco topo maps for our hike. They are more detailed than the little guidebook maps. Will we need them? Better safe than sorry if our mobile phone apps fail us. (Hint: We used them every day.) 

Tourists are we, so we had a sandwich and adult beverages at the most touristy spot on the most touristy street in Cortina. We soaked in the atmosphere with one eye open: people everywhere, lots of dogs, lots of smokers, lots of super cute, well-behaved small children. 

Jim’s beer and my Aperol spritz, the first of a nightly ritual

After a wandering walk on a greenway/bike path back to our hotel, Jim and I sorted our gear for the next 9 days. We both carried 24L daypacks to be as lightweight as possible. Each one was stuffed fuller than a tick with the barest of essentials and minimal clothing that we hand washed when we got the chance. The heaviest items were our portable power banks. Packing ultralight was the key to a successful hike.

The rest of our stuff went into our suitcases, to be picked up by a company to store and deliver our hotel in Belluno at the end of our hike nine days from now. Jim was asleep by 8:30 pm, me soon after, but still waking up intermittently to worry and check the time. Pre-hike jitters.

I awoke with a Tylenol PM hangover. Jim had cold symptoms, felt sick enough to go to a pharmacy for COVID tests – negative! As he moved around he felt better, but bought lots of meds for the trek.

Hotel Menardi's breakfast buffet was fantastic, a good sendoff. This was the first time I’d seen a full honeycomb at a restaurant, cut off a chunk and put it on yogurt, bread – delicious and now spoiled! We left our bags at the front desk and walked to Cortina's town center and bus station.

We took an afternoon bus to the small village of Dobbacio/Toblach, where we’d spend another night and then catch an even smaller bus to the start of the AV1. Remember the history lesson about bilingual villages? Dobbacio (Italian) and Toblach (German).

Today’s bus ride went higher into the mountains, passing through Parc Natural delle Dolomiti (and others I can’t name). The small roads looked like the NC Smokies or DuPont Forest on a weekend, very crowded, cars parked all along the road’s shoulders to access hiking and biking trails. The first stop in Dobbacio/Toblach happened to be right in front of our home for the night: Casa Alpina, a well-worn ski lodge type place with dorm-like rooms (ours had a double bed, a set of bunkbeds and a private bath.) Not fancy like Cortina, but comfortable for a night.

Priorities: find our bus stop for tomorrow morning and then eat! Dobbacio/Toblach is small but resort-y, in a beautiful valley with low green mountains on the northern side and high Dolomites looming on the southern side. The entire length of the town is just a few blocks.

The main square featuring the prominent church
Chiesa Parrocchiale Dobbiacio/Pfarrkirch Toblach

Dinner!

It’s 37 degrees out tonight. Did I pack my puffy jacket?

“Life for two weeks on the mountain tops would show us many things about life during the other
 fifty weeks down below.”

~Benton MacKaye

Alta Via 1: Trekking the Dolomites - The Plan

Alta Via 1: Trekking the Dolomites – The Plan

On the Tour du Mont Blanc - July 2016

In 2016, Jim and I celebrated 35 years of (mostly) wedded bliss by hiking the Tour du Mont Blanc route through France, Italy and Switzerland. (Read about it starting here.) With our skills and experience, we thought we knew what we were getting into, but it was harder than we expected and more beautiful than we’d imagined. Wait…are we talking about marriage or…

In 2023, we faced another life milestone: age 65. Selective memory whispered seductively, “That TMB hike was fun and invigorating! We survived, right? We're still strong, right? Let’s do another challenging hike somewhere.” 

Welcome to our adventure on the Alta Via 1 in the Italian Dolomites.

Sunset in the Dolomites

Both the Tour du Mont Blanc and the Alta Via 1 are classic multi-day hikes in the European Alps. The TMB hiker goes home in a euphoric daze and (after a brief recovery period) begins researching the AV1 in the wee hours. Trekking company websites offer both guided and self-guided trips, travel bloggers feature breathtaking visuals, and people like me write about our personal Alta Via 1 experiences. Who can resist?

This blog post is for information purposes only and not intended to be a solo guide source for hiking these routes.

Lake Coldai on the Alta Via 1

Differences and similarities of the Tour du Mont Blanc and the Alta Via 1:

The TMB is 165 km (105 miles) and the AV1 is 120km (75 miles.) The “normal” time frame to hike each route is 8-11 days. (Our TMB hike was 115 miles in 10 days.) Why are the estimated times the same but the total mileages are different? We’ll get to that.

The TMB passes through France, Italy, and Switzerland. The AV1 stays entirely within Italy.

The TMB is a loop route which can begin/end at various points. (We started and ended in Les Houches, France.) The AV1 is a linear trek which most hikers begin at Lagos de Braies and end at La Pissa.

The TMB route goes up to high elevations with refuges, rifugi and auberges (depending on what country you're in that day) and down to low valleys, passing through small towns with hotels and restaurants every couple of days. The Alta Via 1 stays “up” in the Dolomites featuring rifugi (plural of rifugio), but it occasionally crosses roads near a single restaurant or inn. Both treks have bail-out points if needed, but figuring out transportation from there takes planning.

Traveling in Europe has exploded post-pandemic and woe to the hiker who expects to show up at a rifugio without a reservation. Prices have gone up as well. Trekking companies are eager to book accommodations for you, but to save money I did the work myself for the AV1, as I did for our TMB trek. The headaches of piecing together email requests and confirmations saved us about $1,000. (That’s 4 days in Rome.) 

As of this writing, each rifugio on the AV1 must be booked independently and each has its own timetable for accepting bookings. A couple of locations are key, but there are options if you persevere. You may have to hike side trails off the main route for accommodations or even take a cable car down to a valley town (adding to the next day’s logistics to get back on route) but it is possible if you plan far enough ahead. (Note: I booked all our accommodations in Dec/Jan before our July 2023 hike. For 2025 hikes I’ve read that many rifugi are booked by Oct/Nov)

There are accommodations of all types, including hotels and B&Bs, all along the TMB loop.  The further south you go on the AV1, the more rustic the accommodations become, leaving behind private rooms, hot water, wifi and credit cards. By then our fellow hikers were friends and we didn't mind the close quarters and simple food.  Never fear: alcohol is still available even high up where there are no roads (bring cash). 

Lunch at Rifugio Carestiato

The AV1 features a unique experience on Days 3 and 4. During World War I, Austrian and Italian armies fought each other to control the borders amid the jagged mountain ridges of the Dolomites. As the trail passes through remnants of trenches and barracks, imaging young men huddled in the coldest days of winter is sobering. Tunnels in the rocks remain and hikers can descend a variant section of the trail through a tunnel.

Our logistics: Considering the current frequency of interrupted/delayed air travel, Jim and I built in 2 days/nights after landing in Venice to get to the start of the hike. After completion, we stayed one night in Belluno, then traveled by train for 3 nights in Florence and 4 nights in Rome. Everything on our itinerary was new to us crazy kids!

In addition to a plethora of websites and blogs, we relied on three invaluable sources for planning. Two books, featuring roughly the same info but in different presentations of stages, charts and accommodations, were really helpful for our unique itinerary. (Our hike plan was 9 days/8 nights.) 

Trekking the Dolomites AV1 by Andrew McCluggage

Alta Via 1 – Trekking the Dolomites by Gillian Price/Ciceron Guides 

The third source was a private Facebook page called “Dolomites AV1.” The admin is Andrew McCluggage and its members are a robust community of previous and future hikers. The page was great for questions on just about anything, current/real time info, and many accommodations that the books didn’t include. NOTE: personal experience info about the difficulty of trail sections, alternatives in bad weather and bail-out points was VERY important in some decision-making.

Additional on-the-ground resources we used were the GAIA GPS app and paper Tabacco topo maps for the area we were hiking in, which we purchased in Cortina d' Ampezzo before the hike. I always carry paper maps in case technology fails.

In summary, both the TMB and the AV1 are trips of a lifetime, worth all the planning, the saving up, the physical training (don’t skip that part), and the can-I-really-do-this butterflies in the belly. 

Okay, friends! Are we ready? Are we excited? Are we nervous? Yes, yes, and yes!

How far did we get? Follow along.

"The world is big and I want to have
 a good look at it before it gets dark."
 ~John Muir

Waterfall 100 Challenge Finale: Nellie's Falls & Cody Falls

Waterfall 100 Challenge Finale: Nellie’s Falls & Cody Falls – 7/26/23 – 6.2 Miles

Surprise – sometimes hiking challenge lists change!  Carolina Mountain Club’s Waterfall Challenge (WC100) updated during the decade(s) that I’ve been chipping away at it. A couple of hikes I’d done were removed from the list and a couple of new ones were added. In the category of “never say never” I found myself returning down remote western North Carolina forest roads that I’ve traveled before, looking for the last two waterfalls to make 100.

Nellie’s Falls – 1.7 miles roundtrip

Nellie’s Falls wasn’t on the list when my hiking buddy Jeff and I hiked past the turnoff for it when we explored Flat Creek Falls back in February 2020, but he’d given me a GAIA track for it so I had something easy to follow. Before I left home, I refreshed my memory about our adventure. (You can read all about it here.)

Driving on NC 281 north of Lake Toxaway (which I personally pronounce “Lake Alongway”), I turned onto gravel Rock Bridge Road, then a long forest road, heading deep into the backcountry of Nantahala National Forest known as Panthertown Valley. I parked at a remote parking area and campsite beside Flat Creek. Unlike our February exploration featuring ice and traces of snow on the road, today was warm, 70’s. (I love July in the mountains).

As I shouldered my daypack, a big ol’ SUV drove up and a man stepped out wearing full camo. We chatted as he gathered up his tackle box and fishing poles. “Looks like we picked a great day.” Super nice guy.

My first trick was crossing Flat Creek. When Jeff and I were here, I had to wade barefoot through the frigid flow, but today the water was low enough to rock hop. 

Not recommended

Today's unmaintained route started on an old logging road, mostly flat tread through
 deeply shaded mountain laurel tunnels

A few minor obstacles, easy to get around

A grandaddy tree had fallen across the creek at a short, broad cascade. Unless it just happened this morning, I knew there would be a workaround. I hunted around for a trail on the far side and, sure enough, someone had chopped their way through.

The trail continued to the base of Nellie’s Falls, a multi-tiered cascade flowing into a small pool, dazzling in the morning sun. I just love these precious gems in the backcountry and knowing that they are flowing night and day, not caring in the least whether anyone sees them or not. 

Someone flagged a route leading to the top of the falls, out of sight. I followed it for a few minutes but lost interest when it appeared to go on a while. I hadn’t planned to pursue that route and I was alone… so I turned around and backtracked out to my car. I was one happy hiker, met a nice person, completed my goal, and had a fun drive out on the now-familiar gravel roads. 

Cody Falls - 4.5 miles roundtrip

My last waterfall challenge was in Pisgah National Forest, off of Highway 215 near the little community of Balsam Grove. I was happy to see that Courthouse Creek Road was open (closed for several years). New gravel had been put down, but there were some bumpy stretches and one particular washout with flagging tape for a very skinny passageway.

Surprisingly, the road was gated about .6 miles before the main trailhead. There was a much bigger parking area here and the road beyond the gate was in very good shape. Speculating about the changes: improving the road but limiting access to forest service and rescue vehicles makes sense for this popular area. The gate added 1.2 miles roundtrip to my hike today. I was glad I hadn’t spent time going to the top of Nellie’s Falls.

I've been here before, hiking to Courthouse Falls in August 2018 as part of the WC 100 challenge. Contrary to information I had at that time, Summey Cove Trail is alive and open (depends on who you ask?) so my plan today included hiking it out-and-back as I visited Cody Falls. 

And since it’s right there, I stopped at Courthouse Falls, still looking awesome
pouring into its deep, clear pool

Like Nellie’s Falls, there is no official trail to Cody Falls, but after reading a couple of blog descriptions of how to find it, I thought it would be a quick scramble spur trail off of Summey Cove Trail near Courthouse Falls. Maybe I was too literal (which tree? which big rock?) After searching with no luck, I decided to get on with hiking Summey Cove Trail. 

A wonky bridge

Wire cable, a remnant from logging days

Remember to stop and enjoy the rhododendrons

Did I mention that Summey Cove Trail plunges down to Highway 215? And what goes down…must come up. The tread was quite nice, though, and I thought I could just gut out the steep parts, but at the halfway point I turned around. The hour was getting late and I still had not found Cody Falls. Maybe someday I’ll get back to Summey Cove Trail and hike that pesky 1.4 miles out-and-back from 215. 

Here's what happened: I took one last try at the side trail to Courthouse Falls and saw what I had missed earlier: a side trail off of the side trail, not Summey Cove Trail at all (smacks forehead). Maybe this was it? And it was.

It took all my brain power to work out that although they are close together, Cody Falls is not on the same creek as Courthouse Falls. Cody Creek is along Mill Station Creek, which flows into Courthouse Creek.

You’re welcome.

The trail was very steep but easy to follow down to Mill Station Creek, not as hard as some crazy ropes-and-cables things Jim and I have done. At the water’s edge I walked upstream for a few yards, around a curve, and there was Cody Falls. I got my feet wet crossing the creek to get an unobstructed view, but it was near day’s end and I was thrilled to have solved the puzzle.

Cody Falls

This beauty looks like a slinky white wedding dress as it slides into a deep pool. The rock wall has been smoothed by the water, appearing like slickrock canyon walls in the deserts of the American Southwest. Alone once again, I soaked in the green moss, the water, spray, the leaves rustling in the breeze, the power of nature.

I thought about my dad and the 15th anniversary of his death coming up in a couple of days. Did he ever hike to a waterfall in his life? I never asked. Part of the reason I write about these hikes is for my children and grandchildren to know about my adventures, big and small, and my love of the outdoors.

Feeling elated, I hiked back to my car (don’t forget the extra .6 miles) and drove down the bumpy gravel road to civilization at the junction of Hwy 215 & Hwy 64. By civilization, I mean the Forks Of The River Taproom at Headwaters Outfitters. I sat on the porch with a Bold Rock blackberry cider and French fries to celebrate finishing the Waterfall 100 challenge. What’s next?

“I don't want to get to the end of my life and
 find that I lived just the length of it.  I want to have lived the width of it as well.” 

~Diane Ackerman

MST: Cascades Recreation Area to Benge Gap

Mountains-to-Sea Trail:  Great Day Hikes #11

Cascades Recreation Area to Benge Gap – 7/2/23 – 8.5 miles RT

The Mountains-to-Sea Trail across North Carolina is close to my heart. Over nearly two years, 2009-2011, I hiked the trail in sections from the western terminus atop Kuwohi in the Great Smoky Mountains at the NC/TN state line to the eastern terminus atop the sand dunes at Jockey’s Ridge State Park at NC’s Outer Banks – more than 1,000 miles! Some days I walked with others, some days on my own, and I biked some of the eastern sections. Every mile was an adventure.

The MST can be accessed from many points across the state for a challenging mountain hike, a relaxing half-day walk in the woods or an easy small-town stroll. A book that I highly recommend, Great Day Hikes On North Carolina’s Mountains-to-Sea Trail, highlights 40 adventures across the state. The trail continues to change and grow since I completed it in 2011, and currently it spans 1,175 miles. Great Day Hikes is my inspiration to get out and see what it’s like today.

To escape the broiling heat of a July day in the Carolina Piedmont, Jim and I headed to a higher altitude section of the MST along the Blue Ridge Parkway near Boone, NC – Hike #11. Within the boundary of E.B. Jeffress Park, we hiked from the Cascades Recreation Area eastbound to Benge Gap and back again. (If you’re with friends and two cars, this is a nice shuttle hike.) 

Know before you go: check the BRP website for seasonal or construction closures. 

Our hike started from the north end of the Cascades Recreation Picnic Area on a loop trail. The MST goes left and the Cascades Trail goes right to access the waterfall. Jim and I followed the right fork to check out the waterfall, knowing that we would hike the MST portion of the loop on our return.

Falls Creek

A steep set of steps leads from the top of the Cascades Waterfall down to a rock wall and landing viewpoint of the falls. The steps are very close to the waterfall as it descends. Beyond the landing, the trail was blocked off and we could see severe erosion. I wonder if the trail will ever be rehabbed or if it is better to remain closed. It’s so close to the waterfall, it seems a strong temptation to get dangerously close.

Top of Cascades Waterfall

A rock wall and landing where trail access ends, but the waterfall keeps tumbling out of sight

We walked back up the steps to the loop trail, and at the sign indicating the return to
the parking lot Jim and I turned right onto the MST

The white circle blazes of the MST indicate the path all the way across North Carolina

This Fowler’s Toad was well camouflaged until I stepped too close.
I jumped higher than he did!

The Mountains-to-Sea Trail follows the Blue Ridge Parkway, crossing the roadway back and forth, sharing its narrow corridor of protected federal land as it passes farms and fields in this area northeast of Boone. Fences and gates are part of the rural scene. Sometimes a sharp eye will discern a hunter's deer stand.

A couple of miles along our route, we popped out into a pasture and followed the well-trodden path downhill, where we walked a short way on the road and turned back into the woods.

Crossing another field, Jim said, “Hey, why don’t you pose with this tractor?”

It’s a two-toad day!

Before we knew it, we’d reached the intersection of country roads called Benge Gap. We turned around and retraced our steps, staying on the MST portion of the Cascades loop trail as it followed Falls Creek. This little loop to the waterfall and back is a great family hike for the summertime, splashing in the creek and looking for toads.

Our reward after an 8.5-mile ramble: lunch with adult beverages in downtown Wilkesboro, NC. If you haven’t taken the backroads to this little country town, you should.

“In Native American cultures, the American toad is considered a symbol of transformation and adaptability due to their dual nature of living both in water and on land.”
~Robert Leonard