It is Friday evening and we are in a rather grand old hotel on a lake in the Dolomites. Tomorrow we begin walking the Alta Via 1 (AV1). We came from Venice by bus. A slow journey as we had to change buses twice, but pretty and interesting. The transition from the flat plain around … more
Day 1 (July 28) Hotel Lago di Braies to Rif Biella What a good start to the walk! A short day but enough for a first day. We arrived at our rifugio (hostel) just past noon, a few minutes before the thunderstorm. It felt slightly unreal to begin the walk after so much planning. But … more
Day 3 Rif Lavarella to Rif Lagazoul We are at rifugio Lagazoui at 2752m (9028 feet), the highest elevation we will reach in the Dolomites. The view is spectacular when there is one, but today we are in cloud. With luck it will clear tonight. There is a cable car from here to the town … more
Day 4 (july 31) Rif Lagazuoi to rif Scoiattoli Not as good a day. A good start with clear sunny weather and a terrific view from rifugio Lagazuoi. The path for the day goes east along the side of the valley the rifugio sits above, then drops to cross to the other side of the … more
Day 6 (Aug 2) Rif Cità di Fiume to rif Coldai More good weather. We said goodbye to two German guys we came to know over the last few days. They were walking on a bit further for that night and ending their walk the next day. The majority of multi-day hikers on the AV1 … more