Italy on foot: Hiking the Dolomites

Imagine it’s about 5:30pm and you can finally see your final destination coming into sight as you look up from the snow and ice-laden switchbacks you’re trying to power through. You’re at the highest altitude of your trek, and you’re feeling it – freezing and fully layered up.

The sun hasn’t been out in a while and ominous grey skies are taunting you. Trekking since 7:30am, you’ve done quite a few switchbacks today alone–both up and down–and your ability to take in scenery is starting to dissipate. Literally. Your eyes are darting around, trying to take it in, but struggling to adjust to what is near and what is far, to how these mountains could possibly be real, all jagged and vociferous. The promise of a warm Rifugio with a few minutes of a hot shower and a three-course meal is so alluring that your uphill hike is to the rhythm of a mouthwatering daydream of pasta and panna cotta, when you’re forcefully brought back to reality with a loud and defeated, “I f**ked up”.

A few switchbacks ahead, your trekking (and life, though at this point that came into question) partner is looking at you frustrated and apologetic, and you suddenly feel like you’re in a movie montage as he explains that he didn’t write down the right Rifugio that you were booked in that night. That actually you had a room reserved at the Rifugio where you stopped for lunch 5 hours ago, around 11:30am—which literally feels like a different day in a different body altogether. And that the Rifugio you’re about 15-minutes away from reaching (conveniently at the highest altitude of the entire Alta Via 1) is fully booked for the night.

A grueling descent into the valley later–after popping into a roadside pitstop with the creepiest collection of cuckoo clocks you’ve ever seen or heard, and finding a rifugio down the road–when you hear the words, “would a private room be okay?” spoken in an Italian accent, you are tossing off your pack and aggressively tearing your hiking boots off trying not to breathe in the stench too deeply. And not too long after, you can laugh about it all while inhaling spinach spaetzle and crying tears of joy into your 4€ half liter of red wine–while triple-checking accommodations for the remainder of your trek and devising a plan to not walk much, if at all, for the next 24 hours.

That was day 2 on our 9-day Trek on the Alta Via 1 Trail in the Dolomites, the UNESCO World Heritage-designated Italian alps. That day alone, we hiked 30 km with 1780 meters of ascent and 2020 meters descent. Over 10.5 hours. It still feels like an awesome physical accomplishment–the remnants of my blisters are a haunting reminder of the Great Rifugio Mixup of 2018. Shezaad has taken to calling Lagazuoi, the Rifugio we mistakenly hiked to, his nemesis.

Full of World War I history as the front line between the Italian and Austro-Hungarian forces, where mines were used extensively, the Dolomites’ Alta Via 1–the most famous and popular trek–is full of incredible open-air museums, plaques and markers on the trail, and brutal vertigo-inducing tunnel systems as well as extensive via ferrata paths that were created during the war.

Every single day on our nine-day trek, there was new scenery to take in: mountain facades taking on new characters and shapes, lakes and streams majestically appearing out of nowhere, eery fog overhangs making mountain passes appear all the more daunting, mountains jutting in crazy and awe-inspiring ways, and alpine meadows hosting new and different fauna or simply sprinkled with scree, depending on the altitude.

110 km on foot later–with 5598m total ascent and 7320m descent–we left the trail with stories to last a lifetime, some new friends from all over the world, a camera brimming with photos that look like they’ve been CGI’d, and so many blisters. My feet may never be the same but it was all worth it.

Here is a brief recap and photo journal of our incredible trek. This trip was so special to us; I hope you enjoy reading about it and would love to hear if there are any days or parts that you’d like to hear more about! I’ll follow this post up with another providing travel tips for the Dolomites for those who want to replicate our trek or those who want to experience it without all the walking; what I’ll call my hiker’s addendum to the New York Times’ recently-published ’36 Hours’ guide.

If the Dolomites aren’t on your bucket list yet, I hope they will be by the time you’ve finished scrolling through this post!

First, I’ll share our top lessons from this epic trek:

1. You will see the same people who you started the trail with over and over again. We were tied to the hips of a Canadian family that started with us at the Venice Airport, met an incredible Aussie couple who journaled like us everyday, and enjoyed grappa with a delightful German architect on our last night.
2. Hinted at this one…Double check your lodgings! If not, you may unnecessarily quadruple your hike for the day. Also bring enough cash because they don’t always take credit in the mountains.
3. Make sure you (aka me) have plenty of snacks at the ready–preferably pocket croissants!
4. Even at the highest altitudes in Italy, wine is cheaper than water (and beer).
5. Get to the rifugio early to get the bottom bunks!
6. Altitude gain and loss is more important to factor into day planning than distance.
7. It’s so worth it to force yourself to stay up past 8:30 to see the sunsets (yes, this was a lesson for me).
8. Shezaad is getting old – he got his first blister and his knee hurt the last day.
9. When your backpack feels heavy, say to yourself “I am one with my backpack, my backpack is one with me”
10. When in Italy, you must take at least one espresso break every day, even on the trail.
11. Standard daily achievement on a trek that is still something to celebrate: 10k steps before 10am.

Day 1. Distance: 6.5 km, 870 m ascent, 60 m descent.

The unrelenting ascent on legs that hadn’t yet gotten into the trekking mode made for a pretty tough first day, starting from picturesque but crowded Lago di Braies.

Our rifugio for the night – Rigufio Biella, at 2300 meters – was quite rustic (my first foray into the reality of only squatty potties at some rifugios) but very welcoming and warm. We slept like babies, and it had pretty good food to fill us up.

Waking up to this view at Rifugio Biella, where we spent our first night on the Alta Via 1, was unreal.

Day 2. Distance: 30 km, 1780m ascent, 2020m descent. 10.5 hours.

You got the gist of this day already. But despite trekking more than double what we needed to, it was a remarkable day. Some of the passes we hiked were unlike anything I’ve ever done before. And we also discovered a favorite fuel on the trail (anytime of day): Speck and potatoes with eggs. So filling and rejuvenating for lunch on this day, especially.

On one of our last ascents on Day 2, approaching an incredible pass.

Day 3. Unplanned, but very welcome, rest day!

We decided to spend another night at Rifugio Col Gallina, which felt like an even bigger treat after the homemade croissants at breakfast, and ventured up (via cable car, no way in hell I was ascending on foot) to hangout at Rifugio Lagazuoi and explore the open-air museum around it. We still got our 10K steps, but walking was really not fun at all.

Day 4. Distance: 14 km, 900m ascent, 1080m descent.

Started the day with a quick pre-trail espresso with a view from Lagazuoi. I mean, look at this!

Hiked across incredible valleys and saw a few old WWI bunkers and trenches off the trail at various points in the first valley, which were very neat. The climb up through a dense forest up to the Cinque Torri, meaning 5 towers, was a bit of a grind but the scenery after made it all more than worth it.

And we made it up to our most scenic hut: Rifugio Nuvolau, which means ‘in the clouds’ — it is perched on a cliff at 2500m. The sunset there was one of the best we’ve ever seen.

Day 5. Distance: 12 km, 400m ascent, 1050m descent.

A couple of really steep ascents, but overall this stage of the AV1 was just beautiful mountain passes and meadows that made this one of our most scenic days.

We passed an intense bike race and stopped to watch it for a bit, which was amazing and so energizing. Our hut for the night, Rifugio Citta di Fiume, was so amazing–overlooking the giant mountain Pelmo. We arrived fairly early just as an all men’s a cappella choir was finishing up a set for a celebration of 100 years since the end of the Great War.

Day 6. Distance: 14 km, 498m ascent, 300m descent.

The visibility was awful for most of our initial ascent through forests and past quaint farmhouses up to Rifugio Coldai, where we stopped for sandwiches and warmth. Luckily, we were rewarded with amazing blue skies over the next valley overlooking Lago di Coldai and for the rest of our hike, including the rough but fun ascent up to Rifugio Tissi.

The reward upon arrival was the incredible view of the mighty Civetta mountain–the facade of which is likened to organ pipes for a reason–which Tissi sits overlooking. And it served another breathtaking sunset!

Day 7. Distance: 13.25 km, 600m ascent, 1280m descent.

This was a grueling day because the majority of our route was full of boulders, climbs, and scree. With no views thanks to heavy clouds, it was our least favorite day on the trail.

But the silver lining was that we made it fairly quickly to Rifugio Carestiato, which was a lovely place with a cozy fireplace. It also had one of the best meals of all of the rifugios–a delicious roasted chicken drumstick with potatoes and an incredible dessert of panna cotta with raspberries–and looking out on the massive storm that came at night was pretty spectacular.

Day 8. Distance: 13 km, 550m ascent, 530m descent.

Our guide book described today’s stage of the AV1 as “a divine day’s walking” and that was absolutely the truth. We loved the walk today though it had some tough ascents and descents.

Rifugio Pramperet was sparse but delightful, and a welcome shelter during another particularly bad downpour. It made for a fun last night on the trail sharing grappa to end the night with some friends we had met over the past few days.

Day 9. Our last day on the AV1. Distance: 8 km, 1000m descent.

A grueling descent on our knees to the valley town Fordo di Zoldo. And somewhat sad to have to get back to civilization, not knowing how much we would adore little Belluno, where we spent the next two nights.

More to come on the Dolomites and the Alta Via 1; one of my favorite places in the world. Co-writing & some photo credit to Shezaad. I’d love to hear your thoughts!