The Js are Silent

For the second summer in a row, we met our Amsterdam-based niece, nephew, and great-niece (Jessica, Nick, Cecil, and Honey the puppy) for a “hut to hut” hike. This time it was in Italy’s Dolomite mountain range, in particular the Rosengarten. [Quick factoid, the Rosengarten forms part of the Schlern-Rosengarten Nature Park and was declared a Dolomites UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2009]. One thing we’ve learned about the Dolomites are that they are a vast series of alpine peaks, with many different peaks and valleys for exploring. In our 4 days there we only saw one little sliver of the region.

We met up in the city of Bolzano, a cool city near the Alps that, like the entire region, is bi-lingual with German being as common as Italian. There was a time when this region, South Tyrol, was part of the Austro-Hungarian empire, so the culture remains. Note on the building in the photo both languages are represented–the Italian “casa” and the German “haus” appearing in the writing.

Something that is striking about the Dolomites is that they have the infrastructure to make it accessible to all levels of hiking skill. There are buses that encircle the peaks, which let people off at gondola stations and chair lifts that get you up to the peaks. There are also accommodations of all types, from fancy resorts at low altitude to rustic “refugios” higher near the peaks. For this trip we stayed at 2 different refugios.

However one visits the Dolomites it is easy to get a great view of the peaks. And the really skilled (brave) hikers can climb to the top of peaks by “via ferrata” cables and railings (that translates to “iron path” in English). Photos below of hiking where via ferrata is not needed.

Oh did we mention, Honey is a puppy (was 4 months old at the time) and it was her first time overnight hiking. She did great and was a hit on the trail, instant conversation starter!

At the very end, back to Bolzano and gelato for all!