E5 Days 106-110

 

Friday, June 21 

Mountain climber

• Breakfast today at 6.15 am, and we’re just a little surprised that our mountaineering school group is already up and having breakfast at this time of day. 
• However we figure they really must have ironclad German discipline as they set off earlier than us, even though we packed everything up yesterday and are already on our way by half past seven (OK, maybe we did have breakfast for a bit longer).

• We check with the innkeeper once again to confirm what his wife had already mentioned yesterday: there’s still a fair amount of snow on Lago Erdomolo – so it’s best not to go there.
• Instead, he shows us the alternative route, which is also very scenic and allows you to reach all the peaks and do part of the ridge walk.

• The mountaineering school is doing this too, even though they’re taking a taxi to the chapel, which is halfway to the first summit – ?!?
• The path to the chapel is beautiful; it does lead uphill, but through the shady forest and across green alpine meadows – and, fittingly, we’re listening to the audiobook of The Lord of the Rings.

• Despite having a big lead, we can see the group ahead of us as we climb, and by the time we reach the first summit we’ve caught up with them – just in time for us all to take photos of each other at the top.

• Before the second summit, we overtake them on the ascent, having taken a longer break at the first summit, and don’t linger there for too long as it starts to rain.

• Instead of hiking over the third peak to Vetriolo, we turn off before reaching it and take a detour to Malga Masi, a quaint little mountain hut.

• As we reach the second summit, we see horns appearing ahead of us – “A chamois!” I shout, but it turns out to be a herd of goats, chilling out comfortably on the summit. 

• As it’s started to drizzle, we take refuge in the cosy Malga Masi and order polenta with cheese and cabbage, along with a craft beer they have on tap here 🙂
• We hang out there longer than all the other hikers who pop in, but we’re still nowhere near the group of elderly Italians.
• On the “unpleasant descent of over 1,000 metres” to Levico, we come across a man and a woman who ask us for directions to “Mortelli” – a hamlet with houses apparently situated a few hundred metres above us.

• When we tell him that we’re afraid we don’t speak Italian, it turns out the man is English and we have a great chat; his girlfriend runs a flower shop in Levico and they were planning to cycle up the very steep path we’d just walked down on their mountain bikes (“Wild,” I tell them, “unless you’re very experienced on your bikes”).
• Levico is a fairly large town and has a lovely Italian feel to it.

• We’re checking in, lovely hotelier, but bad news – the restaurant’s closed – no problem, we’ll just chill in the room, have some snacks and watch climbing. 🙂

Saturday, June 22 

Taking shelter from the thunderstorm 

• There’s a fantastic Italian breakfast buffet – in fact, everything is becoming more and more Italian in every respect.

• This is also true for the roads we need to walk through the valley – they are full of fast-moving cars and obviously have no pavements.

• There are several ways to climb the mountain we have to cross: either via a via ferrata, which we rule out due to a lack of equipment and heavy rucksacks, or via a correspondingly steep hiking trail, which is, however, closed.
• We decide to give it a go anyway – what else can we do? And how bad can it really be?

• It turns out to be incredibly steep, but also quite beautiful – the only problem is that I’m not in a good mood and it’s already really hot, which makes the climb about twice as hard.
• My salvation comes in the form of a crystal-clear mountain stream, which is pleasantly cool, and I immediately dip my feet in it.

• My mood improves briefly, but rope-assisted ascents and a few strenuous climbing sections dampen it a little. 

• What’s more, a thunderstorm is forecast, which is making me nervous.
• Sure enough, the first raindrops start to fall just as we reach a small mountain pass with a restaurant, into which we gratefully take refuge.

• A wise decision, for shortly afterwards raindrops start pelting down on the roof and we see the first flashes of lightning in the sky, followed alarmingly quickly by thunder.
• Whilst the storm rages around us, we order some delicious panini and I do a bit of writing.
• Once the storm has passed, we set off again – the path takes us downhill into the valley along wide forest tracks.

• There we arrive at a small village where we stock up on supplies – with Italian treats from the supermarket.

• Soon after we reach Carbonare, where we are staying at a hotel tonight and watching the storm roll in.

• What’s more, we get to enjoy our first proper Italian three-course dinner at the hotel restaurant, with wild boar as the main course – lovely! 

Sunday, June 23 

Mystical views of mist-shrouded alpine meadows

• We’re getting off to a very slow start today – hardly surprising, given that we were woken by loud claps of thunder and a proper storm – and I find myself asking a very interesting question: what on earth do wild boars get up to during a storm? After finding out on a hunting forum that roe deer scatter and then come out into clearings, I find the answer on a nature website: wild boars feel right at home outdoors during a thunderstorm!
• Our incredibly kind host offers to drive us to our next accommodation, but we politely decline and set off by foot – in ponchos – into the really heavy rain that will be with us all day.

• At least the storm is far off, and all you can hear now and then is the distant rumble of thunder.
• Fittingly, we pass a tree that looks absolutely wild, which has clearly been struck by lightning.

• From here we follow the Peace Trail, which commemorates the battles of the First World War, some of which were fought here in this mountainous, rugged terrain.
• We soon come to the first war memorial: Forte Cherle, a huge Austrian fortification with numerous tunnels, which you can now explore by walking through them with torches.

• We take a look down the corridors, but decide not to explore any further as there’s water everywhere.
• It’s still very impressive, though – the huge concrete structure shrouded in mist.

• We make our way up through the mist across the mystical-looking alpine meadows and come to a former military hospital, of which not much remains.

• To reach it we take the Imperial Staircase – a lot of stairs (so many!), which we’re not exactly thrilled about.
• Narrow forest paths, leading through the thickest of the wilderness and already quite overgrown, take us to the ski resort, which looks very deserted and gloomy – shrouded in mist and devoid of people.

• That’s also where you’ll find the Passo Coe restaurant and accommodation, which, thank goodness, is open (we’ve booked, but you never know).

• Four more hikers arrive (by taxi) and we spend a relaxing evening enjoying a beer, reading, eating and drinking wine.

Monday, June 24 

Fiat Pandas and Jeeps

• A hearty and delicious breakfast at Passo Coe.

• Then we set off towards Rifugio Lancia: a mountain stage that takes us up and down through stunning mountainous landscapes and along lovely little stone paths.

• We make our way up to Monte Maggio across alpine meadows and through woodland, and as it’s so close, we actually take a detour to visit the summit.
• The view from here is fantastic, and all along today’s route on the ‘Sentiero del Pace’ you can see traces of the First World War – ruined houses, living quarters, shelters and trenches.

• We continue along narrow mountain paths, winding up and down with stunning views, until we descend through the forest, where we come across another relic of the war: an old lorry.

• We reach the lowest point of today’s hike, the Passo del Borcola, where the Malga Borcola is also located; naturally, we stop for a bite to eat and strike up a conversation with some Italian workers who are taking their lunch break here. They tell us that there is a lot of “nebbia” (fog, we assume, though we briefly wonder if they might actually mean snow) up at the summit.
• So, we make our way back up steep but beautiful paths into the mist, up to the Sogli Bianchi plateau, which is perfectly in keeping with the Lord of the Rings audiobook we’re listening to at the moment, and truly beautiful.

• Here we stop for a break and enjoy a ‘three-course meal’ with a salad side dish consisting of breadsticks, a cheese platter, apricots and cucumber.
• As we carry on, we come to a fork in the path in the middle of the plain, where we suddenly spot some chamois behind us – brilliant!

• They seem to be young chamois, because, firstly, they have light-coloured fur and, secondly, they’re just as curious about us as we are about them.
• We watch each other for quite a while, timidly edging closer time and again – wow! (“If they’re the Jeep in the mountains,” I say, “we’re the Fiat Panda”).
• There’s actually still snow here and we pass several snowfields.

• We reach Rifugio Lancia via forest tracks, where we receive a warm and friendly welcome – a proper mountain hut and, best of all, a fire in the fireplace! 

• We bump into the hiking group again – the ones walking the E5 trail whom we’ve seen here and there before – and spend a cosy evening by the fire, doing puzzles, chatting, and playing cards.

Tuesday, June 25 

Gloomy weather on the Sentiero della Pace (Path of Peace)

• An early, quick breakfast this morning, then we pack up as we want to set off early because thunderstorms are forecast for this afternoon.

• Two more guests moved into our dormitory during the night; we meet them now, still a bit sleepy, and have a quick chat about the spontaneous change of plans they’ve had to make due to the weather.
• We finally strike up a brief conversation with the hiking group over breakfast: they are walking the E5 from around Levico (Passo di Coe) to Verona.
• Mountain guide Katharina with Silke, Tim and Flo – a very quiet bunch (apart from Katharina).
• Katharina gives us updates on the route and the weather, which is great, as we simply can’t get any signal here, try as we might.
• “The stunning mountain landscape of Pasebio bears witness with striking clarity to the brutality of the mountain battles during the First World War,” writes our guidebook, and the Sentiero della Pace, which we follow for several stages across the mountain range, was created precisely for this purpose.
• The weather provides a very fitting backdrop to today’s stage: it has been raining from the start and thick fog hangs over the mountains.

• Before long, despite our ponchos – which aren’t easy to wear in the wind – we’re soaked through, and it’s getting a bit chilly with the wind blowing across the rocks.
• We briefly consider skipping the Dente Austriaco, but then decide to climb the summit, exposed to the wind and weather, where the front line ran during the First World War and where you can still discover living quarters, trenches and old metal relics from the war.

• Amidst the thick fog, shivering slightly in the wind and drizzle, the gloomy atmosphere really comes into its own, and it fits perfectly with the dark past and history that the mountain tells.

• We make our way down through the slope where so many people lost their lives; we can’t see the Dente Italianico, nor can we even make out its outline in the thick fog, so we decide instead to head straight down to the chapel of S. Maria (or something like that) and to the start/ end of the “Road of Heroes”, which was supposedly carved out of the rock in just six months and along which “the heroes” were carted to the front line.

• It’s impressive how the road winds its way along the steep rock faces, passing through tunnels in places.

• We make our way down, partly along steep shortcuts, until the cloud cover is above us and the weather suddenly improves, right up to the climb after the Fugarze Pass, which we practically sprint up, as thunderstorms are forecast for the afternoon. 

• The thunderstorms indeed catch up with us on the way down; so we get properly soaked through just before reaching tonight’s accommodation.

• So we are very happy when we finally reach the Fancy Refugio, which even has internet access.
• Watching climbing, dinner, and goodnight!