My cousins often brag about how great their views are in the Dolomites and that theirs is the best in the world. I was skeptical – there is a lot of nature and wild beauty in North America. Family video calls were getting way too competitive whenever someone brought up that topic, so we decided to settle it.
How? Go there and see for myself. It’s been a while since we had seen each other, and I miss those trolls.
They got the big gene; I got the beard gene.
The Dolomites is a mountain range in Northeastern Italy, known to be a mecca of outdoor recreation – climbing, trekking, via ferratas, mountain biking, snow sports, just to name a few. This UNESCO World Heritage Site is also home to World War I encampments and gallerias.
There are numerous trails of various lengths in this beautiful mountain range. The Alta Via 1 is the considered the easiest of the multi-day hikes in this area, perfect for a weekend warrior with an interest in WW1 history – like me. Once that was decided, it was time to assemble a team.
When I brought this up with my assistant, they jumped at the idea. The reasons my assistant wanted to go are aplenty (apologies – they are quite long-winded):
- Live simply in a remote area for days: When the goal is drink water, eat snacks, and get to the next hut by dinner time, life is straightforward and uncomplicated.
- Redemption: When they had completed the Tour du Mont Blanc a few years back, they had underprepared and overpacked. Since the TMB, they had acquired more hiking experience. That, combined with now being in their mid-30s, they want to make sure they still got it. (Humans are strange creatures). Here’s a post comparing the differences between the Alta Via 1 and Tour du Mont Blanc.
Trip Summary
Itinerary: Cortina – Dolomites – Venice – Lisboa
We arrived in Cortina on Sept 4, 2022. Our hike started Sept 6, 2022 at Pragser Wildsee. We reached Forno di Zoldo, the end point of our hike, on Sept 14, 2022. We spent a day in Venice and a few days in Portugal before leaving Europe. The rest of this post is about the Alta Via 1 experience.
Expectations vs. Actual experience
One thing this gnome has learned is that expectations and actual experience quite often differ. The chart below compares our expectations while planning the trip and what we actually experienced.
| What we expected | What we got | |
|---|---|---|
| Trail Traffic | September is the end of busy season, so there should be fewer people on the trail. | Rifugios were either completely booked up or closed for the season. Portions of the trail accessible by gondola / cable car were busy. |
| Weather | Cool (great hiking weather), few to no summer storms. | Several hot days due to no shade or cloud cover; 2 days where it rained buckets; cool nights. |
| Effort | It will be a grind. | Yes it was a grind. |
| Navigation | Straightforward. | Straightforward using trail notes and map (no GPS needed). |
| Reward | Tiramisu every night! | – Tiramisu only twice – Alpenglow – Redemption |
| Language | English and some Italian should be fine (ciao, prego, buongiorno) | Should have learned Italian jokes – perhaps we would’ve gotten warmer service. |
| Water | We would have to buy water. There is potable water at some rifugios. | Most rifugios have potable water (but always ask just in case). Some rifugios require a token for the shower. Expect to pay for water at the more remote rifugios. |
| Bedding | Brought a liner to sleep in for added warmth. | Used the liner that I brought. Some rifugios ask that you use a liner and would sell disposable or reusable ones. |
Conditions
Weather-wise, we were lucky – it only rained two days. The gear we brought kept us warm and dry. Mountain weather changes very quickly – sunny and warm to windy with precip (rain or hail) – so we had to be prepared for pretty much anything, especially for the days where we were travelling long distances on exposed trails.
The daily range of reported temperatures (gray bars) and 24-hour highs (red ticks) and lows (blue ticks), placed over the daily average high (faint red line) and low (faint blue line) temperature, with 25th to 75th and 10th to 90th percentile bands.
Effort
The type of training we undertook was hiking the Grouse Grind/BCMC and other completing other day hikes in the area. My assistant did some mountaineering specific training exercises.
We could have definitely followed a more strict training plan to be better prepared, but what we did was enough. While my belly barely fit inside my travel compartment, everything still worked out. The chart below shows the daily kilometers completed and steps taken.
The Trail
According to a fellow hiker, Alta Via 1 is pretty much a stitch up of existing trail systems that were in various states of maintenance. Some parts were quite eroded while other parts were well maintained. More details can be found in the daily summaries. The Spot map below shows the path we took.
Dots are recorded every 1/2 hour and key start and end points for each day are underlined in grey.
Rifugios
The places we stayed at ranged from small and very rustic (bunk beds in small rooms, squatty potties) to rustic vibes with model features, to hotel-esque.
All the rifugios had boot rooms, where hikers are expected to leave their muddy boots and poles.
We had booked out private rooms due to covid concerns and for the most part was pleasantly surprised at how nice these places were.
Gear
Gear is key to safety and enjoyment, or so my assistant says. It is likely an excuse they tell themselves to justify buying more toys… er life-saving equipment.
Looking at how many times and how often the gear was used, I think we had done a pretty good job with the packing. We dive deeper into gear here with our packing list and gear reviews.
Gear use frequency as a proxy of how well we packed.
Money
Most places we stayed at charged a coperto or a cover fee for bread. unless the service was spectacular, we did not tip.
We booked our trip through a self-guided tour company that had booked rooms and taxis on our behalf and provided beta / detailed directions. This meant that our trip was likely more expensive than if we were to book each place on our own.
Most dinners and breakfasts were covered. We stayed in private rooms. Total per person was $2500 USD. Flights and transit to Cortina was paid for by us.
We brought €250 in cash for incidentals, cable cars, and emergencies. Most places accepted credit card, though they preferred cash.
Highlights and Oopsies
Each day we saw and learned some new things and also made the same mistake several times. Here are the overall trip highlights:
Other tips:
- Emergency numbers: Europe-wide: 112; Italy: 118.
- We bought a SIM card with data for connectivity at the Marco Polo Airport. There were limited plan options available.
- Etiquette:
- Close any gate that you open
- Keep an eye out for mountain bikers and faster hikers
- Leave no trace – Bring garbage with you for proper disposal at rifugios, including toilet paper
- When checking in, confirm the time that dinner and breakfast the next day would be served. If you want to purchase a picnic lunch for the next day, also let the rifugio staff know either at check in or at dinner to give them time to pull one together.
- Many of the rifugios had European style windows and some of them had bidets – we loved them.
Were the cousins right?
Does the Dolomites have the best view in the world? The world is a pretty big place and I don’t think this trip provided enough information to make that decision. The views in the Dolomites were beautiful, but views on the Tour du Mont Blanc and the North Coast Trail were stunning as well.
It looks we’ll have to go to more places to figure this out! Upcoming trips/posts:
- Tofino
- Malaysia
- Patagonia
- Japan
- Nepal
- Chile
WELCOME TO UNPAVED HAVEN 
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