Hiking the Italian Dolomites - Alta Via 1 (Stage 1 to 3)

This summer my boyfriend and me drove 1000km across Germany to Italy to spend some days in the Italian Dolomites, hiking the famous Alta Via 1 route.

Here´s the description of the first three stages of the trail:

Stage 1:
We started out at Lago di Braies at 1496 masl, a pictoresque lake, armed by the so-called "Pale Mountains". After conquering our first major climb en route, we reached a completely new, alien-like high-mountain steppes. By the end of the day we reached our first cottage, or Rifugio in Italian, Biella at 2327 masl.

Stage 2:
Before leaving our rifugio, we tried to get a reservation for the night at the next stop, either at Pederu, Fanes or Sennes, but unfortunately all cabins were booked out long ago. Luckily, we were able to reserve two spots at a small, family-run dairy farm - Fanes Grande. But this also meant that our hike will get extended for two hours that day and due to fact that there are often heavy, unpredicted storms in the summer in that region, we needed to hurry a bit.
After our start the elevation dropped steadily to Rifugio Pederu and its roadhead, then climbs steadily to Rifugio Fanes at 2060masl. When arriving to our dairy farm, we realised, we´re the only ones there spending the night, which was a pleasant surprise after seeing loud (also drunk) hikers at Pederu/Fanes and Sennes on the way here. We spent the afternoon gazing at the sunset among sheep and cows.

Stage 3:
Knowing that the bad weather is approaching (due to the type of rock - carbonate, the heavy rain can easily wipe out hikers on steep climbs), we needed to finish the 11k hike on Stage 3 by afternoon with our final climb to the highest point on Alta Via 1 - Rifugio Lagazuòi. The climb is quite interesting, as you need to hike across a long valley and once you reach Forcella del Lago at 2485 masl, a window onto a new world opens with an amazing vista.
A long steady haul uphill to Rifugio Lagazuoi brought us to 2752m, where we finished our hike and returned to the valley by afternoon.

!()

This was our first real mountain experience, depending on having only a bed and a shower at the end of each stage. So the biggest reward of this trip was definitely realising that all is doable, and that some days cut off world with some physical challenges can do miracles to your mind.
We´ll for sure return next summer and continue to the final stage. Can´t wait!

Tips:

• Book the rifugios far in advance as you might get stuck or have to extend the day hike for some hours
• Check weather on regular basis while in mountains as being stuck in storms can be deadly
• Bring or buy enough water, suncream and snacks for a few hours of hiking per day; there are enough rifugios en route to do this too
• No need to bring sleeping bags if you get a cabin, but make sure you bring a sleeping sheet if booking a dormitory
• No need to be in amazing shape to do the trail, just some patience and stamina :)

Get in touch with me if you want to know more!
Keep track of my trips: https://www.instagram.com/trakulja/