Bob and Ann in Italy 2011

It was raining lightly as we were eating our buffet breakfast. That didn’t deter us from our planned hike. After all, we brought rain gear so we might as well use for hiking as well as cycling. Ann and I joined Tom nd Julie Leever, Claudia and Barry Spaulding, and Tom Kearns for a bus ride down the hill that we rode up yesterday. We got off at Ortisei and walked over to the gondola. It was still raining. Claudia and Barry decided to wander around the town. The rest of us took a double gondola ride up the side of the mountain to an elevation of 2500 meters. The view on the way up was restricted because of the clouds but we could see the sheer cliffs as we ascended in the second gondola. Other than the gondola operators, there were no other people around. It felt strange to be dropped off at the top of the mountain and left to our own navigation skills especially when the visibility was so poor. It was ironic that this area is called The Sunny Side of Val Gardena.

At the top it took us a few minutes to get our bearings and to decide which trails to take. All of the trail intersections are well marked so we had no trouble walking along our chosen route. The surface of the trails were pre-cast stone webbing, gravel and natural. Walking was fairly easy except in muddy spots.

Baita Trojer Hutte - Tom and Julie Leever, Tom Kearns, Ann Lynn

It was still raining after about an hour when we reached Baita Trojer Hutte . This is one of the many huts where you can stop to rest, to warm up and to get something to eat. Most of them have German names. They have full menus. We had cappuccino, coffee, hot chocolate, soup and bread as we dried out from the wet descent.

Alpine Lake

Putting on my rain gear again and wearing my backpack under my rain jacket, we left the hut and continued our descent. After a while, we could see our shadows and it got too warm for our rain gear. We could now see more of the mountain peaks and the alpine valleys. We passed some gurgling streams and a couple of alpine ponds. We even walked by some local wildlife.

Three hours after our start at the top of the gondola lift, we reached Selva and Hotel Solaia. Ann’s new hip was a little sore, so she decided to sooth it by swimming in the the hotel’s indoor pool and taking some vitamin I.

We managed to get some down time in the afternoon. We thought about wandering around the town, but my only shoes were very wet from washing the mud off of them after our hike and it was raining again. I was wearing slippers supplied by the hotel.

After Happy Hour, Ann and I decided to eat at the hotel. I couldn’t go out to another restaurant because I was still wearing the hotel's slippers. Egon, the hotel owner, encouraged me to go out anyway claiming that it was good advertising for the hotel. Henry Lam, Marie Tesch, and Karen Hoskinson joined us for the hotel dinner. Ann and I had salad from the salad bar and an appetizer of soft cheese wrapped in thinly sliced dried beef. I had garlic soup. Then we both had wiener schnitzel with roasted potatoes and fennel. No dessert tonight.

After dinner we looked outside and were greeted by blue skies and high, wispy clouds. It only rains during the day here.