I
hadalwaysassumedthattheDolomiteswerethe
glamourdestinationof Europeanhiking,with
fashionableItaliansindesignerclothes,expensive
restaurants,fancyhotelsandskiliftsineverydirection.
Thiswasat oddswiththephotosI’dseen,of dramaticwhite
limestonemountainsprotrudingfromidyllicalpinevalleyswith
traditionalfarminghamletssurroundedbywildf lowers,but
surelytheseweremarketingshots.Howoftenhaveyoubeen
luredto beautifulWorldHeritagedestinations,onlyto be
overwhelmedbycutthroattourismoperatorsandpurveyorsof
overpricedfoodandexpensivetouristjunk?
But still, there was something about those Dolomites photos
that suggested the possibility of a hassle-free family hiking trip; a
family adventure without theme parks, cruise ships, fast food and
Google. We’d hiked in the nearby Stubai and Ötztal Alps of
southern Austria on multiple occasions, including our
honeymoon, so we knew that you could link rustic full-boardmountain huts via a vast network of well-marked tracks, and then
descendto thenearesttowneveryfewdaysto rest,washand
plan.
We invested in a few Cicerone guidebooks and topo maps and
were totally overwhelmed by our options. It turns out that the
Dolomites aren’t a single mountain range, but an entire region
containing dozensof mountain ranges, deep complex valleys and
traditionalLadinvillageswithdirectdescendantsfromtheIron
AgeRaetianpeople.
Yes, there are numerous ski towns, but there are also remote
national parks with populations of Brown bear, Lynx, Chamois,
Roe Deer and Marmot. It seemed entirely possible, that with
some careful planning, we could design a trip that avoided the
popular hiking tracks and busy tourist towns, but still make use
of cable cars to access the remote areas and avoid carrying packs
up 1,500 vertical metres from the valley f loor.DOLOMITES HIKING
CLOCKWISE
FROM LEF T:
As far as Alpine
regions go, it
doesn't get much
better than
the Dolomites;
wildflowers
frame a view up
a verdant valley
floor towards
jagged peaks;
views for miles.It turns out that the Dolomites aren’t a single
mountain range, but an entire region containing
dozens of mountain ranges, deep complex valleys and
traditional Ladin villages with direct descendants
from the Iron Age Raetian people.
84 / Outdoor