Yesterday morning we set off to hike famous Tre Cimes (3 peaks) route about 1 an hour away by bus from Cortine where we were staying. Eager to get an early start, we arrived at the bus station in plenty of time (unusual) and then... waited. I am sure we would have left on time but it appeared the bus driver had to consult with his fellow drivers, as well as occasional passersby, over cigarettes, though the subject was unclear.
In any case, once on the bus I opened my fancy hiking map and soon started to getting question from riders about different trail options. Within 20 minutes or so, I became the resident expert on Tre Cimes hikes on Dolomiti bus no. 310. As we were getting off, I was shouting instructions to various hikers, such as "You start right on trail 213 and then make sharp left at the big marmot hole!" As we were leaving Clay asked "Are you sure about that?"
Ken- "Actually, I dont really know but everyone thinks I am an expert because of the map."
Clay- "Hopefully they will be so lost that we wont see them on the return bub as I imagine they will be pretty mad."
One woman wondered why we seemed to have a different approach to packs-
"Experience" I told her. I like to travel light, though it helps to have someone carry some stuff.
In any case, we set off to hike the Tre Cime circuit and it did disappoint-
The Dolomites are justly famous for their sheerness, spiky peaks and WWI residuals. In fact, you can WWI leftovers everywhere- tunnels, barricades, trails- Clay even found a spent bullet shell. It is amazing to think the Italians and Austrians fought on these sheer cliffs- we lookout spots overlooking 2000 ft drops offs. And it appeared they are still some Austrian die hards still manning their posts-
(Maybe if he had removed the pack it would have been a little more authentic).
We did hike one peak, just to appease the peak baggers (see Maria C).
You have to be able to endure some heights to hike a lot in the Dolomites we have discovered (frequent huge cliffs which often drop 1000s of feet). (Notice how I am clinging to the cross, as right to my left is a 3000 ft cliff).
And then, as we were early for the bus, we decided to set up a few cairns for our fellow hikers-
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