OTHER Trip Report 10/04/2014

Peak(s):	Brenta Dolomite range - 9000
Date Posted:	10/04/2014
Date Climbed:	09/14/2014
Author:	worldtraveler532

Eastern Brenta Dolomite traverse in italy
Recently I went to Italy and did 2 backcountry traverses in the dolomite range. The range is pretty extensive and you would need over a month to explore all trails. I chose to do 2 traverses - one in the Brenta group close to Trento and one in the northern Sesto range which includes the famous Tri Cime group. This report is on the traverse I did in the Brenta range. I took 3 1/2 days for the traverse. Total gain was about 7000ft How do they compare with our mountains ? Compared to the mountains in CO those mountains are quite rugged and there are several places that have high degree of exposure in several places. Trails are generally well maintained. In a few places they have jeep access to serve the rifugios where you spend the night. Those portions are obviously class 1 and are simple walk ups. Due to their lower elevation temps are higher than what we see here. However the weather is completely different story - in this circuit there was hardly any sun and I was not able to get good photos of the peaks for the most part. Fog covered the ranges most of the time and it even rained one day for quite a while) though no thunder or lightening. Day 1 Start point in the quaint town of San Lorenzo del Banale. Elev - 700 mts. I started at ~2 pm after getting there in a bus from Trento ( also I had to hitchhike a portion as there was no public transit on Sunday for a portion of the way!) After getting through the village you enter the border of Parco Adamello - Brenta in a plase called Baesa. There is a 4WD up all the way up to the Rifugio Cacciatore - some 3300ft up. The trail/4WD road goes up through Val D' Ambiez with a stream running most of the way.There are some pretty waterfalls on the way. Pont de Broca is an interesting place where the road is carved out of rock with the stream running next to it. There are 2-3 places where you can take foot path but eventually they join the 4WD road. At the end of the day I got to Rifugio Cacciatore , elev 1820 that seemed to take forever. Day 2 This was the most interesting day of the trip - I started with the straightforward trip to Rifugio Augostini (elev 2410 m) Class 1 and the trail goes over limestone slabs. Now this is where the fun starts to the next Rif. The overall gain on paper is only ~250 ft, but the path is anything but. For the 1st 45 mins you do gentle traverse with sometimes good exposure. Then you need to scale a gap in between 2 peaks called Forcolotta di Noghera (2433 mts) - this is where you use all 4 to ascend a few steps - kinda like the top of trough on Longs peak trail. Once at it, you do another traverse into another gap - into Val di Ceda. Here the trail is interesting - you hug the side of the moutain with steep dropoff on one side and drop a lot very close to a permanent snowfield. You then have to ascend it - there are metal ropes for you to hold on - dont slip into the snow that is close to you! - you then ascend and then cross over to the other side of the Valley . I lost my way and went to the head of the valley - and was rewarded with awesome views of the dolomites there. The actual route to the next hut - Piederotti - elev 2491 is around the valley and you again need to use all 4s to ascend a steep slope. in all, there were several class 3 sections to get to this hut. It was the most desolate portion of my trip. Day 3 Piederotti is in beautiful settings , as you can see. However dense fog always clouded the view. Day 3 morning was much worse with really no visibility. i planned to cross over to the western Brenta section but it required harness to latch onto metal railings over steep snow on the other side of Bocca de Brenta. I canceled that plan and decided to come down to Molveno. The trail down to the next hut - Selvetta 1630 mts is pretty steep amongst dense forests. Trail is, too with big exposure in many sections - just dont look down! i would rate a few sections as 2+. After close to 2800 ft you reach the hut . You can see it much before as a clearing in the dense forest down you. There were a few sections where you have to climb down ravines and reclimb up on talus. Stones and soil look flimsy but I found the footholds to be reliable Day 4 This was a much shorter day with the march down to Molveno Lake and the end of the hike. Trail crosses some more ravines after Rif Selvetta . Once you get to the Rif Malga di Andalo - elev 1356 mts, the trail turns into a road which is in fact 2WD grade, though very steep , so only 4WD service vehicles can go there. After 1 hr from the hut you get into the homes just above Molveno township (860 mts). I could have combined Day 3 with 4 but took it slow to enjoy on my way down. The town seemed to be much more touristy than San Lorenzo and is much prettier. There seemed to be better connections to the regional hub Trento using bus and train from an intermediate station from the bus. I had my best gelato in my life there. Final thoughts - this is a pretty rugged group of dolomites. If you plan to do it you need to comfortable over boulders with some exposure. Carry some traction device for snowfields in case you plan to cross Bocca di Brenta ( I didnt). There are many variations possible though not all paths are marked, so you need to go with an expert. Thumbnails for uploaded photos (click to open slideshow):

Eastern Brenta Dolomite traverse in italy

Recently I went to Italy and did 2 backcountry traverses in the dolomite range. The range is pretty extensive and you would need over a month to explore all trails. I chose to do 2 traverses - one in the Brenta group close to Trento and one in the northern Sesto range which includes the famous Tri Cime group. This report is on the traverse I did in the Brenta range. I took 3 1/2 days for the traverse. Total gain was about 7000ft

How do they compare with our mountains ?
Compared to the mountains in CO those mountains are quite rugged and there are several places that have high degree of exposure in several places. Trails are generally well maintained. In a few places they have jeep access to serve the rifugios where you spend the night. Those portions are obviously class 1 and are simple walk ups. Due to their lower elevation temps are higher than what we see here. However the weather is completely different story - in this circuit there was hardly any sun and I was not able to get good photos of the peaks for the most part. Fog covered the ranges most of the time and it even rained one day for quite a while) though no thunder or lightening.

Day 1
Start point in the quaint town of San Lorenzo del Banale. Elev - 700 mts. I started at ~2 pm after getting there in a bus from Trento ( also I had to hitchhike a portion as there was no public transit on Sunday for a portion of the way!) After getting through the village you enter the border of Parco Adamello - Brenta in a plase called Baesa. There is a 4WD up all the way up to the Rifugio Cacciatore - some 3300ft up. The trail/4WD road goes up through Val D' Ambiez with a stream running most of the way.There are some pretty waterfalls on the way. Pont de Broca is an interesting place where the road is carved out of rock with the stream running next to it. There are 2-3 places where you can take foot path but eventually they join the 4WD road. At the end of the day I got to Rifugio Cacciatore , elev 1820 that seemed to take forever.

Day 2
This was the most interesting day of the trip - I started with the straightforward trip to Rifugio Augostini (elev 2410 m) Class 1 and the trail goes over limestone slabs. Now this is where the fun starts to the next Rif. The overall gain on paper is only ~250 ft, but the path is anything but. For the 1st 45 mins you do gentle traverse with sometimes good exposure. Then you need to scale a gap in between 2 peaks called Forcolotta di Noghera (2433 mts) - this is where you use all 4 to ascend a few steps - kinda like the top of trough on Longs peak trail. Once at it, you do another traverse into another gap - into Val di Ceda. Here the trail is interesting - you hug the side of the moutain with steep dropoff on one side and drop a lot very close to a permanent snowfield. You then have to ascend it - there are metal ropes for you to hold on - dont slip into the snow that is close to you! - you then ascend and then cross over to the other side of the Valley . I lost my way and went to the head of the valley - and was rewarded with awesome views of the dolomites there. The actual route to the next hut - Piederotti - elev 2491 is around the valley and you again need to use all 4s to ascend a steep slope. in all, there were several class 3 sections to get to this hut. It was the most desolate portion of my trip.

Day 3
Piederotti is in beautiful settings , as you can see. However dense fog always clouded the view. Day 3 morning was much worse with really no visibility. i planned to cross over to the western Brenta section but it required harness to latch onto metal railings over steep snow on the other side of Bocca de Brenta. I canceled that plan and decided to come down to Molveno. The trail down to the next hut - Selvetta 1630 mts is pretty steep amongst dense forests. Trail is, too with big exposure in many sections - just dont look down! i would rate a few sections as 2+. After close to 2800 ft you reach the hut . You can see it much before as a clearing in the dense forest down you. There were a few sections where you have to climb down ravines and reclimb up on talus. Stones and soil look flimsy but I found the footholds to be reliable

Day 4
This was a much shorter day with the march down to Molveno Lake and the end of the hike. Trail crosses some more ravines after Rif Selvetta . Once you get to the Rif Malga di Andalo - elev 1356 mts, the trail turns into a road which is in fact 2WD grade, though very steep , so only 4WD service vehicles can go there. After 1 hr from the hut you get into the homes just above Molveno township (860 mts). I could have combined Day 3 with 4 but took it slow to enjoy on my way down. The town seemed to be much more touristy than San Lorenzo and is much prettier. There seemed to be better connections to the regional hub Trento using bus and train from an intermediate station from the bus. I had my best gelato in my life there.

Final thoughts
- this is a pretty rugged group of dolomites. If you plan to do it you need to comfortable over boulders with some exposure. Carry some traction device for snowfields in case you plan to cross Bocca di Brenta ( I didnt). There are many variations possible though not all paths are marked, so you need to go with an expert.

Thumbnails for uploaded photos (click to open slideshow):

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