The forecast for the afternoon is a bit questionable, so today's more of a "normal hike". We drive up towards the Passo Giau and stop at the parking lot at the Punte de Rucuno. We aren't the only ones with plans to hike this loop: there are plenty of cars here already and 4-5 groups getting ready to go.
We set off along the trail (again on the Alt Via Dolomiti 1) and head up, up through the trees. At the fork we opt to do the loop counter-clockwise, so we head off into the Val de Formin. We're still in the shade, so the gentle climbing is cool and easy. The valley's really nice with walls on both sides (those on the left are dramatic and sheer) and, once we get a bit higher, cool boulders to play on. Up, up we go. When things start to open up to our right, before reaching the Forcella de Formin, we turn off to the right and head out without a trail across the karst which slopes up towards the ridge/peaks above. This broad feature, the Lastoi de Formin, is visible from all over the place and has been on our list since last year. More fun boulders to play on, fun karst walking, a food break in the sun with nice views, then further up, up towards the top. We improvise a route through the steeper "headwall" that leads to the top and then are up on the ridge.
The very last bit is unfortunately not accessible without wings, so we follow the ridge back to the left until we get to the top of the Ponta Lastoi de Formin. We've got the peak to ourselves for a while, unfortunately not in the sun and can enjoy the great views and the dramatic cloud play on the surrounding mountains. We were alone during the no-trail traverse of the karst, but now we're on a popular, though marked only with cairns, route, so as we continue towards the Forcella de Formin we start passing people coming the other way. Down to the pass, then down down a bit more towards the Forcella Rosa. Instead of following the main trail down to the pass we take a side trail towards a small saddle to have a food break and enjoy the views (unfortunately not the sun though). After the break we head steeply down the scree on a slight path (fun!) until we rejoin the main trail. Nice views of the lake and rifugio below and increasing numbers of people as we head towards them. Lots of people at the lake itself, which is very nicely situated under the wall of the Croda da Lago. There are apparently climbing routes in this little group and it would be fun to come back some time and explore them.
We opt not to stop at the crowded hut for a break and instead continue down, down through the woods, down, down, past plenty of other people, down, down to the car.
We ended up timing this pretty well: back in Cortina a gentle rain starts as we're eating our pizza-by-the-slice snack and that intensifies to a couple of hard, though brief, showers later in the afternoon.
Nice day of easy hiking in a nice area. Playing on the karst was particularly fun (as always).
Stats: 6:10, 15.9 km, ~1000m up and down
No comments:
Post a Comment