Sendero Group Travel Blog

We walked over 15 kilometers, 10 miles, on two separate routes Thursday. The first was right out the back of our hotel, the Trieste. After a couple miles, the pavement and benches gave way to gravel, all very well maintained. If walking or biking wasn’t enough exercise, there was a par course too. Apparently, this trail was formerly a railway bed and it goes all the way to Austria. I could really picture cross country skiing on it some winter.

We are told mountain storms can appear out of nowhere but so far, shorts have been in order. It was stunning in the morning to be walking up this trail with the sun reflecting off the spiky crags all around us. I am told they look like teeth. Other times, we were in a tunnel of trees and it felt a little chilly.
Later in the morning, we hooked up with a Cortina local, Cristina Oberhammer, who would show us some other trails and be our translator when we lead the blind Italians on some hikes. She took us to an area called Fiames where the National Park began. We walked along the Boite River. I was amazed how few people were around given the nice weather and summer holidays. Once we crossed the River for the return part of the loop, we didn’t see anyone other than a few bathers on the other side.



We had a bit of a quandary when the bridge where we were supposed to cross back over the river was washed out. Cristina got on her mobile phone and the director of the park told us of another bridge further down river.

Over the course of our 2 plus hour walk, Cristina told us all about the mountain climbing traditions of the area. Even her 65 year-old father walks 25 kilometers 5 days a week. She pointed out the one peak where overly ambitious climbers often had to be rescued by the crack helicopter team.
I now have the path intersections and bridges marked with GPS points. Cristina told me that the alpine guides actually have accurate GPS maps of the entire area.

After more wandering around town we concluded the day with a wonderful local meal at Hospitali, next to the oldest church in the region from 1200 and something. I tried a local ravioli called Casunziei with a beet rout and poppy seed filling. The dessert was equally unique and tasty. Hospitali even had an Italian home brew of my favorite liqueur from the Alps, Genepi. This one was called Genepero. I definitely have this point marked in my database for future reference.