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Rifugio Nambino |
September 22, 2014
Well, this is our last chance in the mountains. All the area ski lifts are closed until the snow flies, which severely curtails our options. The sun is out as projected, so I opt to believe the weather man and leave my poncho in the room. We will try the trail that Dave discovered yesterday, and see where it leads us.
Getting started, right at the edge of town
Finally — a real trail
This route leads steeply up through a deep forest, beside a creek that remains out of sight. At a rest stop, I spot something so brightly colored that it seems unnatural. I must check it out:
Wow! This is the most colorful mushroom I ever saw
Amanita
After an 800-foot climb, we emerge from the trees into a pleasant meadow, featuring a better trail and views of the creek.
Sometimes it is not as easy as the signposts would have one believe
Rifugio Nambino
This place is relatively new — and expensive
This is why I order cocoa (right) instead of espresso (left)
Lake Nambino
Back on the trail
The high peaks across the valley
One ski route crosses over another
Up in Canada, overpasses like that have been built to allow animals to cross freeways safely.
Dave retrieves a dropped trekking pole
The town below
The peaks above
Numerous snow barricades protect the ski lift
Perhaps there is another view up there
A snow gun is our guess. There are many of them around
The views are here
Another rifugio is in sight a hundred feet above us; but we have had our fill of refreshment for now. Instead, we opt to head downward, and the most direct route is to follow the open ski run.
I vote for this route down
Dave belatedly agrees
The going is somewhat soggy in places, but not unpleasant.
Dave spots a plant that comes in three colors — Lingonberry
Suddenly our luck runs out when we encounter a big hillside construction project. There being no way around it, we must plunge through the middle of the muddy chaos.
This is not why I came to Italy
Are we destined to finish our Dolomite careers descending five hundred feet through this crap? No. Is so happens that, from here, a ski run passes through a tunnel underneath the highway, right down to the center of town. What a deal.
Several runs terminate at Main Street
On the way back to the hotel, a pair of beautiful second-story
storefront murals catch my eye. I have removed a few blotches and stains
from the images to make them more presentable. Check them out up close:
The mountains ⇔
The animals (that mostly no longer exist) ⇔
Observing that my boots are covered with mud, I have an epiphany.
Because I was planning to discard these well-worn shoes permanently at
the end of this trip anyway, why not retire them right now? Then there
will be more precious space in my luggage for the trip home.
Final resting place
§: This walk was just something to do on our last day here.
There was nothing the least bit special about it, except for that psychedelic
mushroom. This would have been a good day to go to Rifugio Tuckett after all.
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