Sunday, July 7, 2024 - Sunday, July 21, 2024
Dolomites,
International,
Italy
Der Traumpfad ("Dream Way" in German) from Munich to Venice is like a modern day pilgrimage-a long walk to an iconic destination but without the religious overtones. It is one of the most popular trans-alpine treks, but little known outside the German speaking world. Prolific guide book author John Hayes writes that he has "crossed the Alps on foot many other times but this was the best." The "Dream Way" links two of Europe's most iconic destinations with a journey across some of the best scenery in the Alps. From the heart of Bavaria, from biergartens, wurst, and lederhosen, to the Adriatic and prosecco, fritto misto and tiramisù-it's a journey across cultures as well as mountains. This trek, part II of the "Dream Way", takes place entirely in the Dolomites, located in the northeast corner of Italy, near the border with Austria. This region, chosen as a UNESCO Heritage site, is in the words of John Murray (1840) "unlike any other mountains and are to be seen nowhere else among the Alps. They arrest the attention by the singularity and picturesqueness of their forms, by their sharp peaks or horns, sometimes rising in pinnacles and obelisks, at others extending in serrated ridges teethed like the jaw of an alligator." We will hike every day with a typical altitude gain of 850 m (2,635 ft) and a distance covered of 16 km (9.4 miles). We will be outdoors eight hours per day of which six hours are hiking and the balance for lunch, taking pictures, and smelling the fresh air. The trip is a true alpine experience containing sections with exposure, use of cables for security, short ladder sections, etc. This trip is aimed at seasoned trekkers and is rated strenuous. We will spend every night in either hotels or mountain huts. Blankets and pillows will be provided. Participants must bring a sleeping bag liner (sleep sack) to use instead of sheets. Accommodations are typically in a bunk room with 4-12 people of mixed gender. Mattresses are either side-by-side or in two- level bunk beds. Alternatively, we may sometimes have two persons (same sex) per room sharing two adjacent mattresses in a single bed frame.
