The Alps are calling, we must go
Jan 30th, 2024 | 06:28 AM
#82
Original Poster
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 21,153
Likes: 83
Dec 13 -
It had snowed quite a bit overnight, the plows were out in force, 3c.
I went next door to Silvia Café for a cappuccino and chocolate croissant (€4.40) while Bill fiddled with the percolator. We both failed at our attempts to caffeinate; my cappuccino was luke-warm, his percolator experiment was a disaster, despite having watched a Youtube video before trying it out.
It was a shite weather day, lots of wet, slushy snow, no views to be had.
We went across the street to pick the brains of a cranky woman at the tourist office. She suggested a hike I already had on my list, one where views didn’t really matter.
So, we walked from our apartment to where the trail began along the Sextner Bach Stream, donned our traction cleats and headed towards Sesto/Sexten. The trail then climbed up to Wildbad, a former spa town fallen to ruins. Here the path was wide, and also used by logging trucks; one rumbled by and scared the bejesus out of me.
https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/bagni-wildbad
Walking towards Sesto/Sexten
Walking towards Sesto/Sexten
Walking towards Sesto/Sexten
Walking towards Sesto/Sexten
Wildbad
Wildbad
We then continued on to the Riese Haunold Hutte/Rifugio Gigante Baranci, which was slow going due to deep snow and the 380 meter ascent.
Walking to Reise Haunold Hutte/Rifugio Gigante Baranci
St Salvatore im Wildbad
Walking to Riese Haunold Hutte/Rifugio Gigante Baranci
Riese Haunold Hutte/Rifugio Gigante Baranci
By the time we reached the hutte/rifugio, we were enclosed in a blanket of white, completely socked in; the snow was coming down like gangbusters.
We had a self-service lunch, barley soup for both, sausage and fries for Bill, wine for both €31. We were surprised that ketchup and mustard packets were free (we’ve paid as much as .90 chf per packet in Switzerland) and once again were amazed at how inexpensive decent wine is here in Italy.
Riese Haunold Hutte/Rifugio Gigante Baranci
Rested and fed, we decided to hike back down, thinking we could do it in an hour, but it took us 1:20 of steady walking; the hike there and back had taken 3:20 in the snow, 8.5 km.
Back in San Candido we sought out cake and café lattes at the Wachtler Store, a beautiful place full of interesting food and gift items spread across two floors. There’s a tiny coffee shop in the middle of the store - I loved this place. We had excellent hot café lattes served in insulated glasses and shared a piece of cake €10.20. Lovely.
Wachtler Store, San Candido
We then walked to DeSpar to pick up dinner provisions and try out their nifty orange juicer; if we had these at home I’d drink a whole lot more OJ. Then it was back to the apartment to check out the infrared steam cabin.
https://hydrosoft.at/
To be continued...
It had snowed quite a bit overnight, the plows were out in force, 3c.
I went next door to Silvia Café for a cappuccino and chocolate croissant (€4.40) while Bill fiddled with the percolator. We both failed at our attempts to caffeinate; my cappuccino was luke-warm, his percolator experiment was a disaster, despite having watched a Youtube video before trying it out.
It was a shite weather day, lots of wet, slushy snow, no views to be had.
We went across the street to pick the brains of a cranky woman at the tourist office. She suggested a hike I already had on my list, one where views didn’t really matter.
So, we walked from our apartment to where the trail began along the Sextner Bach Stream, donned our traction cleats and headed towards Sesto/Sexten. The trail then climbed up to Wildbad, a former spa town fallen to ruins. Here the path was wide, and also used by logging trucks; one rumbled by and scared the bejesus out of me.
https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/bagni-wildbad
Walking towards Sesto/Sexten
Walking towards Sesto/Sexten
Walking towards Sesto/Sexten
Walking towards Sesto/Sexten
Wildbad
Wildbad
We then continued on to the Riese Haunold Hutte/Rifugio Gigante Baranci, which was slow going due to deep snow and the 380 meter ascent.
Walking to Reise Haunold Hutte/Rifugio Gigante Baranci
St Salvatore im Wildbad
Walking to Riese Haunold Hutte/Rifugio Gigante Baranci
Riese Haunold Hutte/Rifugio Gigante Baranci
By the time we reached the hutte/rifugio, we were enclosed in a blanket of white, completely socked in; the snow was coming down like gangbusters.
We had a self-service lunch, barley soup for both, sausage and fries for Bill, wine for both €31. We were surprised that ketchup and mustard packets were free (we’ve paid as much as .90 chf per packet in Switzerland) and once again were amazed at how inexpensive decent wine is here in Italy.
Riese Haunold Hutte/Rifugio Gigante Baranci
Rested and fed, we decided to hike back down, thinking we could do it in an hour, but it took us 1:20 of steady walking; the hike there and back had taken 3:20 in the snow, 8.5 km.
Back in San Candido we sought out cake and café lattes at the Wachtler Store, a beautiful place full of interesting food and gift items spread across two floors. There’s a tiny coffee shop in the middle of the store - I loved this place. We had excellent hot café lattes served in insulated glasses and shared a piece of cake €10.20. Lovely.
Wachtler Store, San Candido
We then walked to DeSpar to pick up dinner provisions and try out their nifty orange juicer; if we had these at home I’d drink a whole lot more OJ. Then it was back to the apartment to check out the infrared steam cabin.
https://hydrosoft.at/
To be continued...
Last edited by Melnq8; Jan 30th, 2024 at 06:31 AM.
Jan 30th, 2024 | 07:43 AM
#83
Original Poster
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 21,153
Likes: 83
Dec 14 -
More snow overnight; a partly cloudy day expected.
We stepped outside and saw this:
We went across the street to the tourist office for some more info. The same cranky woman was on duty, and even more testy and impatient than yesterday.
We then took a bus to Versciaco from the bus stop right in front of the Residence Silvia (free with Sud Tirol card) and got off at the stop nearest the cable car station. Here we picked the brains of a very helpful young man at the ticket office. We bought a three day cable car ticket (good for three out of four days) and he explained which cable cars it was valid on, where to go for the best views, etc (€60 for me, €54 for Bill). He was a breath of fresh air after the grouchy woman at the San Candido tourist office.
Versciaco
We then took the cable car/gondola up to Helm/Monte Elmo, said to be the ideal starting point for exploring the entire 3 Zinnen Dolomites ski area.
The views were fantastic, the sky blue, I couldn’t stop taking photos.
Helm/Monte Elmo
Helm/Monte Elmo
Helm/Monte Elmo
Helm/Monte Elmo
Helm/Monte Elmo
Helm/Monte Elmo
We located the trail to Hahnspielhütte, which was groomed for walking, but the snow was still plenty deep; some skiers were also using it despite the signs prohibiting them. We trudged uphill through the snow, me stopping every few minutes for photos of the gorgeous mountains to our right. Winter walking isn’t without its challenges, although there was only a 150 meter elevation gain, this walk really wore me out.
Walking to Hahnspielhütte
Walking to Hahnspielhütte
Walking to Hahnspielhütte
The trail crossed a few wide ski pistes, which always makes me nervous. Skis are much faster than hiking boots, and I always worry about getting mowed down before I can make it to the opposite side. Some 30-40 minutes later we reached Hahnspielhütte, where we settled in at a table on the terrace for an alfresco lunch.
Hahnspielhütte
Hahnspielhütte
Let’s just say that the views were world’s better than the food. We both had their barley soup, which was so incredibly bland (even after adding salt) that I couldn’t finish it. We also shared a ½ liter of white wine - our waitress mistakenly brought us a full liter - we asked if she was trying to get us drunk, and told her we’d only ordered 5dl (€30.90).
After lunch we backtracked to the Helm/Monte Elmo self-service restaurant, very busy with skiers, where we shared a nice cheese strudel, €6.
Backtracking to Helm/Monte Elmo
Helm/Monte Elmo self-service restaurant
We then took the cable car down to Sexton/Sesto, just because we could, and then went right back up to Helm/Monte Elmo after a few photos.
Sexton/Sesto
Helm/Monte Elmo
Helm/Monte Elmo
Eventually we took the cable car back down to Versciaco and crossed the overpass to the train station. We’d considered taking the train to Lienz for the Christmas market; the ticket machine indicated it was €48 for both return, the OBB app indicated it was €35.20 for both return.
As we thought about it, the train to San Candido arrived and we had to make a quick decision. We decided to just return to San Candido.
Back at the San Candido train station, we walked the 15 minutes back to the apartment, stopping enroute to pick up kebabs from shop across the street from Residence Silvia (€7 each, on the small side, but good).
It’d been a spectacular day in the Dolomites.
To be continued...
More snow overnight; a partly cloudy day expected.
We stepped outside and saw this:
We went across the street to the tourist office for some more info. The same cranky woman was on duty, and even more testy and impatient than yesterday.
We then took a bus to Versciaco from the bus stop right in front of the Residence Silvia (free with Sud Tirol card) and got off at the stop nearest the cable car station. Here we picked the brains of a very helpful young man at the ticket office. We bought a three day cable car ticket (good for three out of four days) and he explained which cable cars it was valid on, where to go for the best views, etc (€60 for me, €54 for Bill). He was a breath of fresh air after the grouchy woman at the San Candido tourist office.
Versciaco
We then took the cable car/gondola up to Helm/Monte Elmo, said to be the ideal starting point for exploring the entire 3 Zinnen Dolomites ski area.
The views were fantastic, the sky blue, I couldn’t stop taking photos.
Helm/Monte Elmo
Helm/Monte Elmo
Helm/Monte Elmo
Helm/Monte Elmo
Helm/Monte Elmo
Helm/Monte Elmo
We located the trail to Hahnspielhütte, which was groomed for walking, but the snow was still plenty deep; some skiers were also using it despite the signs prohibiting them. We trudged uphill through the snow, me stopping every few minutes for photos of the gorgeous mountains to our right. Winter walking isn’t without its challenges, although there was only a 150 meter elevation gain, this walk really wore me out.
Walking to Hahnspielhütte
Walking to Hahnspielhütte
Walking to Hahnspielhütte
The trail crossed a few wide ski pistes, which always makes me nervous. Skis are much faster than hiking boots, and I always worry about getting mowed down before I can make it to the opposite side. Some 30-40 minutes later we reached Hahnspielhütte, where we settled in at a table on the terrace for an alfresco lunch.
Hahnspielhütte
Hahnspielhütte
Let’s just say that the views were world’s better than the food. We both had their barley soup, which was so incredibly bland (even after adding salt) that I couldn’t finish it. We also shared a ½ liter of white wine - our waitress mistakenly brought us a full liter - we asked if she was trying to get us drunk, and told her we’d only ordered 5dl (€30.90).
After lunch we backtracked to the Helm/Monte Elmo self-service restaurant, very busy with skiers, where we shared a nice cheese strudel, €6.
Backtracking to Helm/Monte Elmo
Helm/Monte Elmo self-service restaurant
We then took the cable car down to Sexton/Sesto, just because we could, and then went right back up to Helm/Monte Elmo after a few photos.
Sexton/Sesto
Helm/Monte Elmo
Helm/Monte Elmo
Eventually we took the cable car back down to Versciaco and crossed the overpass to the train station. We’d considered taking the train to Lienz for the Christmas market; the ticket machine indicated it was €48 for both return, the OBB app indicated it was €35.20 for both return.
As we thought about it, the train to San Candido arrived and we had to make a quick decision. We decided to just return to San Candido.
Back at the San Candido train station, we walked the 15 minutes back to the apartment, stopping enroute to pick up kebabs from shop across the street from Residence Silvia (€7 each, on the small side, but good).
It’d been a spectacular day in the Dolomites.
To be continued...
Jan 30th, 2024 | 12:19 PM
#89
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 5,002
Likes: 0
Back to your stay in Stubai valley: I talked with a friend today who was skiing there last week. Lousy weather mostly but they were super happy with their hotel (room, spa and food):
https://www.erika.at/en/
https://www.erika.at/en/
Jan 30th, 2024 | 02:37 PM
#92
Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 475
Likes: 0
Wow!
We do admire your ability to walk in such incredible snow and cold.
Thank you for such detailed comments and gorgeous photos.
We have been considering San Candido for September this year and with your report and the wonderful reports from Adelaidean it looks like this might the place.
We have been in this region a number of times in mid to late September and have not found it too hot: but we are used to warmer weather.
Again: thank you.
We do admire your ability to walk in such incredible snow and cold.
Thank you for such detailed comments and gorgeous photos.
We have been considering San Candido for September this year and with your report and the wonderful reports from Adelaidean it looks like this might the place.
We have been in this region a number of times in mid to late September and have not found it too hot: but we are used to warmer weather.
Again: thank you.
Jan 30th, 2024 | 04:14 PM
#95
Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 3,620
Likes: 0
Enjoying the photos! San Candido looks nice. We've only driven through that area briefly. Taking notes for the Dolomites trip after next - we’re already booked for Alta Badia (Colfosco) in September, so maybe Val Pusteria in 2025! We also like smaller towns. I remember going into Ortisei for the lifts on our first trip in 2009 and being glad we were staying elsewhere. Ditto for Cortina.
Jan 30th, 2024 | 04:42 PM
#98
Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 3,620
Likes: 0
Too much high-end shopping for what I want in a hiking trip (or any trip, frankly). It's been a while since we were there, though, so I did a quick Google Street View, and it looks like there is a lot of construction - most likely related to the Olympics. Cortina is a co-host for the 2026 Winter Olympics, along with Milan (curious how that works and where the Olympic village is, as they're quite far apart).
Jan 31st, 2024 | 06:41 AM
#100
Original Poster
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 21,153
Likes: 83
Dec 15 -
2c in town, -3 c in the mountains - partly sunny day predicted
After an encore of café lattes and croissants at my favorite new place, the Wachtler Store (€12), we explored the Dolomythos Museum in their basement, part natural world, part Christmas shop, and quite interesting (no entry charge).
Wachtler Store
Wachtler Store
Dolomythos Museum
San Candido
We then took bus 446, hoping to go to Signaue which we saw on both the Sud Tirol and Google maps. But, upon boarding the bus, we discovered that our stop was not listed on the display board. Hmmm. So, we got off the bus as soon as we saw a cable car, in this case Croda Rossa.
We walked to the ticket office and enlisted the help of the friendly clerk for the Bad Moos Rotwand/Croda Rossa cable car. We told him that our plan had been to take the Drei Zinnen/Tre Cime cable car to Stiergarten for what we’d been told by yesterday’s ticket seller at the Helm/Mt Elmo ticket office were the best views of Tre Cime, but we didn’t know how to get to Signaue.
He told us that the Drei Zinnen/Tre Cime cable car had broken down yesterday between 3-4 pm and wouldn’t be open for three days. Argh. He suggested we go up his cable car instead, assuring us that there were good views and restaurants.
So we did, finding a much smaller ski area, fewer people, and great views. The first restaurant we saw - Rudi Hutte - was completely in the shade of the mountain, so we walked down a short steep trail and had lunch at the cozy Rotwandwiesen Hutte instead. Bill had the homemade bacon dumpling soup which he really liked, we shared a plate of grilled local cheese with a mystery dumpling-like thing, and fries, washed down with a Hugo and an Aperol Spritz, €29.50.
Croda Rossa
Croda Rossa
Croda Rossa
Rotwandwiesen Hutte
Rotwandwiesen Hutte
Rotwandwiesen Hutte
Rotwandwiesen Hutte
By the time we left the hutte, the wind was up and it had gotten quite a bit colder.
We walked back up the hill to the cable car station planning to make our descent and walk to the Croda Rossa bus stop. The cable car stopped and left us dangling mid-air in the wind for a while, and I had to wonder if it was on the verge of going kaput too. It started with a lurch, then stopped again several times, but fortunately didn’t break down.
We made it to the bottom, but then had to wait 25 minutes; the cable car delay caused us to miss our intended bus. Although it was only 2:30 pm, the sun had already sunk behind the mountains and left us shivering in the shade.
We got off the bus at the Haunold/Baranci stop and then took the chairlift up to see the now visible views that we’d missed the day we’d walked up from town. It was windy and my ankles were slightly exposed; I thought I’d freeze to death. Once at the top, we warmed up with a mug of gluhwein in the Riese-Haunold restaurant, which was winding down for the day; we the only customers.
Haunold/Baranci
Then it was back down, where we walked the 10 minutes to the apartment.
Later we went out to explore the tiny San Candido Christmas market and to check out the very cozy Enoiteca Dell’Orologiaio. It was just the two of us and a small group of men, who became louder and louder as the alcohol kicked in. While we enjoyed our wine, an accordion player and his elf costumed cohort came in from the Christmas market playing music and asking for donations. We donated, they left, and peace was restored, €17.20.
San Candido
San Candido
San Candido
Before returning to the apartment, we picked up kebabs again, €14.
To be continued...
2c in town, -3 c in the mountains - partly sunny day predicted
After an encore of café lattes and croissants at my favorite new place, the Wachtler Store (€12), we explored the Dolomythos Museum in their basement, part natural world, part Christmas shop, and quite interesting (no entry charge).
Wachtler Store
Wachtler Store
Dolomythos Museum
San Candido
We then took bus 446, hoping to go to Signaue which we saw on both the Sud Tirol and Google maps. But, upon boarding the bus, we discovered that our stop was not listed on the display board. Hmmm. So, we got off the bus as soon as we saw a cable car, in this case Croda Rossa.
We walked to the ticket office and enlisted the help of the friendly clerk for the Bad Moos Rotwand/Croda Rossa cable car. We told him that our plan had been to take the Drei Zinnen/Tre Cime cable car to Stiergarten for what we’d been told by yesterday’s ticket seller at the Helm/Mt Elmo ticket office were the best views of Tre Cime, but we didn’t know how to get to Signaue.
He told us that the Drei Zinnen/Tre Cime cable car had broken down yesterday between 3-4 pm and wouldn’t be open for three days. Argh. He suggested we go up his cable car instead, assuring us that there were good views and restaurants.
So we did, finding a much smaller ski area, fewer people, and great views. The first restaurant we saw - Rudi Hutte - was completely in the shade of the mountain, so we walked down a short steep trail and had lunch at the cozy Rotwandwiesen Hutte instead. Bill had the homemade bacon dumpling soup which he really liked, we shared a plate of grilled local cheese with a mystery dumpling-like thing, and fries, washed down with a Hugo and an Aperol Spritz, €29.50.
Croda Rossa
Croda Rossa
Croda Rossa
Rotwandwiesen Hutte
Rotwandwiesen Hutte
Rotwandwiesen Hutte
Rotwandwiesen Hutte
By the time we left the hutte, the wind was up and it had gotten quite a bit colder.
We walked back up the hill to the cable car station planning to make our descent and walk to the Croda Rossa bus stop. The cable car stopped and left us dangling mid-air in the wind for a while, and I had to wonder if it was on the verge of going kaput too. It started with a lurch, then stopped again several times, but fortunately didn’t break down.
We made it to the bottom, but then had to wait 25 minutes; the cable car delay caused us to miss our intended bus. Although it was only 2:30 pm, the sun had already sunk behind the mountains and left us shivering in the shade.
We got off the bus at the Haunold/Baranci stop and then took the chairlift up to see the now visible views that we’d missed the day we’d walked up from town. It was windy and my ankles were slightly exposed; I thought I’d freeze to death. Once at the top, we warmed up with a mug of gluhwein in the Riese-Haunold restaurant, which was winding down for the day; we the only customers.
Haunold/Baranci
Then it was back down, where we walked the 10 minutes to the apartment.
Later we went out to explore the tiny San Candido Christmas market and to check out the very cozy Enoiteca Dell’Orologiaio. It was just the two of us and a small group of men, who became louder and louder as the alcohol kicked in. While we enjoyed our wine, an accordion player and his elf costumed cohort came in from the Christmas market playing music and asking for donations. We donated, they left, and peace was restored, €17.20.
San Candido
San Candido
San Candido
Before returning to the apartment, we picked up kebabs again, €14.
To be continued...
