377 rungs

Bad news, the weather is changing, rains and storms are on the way. That is a shame, precisely when we are most enjoying our Via Ferratas.

Come late September, Dora is up for sale.     If you or anyone you know is looking for a reasonably priced motorhome then please check out the following link; https://www.2wanderers.com/dora-for-sale/ or if you have any questions email us at; info@2wanderers.com Thanks

 

So far, we have done three VF’s in the North of the Dolomites and we have another three to go. But yesterday afternoon the weather turned a bit nasty, as you would expect in the mountains. Luckily, we could finish our VF before the rain started.

Hoping it would only be an afternoon storm, we drove east of the Dolomites, towards Sappada, to do our next VF. It rained all night but the morning woke up dry and sunny, there may still be a chance. We drove towards the start of the route, which was 10kms outside town, on a narrow steep road, which wasn’t big enough for Dora. So no VF today. We went to the aire of the town, which had electricity, perhaps we could do a bit of IT. That didn’t work either, the aire was full of motorhomes. With nothing else to do there, we head off to the south of the Dolomites.

We arrived last night at the Lago di Garda an oversized lake south west of Trento. Here we have chosen to do the following VF from our Ciceron guide book: Via Ferratas of the Italian Dolomites: Volume 2.

RIVA 7: Ferrata del Centenario SAT

Grade: 3A

VF: 600m

Time: 4 1/2 to 5 1/2 hrs

Notice the grade of this one; 3A, we have decided to go for a bit more challenging VF. It is also the longest we’ve done so far (600m) and…it has ladders, lots of them.

We found out about ladders on our trip to New England, 2010. It was such a nice trip; we visited Boston, trekked in the White Mountains for three days and drove north along the East Coast to Acadia National Park. It was there where we discovered a sort of combination of trekking-climbing routes, which involved climbing on metal ladders screwed to rocks. We decided to give it a go and I found it incredibly enjoyable. I still remember the satisfying and spectacular scenery of the sea from the top of the rocks, those amazing fall colours, I am sorry I have to stop and look at those photos again.

Such good memories, I would like to share those images with you. Here are some of them.

Susana and Gary, New England, October 2010

Our first ladder; short, secure, easy.

So much we liked it we looked for more routes. The next one, on the coast.

This one was slightly more adventurous,

slightly more exposed,

slightly more tiring,

but it was much more rewarding, the views were much more beautiful.

We went up there!

In New England however we had no via ferrata lanyard and no cable to clip on to. GDR

 

So today, we are back on ladders. The route has eight, with 377 rungs in total, quite a lot!

The VF starts at Riva del Garda, the closest town to the lake. Parking in the centre of the town is prohibitively expensive but we have managed to find a quiet backstreet with no anti-Dora signs and it is also free of charge. In exchange, we need to walk a bit further to the start of the route, which we don’t mind. That will give us a chance to walk through the town centre.

It is 9.00am, the town has just woken up. Bars and cafes have just opened, a few customers are already sitting outside enjoying a cappuccino. That is quite brave of them considering that it is Sunday and the weather is not that nice today, it feels damp and chilly.

The town is quaint. Some women are walking up and down the promenade, a bit overdressed for a Sunday morning if you ask me. They all look the same; unnaturally blond, wearing kilos of dark make-up, chic ray-bans on and a cigarette in hand. This town seems to me that it is where you want to be seen if you belong or pretend to belong to the middle/high social class.

We leave the town behind and start our route. Before we start the VF, we have to walk up for another hour; first on a paved and wide path.

The path is fairly steep, we soon start to get nice views of the town.

15 mins from the bottom we come across a fortress, which we explore briefly. We will spend more time here when we come back.

Suddenly we notice drizzle. The weather forecast predicted clouds in the morning and storms in the afternoon hence, our early start today to finish by lunchtime. However, this drizzle is making us doubt. What do we do? Should we back off or should we continue? It is only light rain and we have another 45 mins to the start of the VF. If it continues or gets worst, we will turn back.

Within another 15 mins, we reach the hut of Cappana S. Barbara, which has a sanctuary next to it. We turn right, the path changes into a proper footpath, narrower, unpaved. We continue to walk through woods. I think it is still raining but we are not sure, as we are covered by the tree canopy.

Through the woods, we get pocket views of the lake. We don’t hang around too much for those. We will have plenty of them on the VF.

Somewhere up there is our summit.

More views of the lake. We are already above the tree line and the rain has stopped. We feel happy and relieved. It looks like we should be able to carry on.

After an hour, we get to the bottom of the VF. To start with, we do a bit of scrambling on rocks with the aid of metal cables and stemples. We go over a few boulders and narrow paths, which are occasionally unprotected with a fair degree of exposure. This we can overcome quite easily, probably as a result of the many VF we’ve done so far; the more we do, the more we get used to it. The fear of height is all in the mind.

The VF has a couple of climbing moves, which have tested our skills. Nothing strenuous, but having climbed before helps work out your next move quickly and effortlessly. We both have come up with the conclusion that climbing is what we most enjoy of the VF so far, perhaps we should get back into it.

After 20 mins climb, we get to the first series of ladders. The first one; 73 steps, 21m height.

So how should we approach this? I clip on the hand rail on. I push the karabiners up with one hand and I put the other hand on the step to help me climb up. This hand I also use to clip and unclip the karabiners when I come across a knot. So far so good.

I go first. For precaution, Gary waits for me to finish climbing.

I traverse right, on a metal ledge and get on the second ladder. This one; 48 steps, 15m height. This ladder is almost on a 90 degree angle, occasionally, a bit over. The feeling of being pushed out is quite scary as well as exhausting. You have constantly to fight against gravity by pushing yourself into the rock.

One step is broken, I warn Gary on his way up.

A couple is waiting for us to finish the ladders.

First set of ladders, done! We continue to climb/walk on narrow footpath and rocks with the aid cables. We soon reach the second set of ladders.

The third ladder of the day; 24 steps, 7m height.

which finishes on a ledge before immediately continuing on ladder four. This one is the longest; 136 steps, 40m long.

and also quite vertical. From the bottom, it looks pretty severe.

You have to concentrate so hard to keep stable that you forget about the height.

It is only when you finish that you may want to look down… or not.

However, the effort pays off, the views are incredible, and the higher you get the better they become.

We now have a bit of walking to rest our arms. It is also time for “chicken wings” to keep the balance whilst walking up.

Some clouds stubbornly cling on the top of the crests, hiding some of the summits in front of us. But they are not threatening with rain, so it is all okay.

I cannot stop admiring the landscape.

Beautiful, small…

We have another three ladders to climb before we reach the summit.

I have been enjoying my ladders, they are much more challenging than those of New England, but they have been too many, my legs and arms are starting to tremble.

Are you having enough of ladders? Gary asks

I think I am, I respond, still smiling. It is not that I now dislike ladders. They are an additional element to incorporate in the VF for fun and variety. But, like everything in life, have too much of them and  you will get bored. Also, there is not real climbing involved. You just need to have a good head for heights and get on with it, one hand after another, one foot after another. After a few ladders, that becomes tiring and monotonous.

Nearly there, one more ladder.

Come on, the last push.

I am getting tired but still enjoying it.

And that is. Another VF successfully achieved.

We have realised, there are no signs of the other couple. Perhaps they have backed off.

I don’t blame them. Although not technically difficult, the ladders are rather intimidating.

We walk along the summit to find the route back. It is an easy path, through the woods. It should not take more than two hours to go down.

After one hour walk, we come across another ladder. We had forgotten about this one!. It is rather long and steep, we better put our VF kit on again.

Personally, I never want to see a ladder again! GDR

We have an audience. A couple in their fifties, surprised and scared, is waiting at the bottom. They didn’t expect to see a ladder like that on their Sunday walk.

We reassure them this is the only one on this path. They don’t look convinced. We left them at the bottom to decide whether they want to continue.

One and a half hours from the top of the summit, we reach the fortress. We spend a few minutes looking around

and take some photos.

A very satisfying day, indeed.

We head back to Dora when it starts pissing down. Such good timing!

It is 15.00 and only now our stomach reminds us it is time for them to be fed. We jump into Dora and have a bit of lunch before we drive off in search of an aire with electricity. We have not driven today and it has not been sunny so her solar panel has not been able to generate energy for our computers.

We drive towards the other side of the lake and stop in a couple of places; they either don’t have electricity or charge us €30 for it. Are they crazy?

We take another look at our aires book. There seems to be one, 20 kms from Lake di Garda, which charges €7 for everything, including electricity. We go for it, although this means we will be very far away from the VF we are planning to do tomorrow.

We get to the aire at 19.00, there is another motorhome here. We go to the ticket machine; electricity is €1.5 for 12 hours, not bad at all. But what is even better, the machine doesn’t dispatch overnight tickets until Tuesday. Shame, we will have to stay here for free!

5.9 kms

4 hrs

SM