With the bus to Venice not scheduled to depart Imer until 17:27hrs, we opted for a leisurely start to the day, with breakfast and packing of rucksacks delaying check-out from Hotel until 08:45hrs. And thence to the day’s hike along a fiendishly cunning route of my devising that in retrospect was all but impossible to follow. Starting on graded tracks, linked by ski runs, we then switched to marked hiking trails, bringing us rapidly above the tree line into Alpine country. We then followed boggy mule tracks in a slow traverse around the rear of the mountain chain, passing back over to the eastern side via the col at Forcella Scanaiol, involving a total ascent of 800m. From the summit, we were rewarded with a gentle long descent to a small lake, Lago di Calaita, where we had a frugal lunch.
We were then to cross another ridge, followed by a zig-zag descent to Imer. Alas, this last section did not go according to plan, with great difficulty encountered finding and keeping to the trail. Ultimately, with time running out, we had no option left but to take any trials we could find descending the mountain. This proved to be a somewhat hazardous strategy, with thighs, knees and feet subjected to severe hammering following goat trails. As much effort was expended on expletives as on trying to control our descent. Nonetheless, we emerged unscathed and precisely at the right location, with just 12 minutes to spare before the scheduled arrival of the bus – what happenstance!
Alas, after 8.5hrs of almost non-stop difficult walking, covering total distance of 25km, 1200m of ascent and 1500m descent, we were in no fit state to get on the bus, with clothes being very dirty, extremely sweaty and emitting a decidedly noxious odour – well mine anyway. I was thus ‘compelled’ by Astrid to change clothes quickly, which I had to do on the main street in Imer!
The bus journey to Venice was thankfully uneventful, with the two of us wandering the streets at 20:30hrs in search of our hotel – no mean feat given we had very imprecise directions. Eventually however, we did find our Manger and following check-in, spent LONG time in the shower. This was followed by well deserved dinner at a lovely restaurant nearby, watching Venetian life walk by.
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