The three infamous peaks in the Dolomites were taunting us for quite some time. Towering there on what looks like a sandy plateau, it has a somewhat alien feel to it that’s totally mesmerising. It’s not surprising that the area is now a world heritage site and lots of people flock there.
We decided to do a little loop around the area, approaching the peaks from the east. After the long drive from Munich to Sexten | Sesto in Südtirol, Italy, we started the trek up to Zsygmondi Hütte from Val Fiscalina (Fischleintal). It took about 2,5 hours zigzagging on a super well-maintained track.
The hut is named after an Austrian mountaineer and is situated in a stunning spot. The Zwölferkofel is dominating the scene, funny looking mini-peaks stick out on both sides. It is a magnificent mountain.
Hut life in the European Alps is totally different compared to New Zealand. Here, “serviced” means that you get full-blown service, actually like at a hostel somewhere downtown. Wine, beer, hot food, small (or also bigger) rooms and… house shoes.
When we first got to the hut, Glen asked: “Whereabouts is the outhouse (toilet) here?” – And I was like… “Ah, dear, I think you get proper flush toilets here – in the main building”.
“Oh”….
Yup, it’s different.
The owners look after the place with great care and love. I for one had an absolutely fantastic sleep. High up there, with no noise but pleasant babbling noises from our fellow hikers and – thank goodness – NO reception, it was so peaceful and totally relaxing.
The next morning came around quickly. We left early and had our breakfast somewhere further up the hill on the way to Büllelejoch Hut. Said hut we reached at about 9 AM, and this one was much more cozy and smaller than Zsygmondi. Only room for 13 people… and it did sport a proper outhouse! As well as flush toilets, however hikers are encouraged to utilise the outhouse in order to save water.
This small hut is perched right between a saddle, so for them it’s sometimes hard to get supplies up there. Often, supplies need to be helicoptered in or…a noisy, wee little tractor climbs up the track from the other side of the valley. In adverse conditions, it may still happen that the people carry up whatever is necessary.
What is in fact very interesting, is that the path from Zsygmondi to Büllelejoch follows an old path that was constructed during the first World War around 1915. Dotted around the area are many old bunkers and caves. It’s so hard to imagine now that a bitter fight between Austria and Italy raged up in this (at the time) hostile and remote area for two winters.
We stopped at Bülleljoch Hütte for a little to admire the beautiful scenery and to have a refreshing drink. The thing to have here is called “Skiwasser” or “Gletscherwasser”, which is sparkling water with a bit of rasperry syrup.
Then we planned to continue to Drei-Zinnen-Hütte… on the direct route. Only realising almost too late that we would have had to climb up and down Paternkofel (about 2.700 m) without any climbing gear…”definitely not recommended”, as someone advised when I asked for directions. It meant we had to backtrack a little, though… on the way we then inspected a scree slope for its suitability as a shortcut since we could see the correct path leading around Paternkofel below. Whatevs, we did it and scrambled down, alas the scree wasn’t good enough to run on.
Around and up we went until we reached a turning point when we finally spotted the Tre Cima in all their glory. And so did many others in very gusty wind – something like the Italian version of a classic Nor’wester. We call this Föhn. At times, the wind was bitingly cold and so we didn’t linger very long on the plateau that presented us with this alien panorama.
We pushed on to the hut to have a prolonged break in the sun and, of course, to admire the grand scenery. So weird and strange, yet so beautiful are those three peaks.
If it wouldn’t have been so windy we would have gone for a swim in the nearby pools…And so, sadly, we made our decent back to the valley finishing the hike with delicious puff pastry and classic apple strudle.
That evening, we found a lovely campsite at Lake Dobaccio | Lake Toblach where we spent the night before the long drive back to Munich on Sunday morning.
Useful Information:
Parking at Fischleintal: 5€ per day (charged after more than 5 hours)
Stay at Zsygmondi Hut: 22 € (Alpine Club members) – 30 € (ordinary price)
Toll in Italy: 9 € (Motorway “Brenero”)
Toll in Austria: 8,50 € (vignette) | 11 € (Felbertauerntunnel)
Driving time from/to Munich: ~ 4h 30 mins
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