Back in September I was in the stunning Dolomites in
northern Italy with my lovely hiking buddies.
This trip was a big one and a long time coming. After our trip to Base
Camp Everest in 2011, Tracy summitted Kilimanjaro and Becs and I had a
rest. A very long one.
The Dolomites are an impressive range of mountains for their
sharp peaks and are a playground for novice climbers as they have routes with
iron hand bars already in place on some pretty sheer rock faces. In other words
anyone can have a go. This was not on
our itinerary with Exodus so i dreamt about it from afar.
Nothing had quite prepared us for the challenge of this
week. Us three pretty confident after
Nepal, did not expect the sheer ups and downs and hanging onto the rock face
around the precipice corners with rather large drops one side! The hiking poles were useless on the loose
shale in some places and it felt more like skiing downhill without the
skies. It was so much fun. Some of the uphill hikes silenced us all as
we focused on breathing and just getting to the top. We had two guides and two levels of walks to
choose between. The difference was
distinctive. Eric your slightly shorter
and rounder gentleman with cross country skiing behind him enjoyed the scenic
route with lots of stops and cultural chats.
While Albert, the tall, very lean leader forged a path up the hill like
a billy goat with us almost running to keep up with his casual pace.
