Waking up early, at 6am, we had plans to go and visit a walk that Mitchell had been wanting to do for a while. He would be venturing up a mountain which was so steep it required a harness.
I had no knowledge of the end destination at the time of departure, I also didn’t ask, I said I would come along and find an easier walk while he did the exciting things.
As we walked out the door, we noticed that breakfast was ready at such an early time in the morning. We headed back inside to get two coffees and a bite to eat before going on this large walk.
As we drove there, it was good leaving early, no one drives this early in Europe, they are all late wakers here.
While Mitchell headed of to climb a mountain which required harnesses and a helmet, I found a path to a neighbouring hill where I got some pics of the scenery and neighbouring mountains.
Little did I know, I was walking along a battlefield which was prominent in World War 1. We were at the Mount Lagazuoi with a number of remaining ruins of this. I came across a few on my walk. Some walls are laying beside the main structure. I also saw a museum on the side of the road along my walk.
What I learnt (on my way home in the car) was that the Lagazuoi tunnels in the Dolomites were built by Italian soldiers during World War I to reach Austro-Hungarian positions above who occupied the summit. Soldiers lived in cramped spaces and used wood stoves to survive the winter. The tunnels show the challenges of mountain warfare. Today they remain as a reminder of the conflict and you can walk through them to reach the top of Mount Lagazuoi.
I circumnavigated a small hill (comparatively) so I could take some photos of the hills from different positions. I was much too low to get the photo I wanted. I encountered some donkeys with bells.
As I travelled around the hill I took some photos of differing mountains I could see. Mountains as far as the eye could see.
Mitchell proposed that I meet him at the top of the gondola at the top of Mount Lagazui for lunch to which I agreed. While I awaited boarding, I noticed a sign which made me think of my dogs back home, wished they were with me.
I took the gondola to the top which was an awkward look back down. It was a bit windy and cold at the top. We were at 9,029 feet above sea level. This was mighty heigh. I think it this is the highest I have been on land.
As you will see below, we had a hot chocolate each, with cream. I had a delicious beetroot ravioli as a main course. This was enough to prepare us for a walk back down the mountain.
Before we left we took some photos of the view and mountains that surrounded us.
We also took a photo of ourselves in a famous instagram spot (I am told, I don’t have instagram). Mitchell’s picture is below. I haven’t seen mine just yet.
We took a different way down than Mitchell came up. We went through the World War 1 tunnels I mentioned above.
There was a lot of stairs. Luckily I had also rented a helmet (just in case I couldn’t find a easy path in the hills, the maps made little sense of the severity of the passages) as I did hit my head quite a few times. We needed head torches as it was also very dark inside the mountain. We passed a lot of people both coming up and going down. It seemed like a main passage to travel up the mountain.
We slowly made our way back down but I head a thumb or slip back behind me and Mitchell later showed me his hands as he had slipped! He had a few cuts to show off. But he was back to normal in no time. I don’t think Mitchell notices small cuts like this much.
We gradually made our way down and reached the bottom. From here we were pretty exhausted and we made our way back home. He had been up and around the hills for at least 6 hours now.
Mitchell’s Adventure Going Up the Hill
Below, are some photos from Mitchell’s adventure going up the mountain. He wanted to share this with his nephew!
Until tomorrow!