Climging into the Realm of the Twelve Steinbocks and other Lozzo Cadore, Italy General Tips

Favorite Thing: Though many people just come up to the lodge to relax and enjoy the mountain scenery and warm hospitality of the refugio, to really get a full appreciation of the land, get out on the trails. There are hikes suitable for all levels and sometimes it's fun to tackle things that maybe are even a bit above your level too!

Fondest Memory: On her forehead now was a butterfly. It had already been a ridiculous sort of day. Up at the crack of dawn for a meager breakfast and off on a trail to a climbers' bivouac with only the most rudimentary map. But even with less then perfect weather, the landscape was enthralling. The first obstacle came shortly into the walk when what seemed a normal rock outcropping soon revealed itself as an "aided" portion of the track. It finally dawned on me that this meant hanging onto a metal cable to save yourself from falling far enough to perhaps break your leg or your neck if you were so unfortunate to land that way. But it turned out to be easier than it looked and we marched on triumphantly from our little baptism of fire. After our little ordeal, it would have been easy enough to just forgo our original plan and merely go to the refugio that is most hikers aim, but we were feeling feisty and began the ascent to the bivouac just the same. Soon the steep incline became a scramble that led to what must have been a washed out portion of the climb. It was surely possible to make our way across it but the possibility of sliding back whence we came was strong enough in conjunction with the waning time and encroaching dark clouds, to force us to turn back and resume the normal hike. The refugio soon presented itself in its magnificent setting, the peak of Antelao standing as sentinel. It was unfortunately not open for meals but a woman was kind enough to make us an expresso. With rain threatening, we decided to make our way back to where we would sleep that night and soon found ourselves back at the "aided" portion of the trail. It seemed there was an alternative path for those suffering from vertigo but was pleasantly surprised that my cohort wanted to tackle the cables again. We felt much more comfortable this time across and even staged some photos for posterity. (continued below in Fondest Memory)

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Fondest Memory: About halfway across, the aforementioned butterfly landed on her forehead and stayed there as she made her way through the precipitous crossing. Once to safety, she asked me to take a photo of it and we were surprised when it stayed put for that and much of the hike back. But on turning another bend, we spotted a herd of Steinbocks, twelve in all, grazing in all their majesty. I snapped photos furiously so as to give my zoom to my comrade who waited eagerly with the butterfly still acting the accessory. As soon as she put the camera to her eye, the small appendage took flight without much notice. It was too exciting to bask in the glow of the regal mountain rams as they made their way agilely up the rocks that rose from the meadow they had fed on. After our initial bout of photos, we sat still and watched them quietly, and then finally another couple came hiking from the opposite direction. It was another example of how timing effects all things around you. If we hadn't tried to go to the bivouac, we may have been there too early to see them. If we had completed the hike as planned, we would have maybe been too late, or the other couple would have startled them up to safety as we had done. But for whatever reason, they waited just for us that day. We strolled back grinning from ear to ear, feeling lucky and ready for a hot home cooked refugio meal. Once in our comfortable warm bed, with our eyes closed, all we could see were the Steinbocks, dancing across the backs of our eyelids.

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