Friday, July 27
The Kaleidoscope Walk
A scenic and short little ferrata had caught my eye while flipping through
the Fletcher/Smith ferrata guidebook. It was called the Sentiero Astaldi,
and from the pictures it looked like an extremely scenic ferrata that
traversed through some unusually colored rock strata (unusual for the
Dolomites, that is). It was very short and very easy, and so we opted to
do this as our 'climbing' for the day. The rest of the day would be spent
driving westwards to the Brenta.
The location of the Sentiero Astaldi is directly underneath Punta Anna -
the steep and extreme ridge we had climbed just two days before! As we
approached the route, we could look up and see just how high, steep and
dramatic the Punta Anna route looked - especially from down here, near the
Rifugio Dibona, where we parked before starting out on our Sentiero
Astaldi hike.
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A tale of two routes
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Path 421
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Hiking up
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Because the route grade was so easy, we elected not to take any ferrata
gear at all. The guidebook described it more as a hike with a handrail,
and we had become pretty proficient at harder ferrate, so we were fairly
comfortable with this decision.
We hiked steeply up through pleasant meadows, switchbacking our way to the
start of the route in about 20 minutes. We could see now see the colored
strata that the route traversed - a series of titled, soft, slope forming
rock, interspersed with harder layers. Above these soft layers, the
thick, dolomitic bulk of the Punta Anna rested, it's hardness reflected in
the sudden verticality of the cliff above. It was fascinating to think of
the billions of tonnes of force of the Tofana Group resting on top of this
gentle-looking soft, pretty rock.
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We climbed way up there!
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Junction
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Colorful
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We started off westward on the Sentiero, enjoying the easy, traversing
ramble. The route sticks right up to the top of the soft layers, right up
against where it makes contact with the vertical walls above. There are
many excellent viewpoints, where the dark ochre-red slopes contrast with
the green of the valley below and the pale color of the mountains all
around.
The trail is a little airy in spots, but the footing is very good, and the
handrail-like wire is always there for reassurance. In all, it took us
less than 30 minutes to traverse the entire trail, which ends at a grassy
ridge.
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Rounding a corner
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Exploring the rock
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Cool ledge
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After a quick break on the grassy ridge (from which we could see the dots
of climbers on the much more difficult Punta Anna ridge far, far above),
we strolled the easy twenty-minute walk back to the car. In all, this
was a perfect little quarter-day jaunt through very pretty scenery.
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End of the route
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Punta anna ridge
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What he loves best
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Finishing up
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Climbers on the ridge
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Interactive Trackmap & Photo Points - The Sentiero Astaldi - Click link below to expand
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Elevation over Distance and Time
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Sentiero Astaldi Loop
Start Time: |
10:13AM
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Start Elevation: |
6642ft
(2024m)
* |
End Time: |
11:28AM
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Max Elevation: |
7347ft
(2239m)
* |
Duration: |
1h15m
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Min Elevation: |
6642ft
(2024m)
* |
Distance: |
2.26 km
(1.41 mi)
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End Elevation: |
6734ft
(2052m)
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Average Speed: |
1.8 km/hr
(1.1 mph)
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* : +/ 75 feet |
(If you'd like to read more about the Sentiero Astaldi, please
click here to go to my dedicated Via Ferrata page's route description.)
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