The Dolomites and Via Ferrata 2007

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Saturday, July 28

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It had been quite a long slog to get to this point, however, and we stil had one more ferrata route to complete - the Sentiero Alfredo Benini, the northernmost segment of the Via delle Bocchette. Once past this part, it would be a short stroll down to our destination rifugio. We were looking forward to it; this four-ferrata day was generating a healthy appetite!

courtesy DBoyd

courtesy PChen

Cracked again

Start of Alfredo Benini

Group from above

The Sentiero Benini was not a particularly hard ferrata route; It started off from the Bocca del Tuckett with a few steep ladders and easy climbing, and then for the rest it was mostly hiking, sometimes along some narrow ledges. Although the views were again spectacular (and also the clouds had started to lift, giving us bigger views), I think we were a little sceneried-out, having seen so many wonderful views for so many days. We just wanted to get this outing over with and have some delicious rifugio food!

Climbing out of b.d.Tuckett

In the sun again

Height-of-land

courtesy PChen

Neat little rock

Ledgewalking

Exposed ledgewalking

We rounded a corner and descended into the wide Passo del Groste, and the end of the ferrata. The pass is an area of wide, terraced sheets of dolomite. In places, it was like walking on pavement. The soluble nature of the rock was clearly evident, with a multitude of little cracks, holes, and fissures running across and through the rock. Daryl and I both came to the conclusion that there were probably a lot of caves around here....

As we descended further, the lower altitude permitted a carpet of grass to grow over the rock. This gave the trail a moorland or highland sort of feel.

(If you'd like to read more about the Alfredo Benini ferrata route, please click here to go to my dedicated Via Ferrata page's route description.)

courtesy DBoyd

Nearing the pavement

Grass and dolomite

Rifugio Graffer

courtesy DBoyd

Evening in the Brenta

Finally, over nine hours after we started out, we finally came into sight of the Rifugio Graffer. We were assigned our shared dorm room (they were all out of private rooms), and spent the evening enjoying the culinary delights, beautiful clear evening views of the Brenta Group (see picture), and playing games of Settlers of Catan, travel edition.

Interactive Trackmap & Photo Points - Four Brenta Ferratas - Click map to expand

Interactive Trackmap & Photo Points - Four Brenta Ferratas - click to expand