An Autumnal Alpine Traverse, Trip Journal 4

 

Recharge - An Autumnal Alpine Traverse, Trip Journal 4

 

The last stand

End of the second week at Passo di Giau. What a week it has been here and it was finished with one of my favourite images taken on the way up to the summit of Monte Cernera at the last evening hike with two funny Italian guys I met down at the parking lot. I've also photographed Monte Cernera some evenings ago while the moon was rising behind the summit cross, just to give you an idea of how tall the summit was! 

 

OM-D EM 1.3 /  M.Zuiko 100-400 mm / 400 mm / F7.1 / ISO 200 / 1/400 sec

  

The way up is short and snappy and as a part of the Via Ferrata some passages of the way are secured by iron ropes. As a hiker I'm always wondering about the classification of levels of difficulty in the mountains. Mid way was the first secured passage which was a really easy and short part of 2-3 meters distance and in my opinion could have been mastered without rope. The second part a few meters up made us look after the correct way several times but the coloured signs on the rocks were unambiguously leading up an extremely steep and straight forward climb for 10 meters and, you probably guess it, no rope attached to the rocks! Why? Never ever could we have made it down there in the darkness on our way back. To bad, but safety first! We searched the surrounding area for possible compositions and found a nice shoulder of rock which lead nicely into the view we initially wanted to capture from further up.

 

OM-D EM 1.3 /  M.Zuiko 12-45 mm Pro / 14 mm / F5 / ISO 250 / 1/60 sec

Waking up in the morning it was blistering cold again. The blue hour was just to arrive and some low hanging clouds on the surrounding summits promised for some nice sun lit peaks. I've brewed a coffee and one extra for the mug, ate some cereals with fruits and started an early morning ride with the bike to reach for the Refugio Averau. Never made it up to the refugio since I was only slowly ascending this morning and decided to visit another spot at Seggiovia Croda Negra for a nice scenic view over the southern to the eastern Dolomites. I was already too late to set up my tripod and get all the stuff working so I just grabbed my camera and searched for a handheld panoramic composition that I had in mind with some yellow larches in the foreground and a leading ridgeline to guide the viewers eye to the beautiful lit up summit of the Marmolada in the background.

 

OM-D EM 1.3 /  M.Zuiko 12-45 mm Pro / 21 mm / F5.6 / ISO 200 / 1/50 sec / 6 images stitched

As the sun elevated further the light fell in patches on the surrounding environment of the Marmolada and started to create separation of the layers. After waiting for another 10 minutes the light got very intense now with the sun completely over the horizon. I wished for some loose light blocking clouds in front of the sun to get more variants of the light patches on all those mountains and ridgelines. But in the end I was happy to enjoy this wonderful morning as the sunrays reached the spot I was standing and warmed me up while enjoying my hot coffe from my mug viewing over the landscape.

OM-D EM 1.3 /  M.Zuiko 12-45 mm Pro / 39 mm / F4 / ISO 200 / 1/320 sec

Time to move on

A few days ago I checked out the area at Passo Falzarego/Passo di Valparola for camping spots after I went shopping in Cortina d'Ampezzo. For some overnight stays without any comforts than having the place for my own, the parking lot of the Forte Tre Sassi WW1 memorial served well as a base to hike around Sass de Stria and some scenic tours around the Tofana including Croda Negra and Lago di Limides. The weather was abolutely perfect to get on the tracks doing kilometres and enjoying the beautiful views. Photographically those were rather quiet days but I should definitively come back here when the weather gets that pinch of drama and epicness. I could also imagine photographing here in the Winter since it is rather easy getting to some top views by lift and some short snow shoe tours. The prominent summit of Sass de Stria offers much possibilities from different angles for either sunrises or sunsets and the Tofana does as well. When there is stil autumn you can find several fields of larches and mountain pines which catch up the beautiful golden light of the late afternoon and evening sun and presenting themselves in their most golden dresses.

OM-D EM 1.3 /  PanaLeica 8-18 mm/ 13 mm / F6.3 / ISO 100 / 1/320 sec

 

OM-D EM 1.3 /  PanaLeica 8-18 mm / 12 mm / F10 / ISO 100 / 1/320 sec

It's time moving forward to the next camp ground at Lago d'Antorno to visit the area around the Tre Cime di Lavaredo and Cadini di Misurina. If you want to stay here off season you'll probably wondering about all the "No camping" signs along the road which surely have their eligibility during the main season with a high amount of visitors each day. 

Off season you are highly welcome to use the parking lot directly at the Chalet Lago Antorno (left handed to the Chalet, not the parking row beeing opposite of it!) which offers current and fresh water supply and you are able to use the toilets inside. Don't forget to order a coffee, getting a freshly made Pizza from the oven or trying some of the exquisite polenta menus to support the Chalet. You can also use the old parking area of the closed ski lift which surely offers the more spectacular view to wake up to but be prepared going off road here and don't say I didn't warn you 😀

 

OM-D EM 1.3 /  M.Zuiko 12-100 mm Pro / 100 mm / F4 / ISO 200 / 1/100 sec

 

Luckily it was Almabtrieb (driving down of cattle from the mountain pastures into the valley in autumn) which provided me with a happy welcome party at my camp spot, a huge amount of beer and delicious local southern Tyrol food...but a parking lot full of noble cars and a lot of people watching the event. I've managed to get a parking spot in front of the Chalet beeing ready to change the spot as soon as the possibility reveals.

X-T30 /  23 mm F2 / XF23 mm F2 / F7.1 / ISO 640 / 1/500 sec

OM-D EM 10.2 /  Lumix G 35-100 F2.8 / 100 mm / F2.8 / ISO 200 / 1/3200 sec

 

Some of the cows get decorated with colourful harnesses, headdresses and big bells to look pretty for the folks in the valley. For a proper traditional celebration there should also be some guys and/or girls cracking the bullwhips to demonstrate some epic "Goaßlschnölln" or "Gaslkrochn" sessions which are highly appreciated by the loudly yelling audience (and yes, you get it, even for me it's a difficult dialect).

OM-D EM 10.2 /  Lumix G 35-100 F2.8 / 100 mm / F2.8 / ISO 200 / 1/1600 sec

 

After all the trouble settled and the sun was about to lighten up the surrounding mountains in pure gold it was time to search for a place at the lake to take some snaps. I would advice to get here early when good conditions are predicted since, although off season, this spot attracts a lot of photographers and instagrammers to get at least one image of the iconic viewpoint. Facing in north east viewing direction this spot offers possibilities for sunrises and sunsets as well. One thing I mentioned immediately was that all photogs directly packed their stuff and left shortly after the sunsets. OK, no high clouds for dramatic coloured skies most of the time but no one just stayed for the afterglow or the blue hour/early night were this place also reveals some special magic. The Tre Cime gets lighten up from atmospheric light reflections and the lake calms completely down offering some spectaular reflections of the Cadini di Misurina.

 

OM-D EM 1.3 /  M.Zuiko 12-100 mm Pro / 12 mm / F4.5 / ISO 200 / 2 sec handheld

OM-D EM 1.3 /  M.Zuiko 12-100 mm Pro / 45 mm / F8 / ISO 200 / 1/30 sec

OM-D EM 1.3 /  M.Zuiko 12-100 mm Pro / 18 mm / F4 / ISO 250 / 1.3 sec handheld

 

Preparing for the next days which should be very exhausting it's time for some sleep now in front of this beautiful nigh scenery.