Dolomites High Route 1: Weißlahnbad to below the Plattkofel - not alone anymore, cutting steps and a perfect spot

First day of a new adventure. And this time also with a different setup: it’s not me alone anymore. I am hiking together with Sina now, my better half. So this is also a new experience for me, not hiking by myself anymore but with someone else. Let’s see how this goes. But I am very excited and very happy that she is as crazy as me and that she will join me on this one. Or actually not join me on this one, we are doing this together.

We had looked into crossing the Dolomites for quite some time, and for this year we said we just have to make it happen. There are like 10 official crossings of the Dolomites. Since we wanted to go early in the season, we looked for a version that would not go too high and not too exposed onto via ferratas, which would be closed or not accessible anyway due to the snow. So in the end we decided on number 9. It’s the only transversal one, going from west to east. It’s not very long, like 180 kilometers, but it is supposed to be very pretty, crossing the Rosengarten and also the Drei Zinnen. And I have always wanted to see them.

So we made our choice and decided to leave at the beginning of June, even though the season only starts mid to end of June. All of the huts only open on the 15th, the 20th or the 25th. So we would be out here without any huts or with only a few, which plays into our hands since we wanted to take a tent anyway.

And off we went. With a quick stop in Munich we took the train to Bolzano and then a local bus towards Tiers, to a little place called Weißlahnbad. We booked ourselves into a hotel for the first night since we only arrived in the evening, and spoiled ourselves with good food, a few drinks, an amazing breakfast and a lazy start at 10 o’clock. We had some tough weeks behind us, so we said we need some sleep.

At like 10:30 we went up towards the Grasleitenhütte, which was supposed to be the more scenic route compared to the one through the Bärenloch. But it was also the one that was potentially a little more difficult due to the snow conditions. We had checked the webcams over the last weeks and watched the snow melting down. It was pretty much gone up to 2.400 meters, but above that it still looked like a lot of snow. We said we’ll just try, and if not we’ll just turn around and take a different route.

Up to the hut it took us like 2 hours, which was supposed to be 4, so we were feeling good.

Then circling around the mountain behind the hut was also fairly easy. We had to cross a few snow fields, which was not too bad.

And then we hit the gully. It was pretty steep and it was just completely covered in snow still, so we had to cut steps. At one point we put on our microspikes because it was also icy below: really slushy on top but icy underneath. It was kind of exhausting, cutting all of the steps and making sure we don’t slide down. And in several parts the snow was so slushy and deep that we postholed up to our hips. But the scenery was amazing and it was really nice to see everything partly covered in snow.

We made it up the gully to the pass, the Molignon Pass, and then we looked into a little bowl that was also completely covered in snow. So of course I couldn’t resist a little sliding down.

Then we had to step through the bowl, and in that moment the sun came out and hit us. It was really like a boiling bowl. The snow was really wet, so it was a lot of sinking in up to the waist and postholing. It was exhausting, but it was just a good view. After we crossed the pass you could see down to the valley where we came from.

Then we made our way down to the Tierser Alpl and had a good cake and a cappuccino. Sina was feeling good and I was feeling good. We just had wet feet from cutting all of the steps with our shoes. But besides that we were feeling kind of okay, so we continued.

We made it to the Plattkofel hut, which looked really nice and cozy inside, with lights and people eating. But we didn’t really feel like being in a hut. So we continued, found a little water source, cameled up and filled up our bottles. Then we passed the next hut, a really small one. We were discussing if we should maybe sleep in there, because the huts were really close to each other and they were actually open, and we didn’t feel like camping too close to a hut. But we said: no, let’s just continue and see if we find anything.

So we went up the slope a little to be out of sight, and we found a perfect spot just below the Plattkofel, right next to the wall, overlooking the mountain range on the other side and just a couple of hundred meters off the trail. It was just stunning.

That’s where we pitched the tent and shared a dinner. What can I say, just an amazing experience.

I love my hiking buddy, who is not only my hiking buddy. It’s just really fun to walk with her. She is a machine running up hills and she is enjoying herself as much as I do. And that’s really great. She is a 100% keeper.

I am really happy we are out here. And now it’s 15 minutes to hiker midnight. We are just going to brush our teeth and then hit the sleeping bag. Let’s see what we can do tomorrow. Good night.