We finished hiking the Italian Dolomitic Alps, which took us 6 days and 5 nights. Completing 150 km in 6 days on this alpine trail with 7000 m + ascent and 6000 m + descent is certainly not a walk in the park. It requires being mentally and physically prepared to walk, walk and walk some more, while carrying gear and food for all 6 days in rain, cold, or sunshine.
Bellow is a photo recap of the trip day by day.
More info: numi.world
Day 1
Good planning and understanding of oneself is a must for this adventure. By the end of the day when you’ve hiked eight hours non-stop, that’s when the fight commences. Your body might start to demand intensively to stop and go into shut down mode, but you know there are still some two hours to cover and at least one pass to climb before you reach your destination. And it’s like this – every day.
Day 2
Moreover, no plan is executed perfectly upon the battle, which is the same in the case of hiking. Thus on the hike, you have to always be prepared to adjust, either because your body simply can’t go on, you are injured or the terrain has changed and demanded more time to cover. Having options to adjust the hike and exit plans at every stage is a must.
Day 3
Sometimes, you have no chance to make a change to your plan, if you’re tired, hurt, late, or any other reason because you are so remote that the only option for a good rest is to finish the assigned trail no matter what.
Day 4
On this hike we had everything: changes to our itinerary, injuries, heat, rain, cold, and long, long hours of hiking. To help you out in planning your hike I have prepared this extensive guide.
Day 5
The trail is pretty well marked and maintained. There isn’t just one mark, signs vary from painted arrows The Alta Via 1 is well signposted along the way. The signs range from painted arrows or circles to more specific signs, such as a “1” inside a triangle.
It would take some effort to get lost, but it is essential to have an Alta Via 1 map, compass, and a GPS to still help you navigate. When weather is fierce like snow, strong rain or cloud, it can make markers nearly invisible, which would leave only your map and compass to help you out navigating.
Day 6
Technically it is not a difficult hike. There won’t be any rock climbing nor huge edges to traverse. The most difficult aspect of the trail is long hiking hours and loose rocks.
It becomes a challenge if you decide to finish the trail in six days. It is six relentless and challenging days and is best reserved for very fit walkers only. It starts hard and stays hard all the way to the end.
