Good to know:Like said before, we started the walk from the parking lot of our hotel Dosses. During the first few kilometres you follow a paved road slowly gaining elevation (Track 6U). You will get great views on the surrounding area. In June the fields are covered with all kinds of flowers.
Distance: 19 km
Rate: heavy, but not too difficult
Altitude: Climb/descend more than 1000 meters in altitude
Map (incl. elevation information): Dolomiten: Teufelsschlucht/Baerenfalle
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Everywhere you look you will see beautiful butterflies and small insects and of course hear lots of birds. While we were enjoying this nice view towards the township Tires (Tiers) with its eye-catching church tower, we also saw two small salamanders. Cute creatures trying to escape our digital camera, but luckily one picture turned out to be rather good.
Then the track goes into the forests where you can escape the sun and your muscles can relax somewhat as the path is going horizontally for quite a while. Near the Volsegger Bild (a small chapel) Elgar decided it was time for something to drink. And that gave us the time to take a look at the map once more.
We decide to keep on following track 6U till Schonblick (a small cafe/restaurant). Along the way there are some nice viewing points a.o. towards Bolzano (Bolzen).
At reaching Schonblick we continue by following track 7. It climbs steeply for the first few hundred meters, but after that the track becomes easier and you will reach the so-called Hammerwand. Track 7 goes along the foot of a mountain (this part is more or less horizontal) and takes you all the way to the Teufelsschlucht (free translation: Devil gorge). We are at 1490 m altitude and have to climb up to 1940m. (Do remember that we started from the hotel at 1080m !). The climb in the beginning is very very steep. Along the track wood carvings try to cheer you up and are good spots to catch one’s breath again.
Suddenly the rocky ground changes into a small wooden bridge (not really a bridge but not sure how to explain it better) which is build in the gorge itself as to cross the water coming down the mountains. There is even a small chapel carved into the rocks, which can be reached via a ladder.
After this so-called bridge the path is becoming rocky again and still goes up rather steeply, until finally......................we arrive at the Sesselschwaige. A hut at 1940m and luckily for us it had just opened up for the season. We drank a huge glass of lemonade (more than 1/2 a liter).
Now all we had to do was going down the Baerenfalle, at least that is what we thought. But it turned out we indeed first had to go down, but only to discover later on that we had to go up again to 2070m (oh No !) before we reached the Baerenfalle, an enormous steep descend of more than 900 meters.
Elgar was eager to go down immediately but we took some time to enjoy the surroundings and its peacefulness. A pity that meanwhile it had become clouded but nevertheless a nice spot for a short break.
Via small bridges and wooden stairs we slowly make our descend back into the real world. The track is steep and can be slippery as it is a rocky path and is strenuous for the knees. We heard some thunders and therefore just kept on moving because this is certainly not the place to be when it starts to rain. The last picture is taking somewhere halfway on the track.
We survived the Baerenfalle and finally arrive at the Tschaminschwaige, a restaurant/cafe at the base of the mountains. Now it is only about 15 to 20 minutes back to our hotel. Tired but proud on what we achieved today we reach our hotel room. oooh.....a hot shower can be such a reward, although Elgar does not agree to that.
More stunning walks can be found in this booklet which unfortunately only is available in German, but which we can certainly recommend.
And don’t forget to buy a map of the region. Despite the GPS it is always a good idea to have a map with you as well.