Today is a rest day. After blasting out the gate straight up an all day Via Ferrata, today we were a bit sore and tired. So we decided to go for a short 5 hour walk aiming for a lake…
Starting from the chalet we set off and soon sacked off the 5 hour lake and instead aimed for one a little closer. But it was down the valley, meaning we had to climb back out of it later. Definitely the wrong way around. Normally its up first, then down when you’re tired.
It was a very pleasant walk, basically following a rocky river surrounded by fern trees down towards Cortina d’Ampezzo. The water was so clear it was incredible. And, incredibly cold as Angus found out later when he stuck his feet in it for a break.
After a long descent, at a quad-busting grade, we reached a lake after all. There was a cafe/bar here too. Hurrah! But it was closed. Boooo! Having had what looks like it’s entire kitchen removed for a good scrub and pressure wash. You never see your local kebab house doing this in the street. Makes me pretty happy with the hygiene of their kitchen if this is the standard they go to in the off season!
Chilling in the sun, Angus got attacked by ants while I set up for a quick drone flight over the lake. This was the first flight after my crash and I was super nervous about it’s reliability. In the crash, several parts of the bodywork had snapped, but it was still holding together. The most tricky part is the camera mounting holes had pulled thru the bodywork leaving a crescent shaped recess. This was just enough to sort of snap the camera into position enough to hold it in place for a flight. I took off and skirted the lake to start with, testing it out.
As I passed a shack being cleaned out, a grumpy Italian shouted at me. Turns out, as I passed the shack there was a thump sound, like I had hit something, which made him shout. But I didn’t hit anything because these drones don’t stay in control if you crash, they go down hard. I think I was just unlucky that a pine cone landed on his roof as I passed, and he thought it was me. Ah well, I landed to keep from up setting anyone.
We set off back up the steep path, sweating more than we should be on a REST DAY… about half way back we found a hydro dam with a small header lake where I got a bit more drone video while Angus bathed his feet.
Just as we got back, I spotted on the map a Geo Cache located just behind the chalet. After a bit of hunting I found it attached to a broken fence post, just across from a derelict cable car station. A tour guide who showed up with a Scandinavian lady said this was the oldest cable car in the area. It came up to this point to visit a military memorial on the hill of Pocol.
Now time for lunch we headed into Cortina d’Ampezzo and ticked off proper Italian Pizza. Next up on the stereotypical tour was (surprisingly affordable) ice cream and espresso at a cafe. We then mooched around some shops and Scott bought some poles having seen how useful they are. Lastly we bought what we needed for the next couple days food before retiring home. Knackered from our rest day….
