Marmolada and Sella Ronda at Sunrise We had heard sunrise at Lagozuoi was amazing (it was the primary reason why we stayed there) and so we started our day at 4:45am.  As early as that was, we didn’t even beat first light.   Unfortunately the haze from the heat didn’t make for much of a sunrise, but it was still beautiful.  Everywhere in the Dolomites is beautiful.  We went back to bed around 6am and slept for an hour before having breakfast.  Day 4 was another shorter day for us and so we took our time getting out on the trail.   We didn’t leave before 9am.  

WWI Tunnel - Lagozuoi

Day four was another amazingly gorgeous weather day.  We had three options from the top of Lagozuoi down to Falzarego:  1) the cable car, 2) the exposed trail or 3) the WWI tunnel and the exposed trail.   We opted for number three.   We spent the first solid hour in the cold, dark, damp and super steep tunnel. Every so often there was a window carved into the tunnel wall where a little bit of welcomed light came through.  We encountered a few “rooms” built off of the tunnel that served as kitchens, bunk rooms, machine rooms and small armories.  I can’t imagine how long it must have taken the Italians to build that tunnel and how devastating it must have been to have expected to take the Austrians by surprise but instead be massacred at the top. 

Lagozuoi & Bike Race After clinging to the cold, iron cable for an hour, the tunnel opened up and we continued our descent on the open trail.  When we got to Falzarego, we had hoped to purchase sandwiches, gelato and find a bathroom, but everything was closed.  Instead we were surprised to have landed in the middle of a very large century ride that was happening.   We heard there were nearly 10,000 riders!  We eventually found the trail that paralleled the road and stopped in at Col Gallina where we purchased a couple of sandwiches.  We continued on the flat trail until it deviated from the road and we took the 440 trail up.  Before starting our ascent, we stopped at the little stream to eat our sandwiches.    While we had enjoyed the somewhat leisurely stroll to that point, we were glad to start hiking up and out of the main valley – to start feeling like we were actually “backpacking” and to not catch any more glimpses of the road.  

Cinque Torri and Le Tofane

The climb up to Cinque Torri was our easiest yet, only 300 meters of climbing.  We had another warm day, but the tree and cloud cover made it pretty manageable.  The views become more and more beautiful as we climbed upward.  Looking back you could see Lagozuoi, looking slightly forward you could see the Tofane that we had taken the cable car to from Cortina, and the Cinque Torri came into view.  It wasn’t quite as breathtaking as the previous day, but it was absolutely beautiful.  As we started to level out, we had the fun surprise of bumping into the Armstrongs.  Everyone had a fresh change of clothes for the first time in four days and we almost didn’t recognize them!  

View out our window

We would have loved to have had their company the rest of the trip.  We arrived at Cinque Torri around 2:30pm.  We had another private room in the attic.  You can tell we were there in early season because our room slept four, but we had it all to ourselves.  The view out the skylight/window was incredible and looked in the direction of the next day’s hike. 

We lazed around for a bit and then decided to go out and explore the Cinque Torri (five towers).   We were so glad we did.  After hiking through the towers and seeing all sorts of rock climbers clinging to the rock faces, we discovered an open air museum dedicated to World War I.  It was really interesting.  There were educational signs posted at the various points providing context to what life was like during the war and just how far the Austrians artillery could reach from the top of Lagozuoi.  We saw the “infirmary”, several trenches, where the soldiers slept – it was really informative.  But the best part of it all, was the lighting at that time of day.  The rocks, mountains and green hillsides were warm and absolutely stunning.   We took a million pictures.    The views from here were unbelievable. Cinque Torri vertical Pano

We eventually made our way back to the rifugio where we had dinner and a nice conversation with the owner.  When he heard where we were headed the next day, he looked at the weather and said we would be OK if we had an early start and could manage to get in by 4pm.   Our fifth day was to be our longest of our entire trip.

Pictures of this beautiful spot are here.