Wheeler Farm Loops

Day 10

• Ran 9 miles along Lake Garda (5.5 w/ Andrea) and finished just as a storm rolled in
• Drove up to Madonna di Campiglio
• It rained most of the day, so we walked around the town but didn't try anything fancy.
• Ran 4 miles w/ Andrea on the Giro di Campiglio trail. She crushed me.
• The sun finally came out a bit so we enjoyed the views from our hotel balcony before the fanciest dinner ever. We did not have the right clothes :-)

Day 11

• Slept in and had a nice breakfast in lieu of jogging
• Weather looked OK so we decided to go for Bocchette Centrali. Andrea already described it pretty well in her post. Essentially we hammered out a long, beautiful approach, then did a classic Via Ferrata route in the Brenta Dolomites. The climbing itself was fairly easy. The landscapes were amazing... our first real taste of the Dolomites. We were hooked!!!
• Another overly fancy dinner at Lorenzetti, but we knew what to expect this time.

Day 12

• Ran 4 miles around Madonna di Campiglio
• Whitewater Rafting on the Noce River in Val di Sole. This trip ended up being nonstop awesomeness. Sustained III/IV rapids (the most fun kind) and we ended up in a raft with just the two of us and three river guides, so it was a fairly elite crew! Fabiano led the way, and he was everything you would expect out of a guy named Fabiano.
• Drove to Kastelruth
• Ran 7 miles at Alpe di Suisi w/ Andrea. At the RUNNING PARK. Where else does something like this exist? To be honest, most people were nordic walking, but its still nice to know running is valued in some capacity! Needless to say, this was one of the more scenic runs we've ever done.

Day 13

• Ran 5 miles around Kastelruth and Suisi
• Drove over to Ortisei and took the lift up to Secada. We started the hike and within seconds were just blown away - nothing seemed real! The Gruppo le Odle is among the most beautiful and contrasting mountain ranges I've ever seen. We did a nice loop walk to train type thing and took that back down the mountain (for free!).
• Drove to Alta Badia / San Cassiano via Val Gardena - more places that seems totally fake.
• Went up to Falzarego Pass and decided to do an evening hike to Cinque Torri since the weather was still good. We got up to the top and the evening light was hitting the towers just right... it was amazing. One of the best days of hiking ever!
• Andrea ate an entire pizza in 4 seconds for dinner :-)

Day 14

• Ran 5 miles on the San Cassiano (Armentarola) nordic trails
• Via Ferrata Degli Alpini. Great scrambling-type route. We developed our own internal ethic for ferrata routes - climb it on your own, only use the cable or aids if you can't figure out or pull off the move. A lot of people just haul themselves up the cable... we think our method is more fun (and definitely more challenging).
• Took the tram up to Lagazuoi and then descended through the WWI tunnels. Such a fascinating area!
• Hiked up to Sass de Stria - which is perfectly situated for 360 views of the Falzarego Pass region.

Day 15

• Ran 5 miles w/ Andrea on the nordic trails
• RAINOUT! We went to Cortina (too ritzy-ditzy!) and walked around as much as we could considering it was a cold downpour most of the day.
• This is the only day that I didn't take a single photo. Luckily, we'd make up for it the following day...

Day 16

• Ran 5 miles on the nordic trails
• We got fantastic weather for our last full day in Italy and definitely took advantage. First stop was Via Ferrata Brigata Tridentina - another really fun route with plenty of scrambling.
• After the descent from Brigata Tridentina, we regrouped at the car and thought about how long it would take to drive back to Zurich... and whether we could fit in one more ferrata route...
• The decision was obvious - we took two lifts from Corvara and climbed the Via Ferrata Piz da Lech  route. Another awesome route and there was no one else out in the afternoon. An amazing day to cap the trip!
• Drove from Alta Badia to Zurich