Fanes National Park

Dear friends,
Last Tuesday, on the 2nd of August me, Silvia Kostner and 4 guests from the Posta Zirm Hotel left for the Fanes National Park.
Four guests are not exactly a huge number but the heavy rainfalls of the previous night and the low clouds in the morning scared most of the guests off. And how right we were to give the day a chance!
Our trip started at the Capanna Alpina,
just about 15 km from the Posta Zirm Hotel.
By the time we started climbing the first ascent up to the Col d’Locia (2069 m.), it had already cleared up and a really typical July summer day was ahead of us! Once at the top of the first ascent, the view made up for all the effort! Saying we found ourselves submerged in a fairy tale scenery is an understatement. Peaks as far as the eye can go, clear mountain rivers and romantic, peaceful alpine lakes.
As we then continued through the Fanes Grande pasture, we found ourselves surrounded by imposing sharp walls, grazing cows, free horses and whistling marmots!
Eventually the view opened up leaving us in front of a wide natural amphitheatre surrounded by alpine dwarf pines,  and woods of spruce. Instead of having lunch at the Rifugio Fanes, we decided to have our pic-nic on the shores of the beautiful Limo Lake. It’s waters were shining in the sun like a jewel and we just felt like enjoying this view as long as possible before starting our way back on the same route from where we came from.
Just before leaving the last river behind us, I was able to convince all guests to take their hiking boots off and submerge their tired and hot feet in the freezing water! The Kneipp treatment in the middle of the National Park, this is what I call luxury!

Approximate lenght: 6 hours of walking
Difficulty level: medium, steep ascent at the beginning

Fanes