Pütia – A circuit around a lonely giant
Dear friends,
On July 21 2011, 9 guests and me, left the Posta Zirm Hotel with the minibus at 09.00 for our drive to the Passo delle Erbe where our hike started. Passo delle Erbe lies beautifully in a peaceful setting further down in the Badia Valley and takes you through some of the most remote parts of the valley itself. We passed Antermöia, a village where time seems to have stopped in time.
All this area of Val Badia is totally off the beaten track and it is amazing to abserve farmers cutting the grass on incredibly steep fields without any help from machines!
After about one hour drive, we are ready to start our circuit. From Ütia de Börz we get closer to the mountain until we reach the point of turning to the east or to the west.
I always choose to turn to the west first because I prefer tackling the challenging part at the beginning.
And here it is, a very steep ascend on a very narrow path that crosses various detritus slopes. We always take this part very slowly and often stop for a drink in the middle. Thank God we did not have a hot day as the sun would have merciless beamed down on us.
After about one hour and a half we reached the top of the Forcela de Pütia as the rocky path stopped opening up a stunning and comfortable gravel path through beautifully manicured alpine meadows. For someone beeing up here for the first time, it is really difficult to orientate themselves. The perspective of the mountains that we see is totally different and we are seeing the Santa Croce, the village of San Cassiano and the Passo Falzarego at the far back.
As we walked around the Pütia we decided to stop for a quick lunch at the Rifugio Vaciara that lies romantically above the tree line opening up a fantastic scenery!
As a few raindrops were falling into our plates, we decided to pick up our hike soon and we were lucky enough not to get more rain during the day. As we crossed the east side of the mountain our scenery changed again, pine forests and rocky paths with interesting grottos caught our attention.
After about 5 hours we were back at the parking spot ready for our return to the Posta Zirm Hotel.
…all my fellow hikers fell asleep during the return…
Approximate lenght: 5 hours of walking
Difficulty level: medium, steep ascent at the beginning
