Valle del Mis

We’ve stayed in Valle del Mis for two nights to prepare for our 7-day trek through the Dolomites on Alta Via 1, a long distance hike. The journey here was about 3 hours but felt longer. Lots of Italian drivers either seem incredibly slow and cautious.. even holding us up in Bertie… or completely mad… overtaking several cars at once on blind bends!

Anyway, we arrived safely, parked Bertie in a lovely shady spot, and had a wander to look at Lago del Mis. This is another beautiful blue lake, but extremely low, thanks to the dry winter and hot summer.

Having found them via Airbnb, I’d arranged to leave Bertie at Renato and Tiziana’s place. They also very kindly invited us for dinner and Renato said he’d collect us at 7 o’clock. I joked to John, ‘I hope it’s not mushrooms’. However, to my and Tiziana’s dismay, she’d cooked mushroom risotto. Risotto is one of my favourite meals, but not with mushrooms, which I don’t like. However, I can honestly say that I enjoyed it, once I’d removed the bigger slivers of porcini from my portion. Tiziana explained that porcini are mild and, I think was pleased that the meal wasn’t a disaster. In any case, we also had lovely meats, cheeses and salads. Renato and Tiziana were lovely hosts. John and I thoroughly enjoyed the evening and it’s good to know Bertie is in safe hands.

Today, we’ve been to see some waterfalls that Renato recommended. First we went to Cascata della Soffia. We weren’t overly impressed with these until we climbed down to the bottom of it, round some rocks and through a rock tunnel. This was fun, the water was a lovely blue, and the falls were much more impressive from here!

After this we crossed to the other side of the river and paid a couple of euros to visit Cadini del Brenton. The girl on the desk pleased John by telling him he was the first person to visit from Wales this season! The caldini are a succession of pretty plunge pools formed by erosion as waterfalls wear the rock away. The water was a beautiful green blue and we enjoyed the walk.

It was forbidden to go in the plunge pools but we did have a paddle in the river at the bottom. Then we stopped at a burger van on the way back to Bertie. We both had local pastin burgers, which were delicious. Pastin is a type of pork sausage meat mixed with fresh salami and some salt. We’d recommend it 😋

Back at the campsite, we’ve packed our rucksacks with everything we need for the trek. I’ve been struggling in the heat so John is kindly carrying some stuff for me. First thing tomorrow we’ll get Bertie ready to be left… emptying the bins, loo and fridge… before heading to Renato and Tiziana’s. Then we get a bus up the valley to start our trek, back over the mountains to collect Bertie again. Fingers crossed it all goes to plan!