Читать книгу Shorter Walks in the Dolomites. 50 varied day walks in the mountains онлайн

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A marvellous, rambling establishment adorns the northernmost end – the grand grey stone hotel, which has developed from the modest refreshment point it started out as 130 years ago. In the 1960s it hosted meditation sessions with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, the Beatles’ personal guru at the time. Although it has seen better days, it is still a marvellous place to stay, as its old-style furnishings have been retained – even down to the antique toilet chains! Meals are taken in the magnificent and spacious Art Nouveau dining rooms.

This delightful walk consists of an easy anti-clockwise stroll round the lake (alternating waterside strolling with paths through the wood) and a negligible ascent and descent. For a longer, more demanding route, see ssss1.

Hotel Lago di Braies

Walk

From the bus stop and car park, go R past Hotel Lago di Braies (1494m) to a clutch of path signposts. The start of the ‘Giro del Lago’ (n.1/4) is here. A wide, level path at first, it strikes out S past a chapel along the western edge of the lake, and is shaded by towering pine trees and brightened by alpenrose shrubs. Where the forestry track veers R (W) up Val di Foresta, leave it and take the path alongside a shingle beach backed with dwarf mountain pines. A little further on, ignore the branch S for the climb to Rifugio Biella and keep to the open lakeside, below remarkable rivers of scree flowing from eroding gullies on the face of Croda del Becco. Directly opposite the hotel now at the halfway point on the walk, this is a marvellous spot for a dip on a sultry summer’s day, although, due to the water temperature, only for the courageous!