Day 17 – The Cross On Resciesa

Feb 21, 2023

Today’s Adventure

Today’s adventure was a hike on Resciesa, a long ridgeline that forms much of the northern boundary of Val Gardena. This is a repeat of a favorite outing from our October 2022 visit to the Dolomites, although this time it would be in the winter with snow on the ground vs. in the autumn. We knew that this trail had the potential for outstanding views, so we were thrilled when we woke up to clear blue skies and plenty of sunshine.

After a quick breakfast in the apartment we walked to the main bus terminal in Castelrotto and boarded Südtirolmobil bus 172 for a scenic 25 minute ride to Ortisei. From the Piazza Sant’Antonio we headed up the hill via a combination of steps, escalators, and moving walkways to the base station for the Resciesa funicular (‘Funicolare’ in Italian or ‘Standseilbahn’ in German). This cable-driven railway took us on a 10 minute ride up a steep slope to the upper station.

From the upper station we followed an easy path through the woods and then out into the open towards the Rifugio Resciesa (https://www.rifugioresciesa.com/en/). We took our morning break at this hütte, enjoying two cappuccinos and sharing a nice piece of buckwheat cake (with a generous accent of fresh whipped cream) while sitting in luxurious sheepskin-covered seats at the front edge of the sun terrace. The terrace offered us excellent views south across Val Gardena to the Alpe di Siusi from the Sasso group in the east to the Schlern massif in the west.

After our morning break Cindy and I walked a bit further west to the Cappella Santa Croce del Resciesa, a small chapel with a huge view down into both Val Gardena and Valle Isarco. We then walked further up the hill to the summit of Mont Dedora where we visited a dramatic carved wooden crucifix known as the ‘Resciesa Dedora Crocefisso’ (in Italian) or the equally complicated ‘Ausserraschötzer Kreuz’ (in German). We were very pleased that there weren’t many people around, whether on the trail or at the marquee stopping points.

From time to time we tried to go cross-country, but post-holing through the hardened crust on top of the accumulated snow was a problem. With this in mind we found that our ice crampons were a must-have accessory today to help us stay on the trail. Tricky footing along the higher ground was easily forgiven, though, as the views into down Val di Funes, along the ridge to Seceda, down into Val Gardena and across to Alpe di Siusi were stellar. This is one of the best view hikes in the area, especially given the relatively low energy level required, but it fortunately remains largely undiscovered.

The trail took us along the ridge and then to the treeline and through a stand of woods to our lunch destination, the Cason Hütte. We had stopped at this very small family-run rifugio for coffee during our fall 2022 visit and knew that we wanted to return. After ordering a pair of Forst drafts we split orders of Wiener Schnitzel and Kaiserschmarrn. Lunch crowd gone so we just sat in the sunshine and enjoyed the view for a little while before settling our tab and heading down the trail for a short walk to the top of the Resciesa funicular. A scenic ride down the mountain gave us a good look at Ortisei, a rown where we had spent a full week back in the fall.

After returning to our apartment in Castelrotto we dropped our backpacks and went back out for a walk around town. We were hoping to take some nice night photographs from in town and from the chapel grounds on top of Monte Calvario. It was a clear, beautiful evening so when dusk settled in we were able to capture some very nice images. One highlight was an aerial view of town that showed the numerous red votive candles left on the grave markers in the cemetery next to the Church of St. Peter & St. Paul.

As expected, today’s hike was long on views but relatively short in distance. We hiked a total of 3.1 miles in just over an hour and a half with around 700 feet of vertical. That distance was a bit deceiving, however, as the snow conditions along the high side of the ridge trail made for some fairly technical and tiring footwork.

For Innichen’s main page click here.

For Castelrotto’s main page click here.

For the entire trip’s main page click here.