Day 18 – A Circuit Of The Puflatsch

Feb 22, 2023

Today’s Adventure

On Wednesday the 18th Cindy and I completed a loop trail around the Puflatsch, an elevated section of the Alpe di Siusi that offers great views south towards the Catinaccio Group and north towards Val Gardena.

From our base at Castelrotto we took a Südtirolmobil bus to Seis am Schlern and then rode the Seiser Alm Bahn cable car up to Compatsch. This impressive cable car carries you 2.5 miles in just 12 minutes with an elevation gain of about 2750 feet along the way. The gondolas were much more crowded today than during our ride on Saturday, but then again today’s ride was at the height of skier traffic heading up for a day on the slopes.

After clearing a small wooded section just above Compatsch the trail took us out in the open along both ski runs and sled tracks. It was a bit muddy to start with due to the warmer temperatures but then changed to snow pack for most of the way. The snow pack was actually nice under foot but the mostly sunny conditions made us quickly understand why arctic explorers wear glacier glasses!

As we climbed higher on the Puflatsch we enjoyed big views back across the Alpe di Siusi towards the Catinaccio and Sasso groups. We were also treated to numerous views of the Schlern (of course) and further southwest towards Bolzano. Bolzano was buried on the valley floor under a thick inversion layer that was present for much of this visit to the Dolomites.

When we passed the ski area’s uppermost lift house the hike became much more peaceful and relaxing. We walked by the Messner Schwaige, a small mountain hütte that was closed for season, before reaching a dramatic overlook called the Engelsrast (Angels’ Rest) that provided a unique perspective of the Val Gardena and Ortisei in context with both Resciesa and Seceda.

At this point the trail trended downward into a lightly forested area and curved around the backside of a knoll that separated us from the main body of the Alpe di Siusi. The trail then wandered through the “Hexenbänke” (Witches’ Benches), rocks that have the form of seats where according to a legend the witches of the Sciliar stopped to rest. A short side trail led us down to the Goller Cross, a wooden cross situated on an overlook with nice views of Castelrotto and the Valle Isarco down below.

After re-joining the main trail we soon found ourselves at the Arnikahütte (https://www.arnikahuette.com/) where we stopped for a nice lunch on their outside deck. Stuart ordered his usual wiener schnitzel while Cindy tried their Shepherd’s Macaroni. After enjoying the view and allowing our lunch to settle a bit we continued through the trees and around the backside of the knoll where the trail led us back to the open ski terrain. An easy downhill walk brought us back to Compatsch to begin the cable car and bus trip back to Castelrotto. All told we completed today’s hike of 5-1/2 miles in just under three hours, adding 1260 feet of vertical to this trip’s total in the process.

Later in the afternoon we wandered down to the town square for an Apres Ski reception sponsored by the local tourist office. The reception featured a disc jockey and a cash bar, so we bought a couple of beers and did some people watching. It was a small and fairly quiet crowd that included some families in addition to the usual suspects. We took advantage of the event to take a peek inside the small chapel at base of the bell tower that dominates this small mountain town before walking back to our apartment for dinner and a relaxing evening.

For Innichen’s main page click here.

For Castelrotto’s main page click here.

For the entire trip’s main page click here.