The Rosengarten is a group of mountains in the Dolomites with a dense cluster of exceptionally jagged peaks. 10 years ago I did two hikes through this range, and since then I’ve longed to return for some better photography and more challenging via ferrata climbing. Last week Claudia and I did just that, spending four days trekking, climbing, and photographing our way through the mountains. See lots more photos below!
We spent our first night at Rifugio Bolzano (aka Schlernhaus), a castle-like stone hut with a great view of rugged spires of the Rosengarten range… when we could see them through the clouds.
Despite the misty weather, we pushed through our first via ferrata of the trip – the Maximiliansteig, which runs along the ridge of Cima di Terrarossa. In the background you can see the Rifugio Alpe di Tires, our destination for the night.
The Maximilian ferrata was a bit of a warm-up, test run ferrata for us to see how we felt about doing a much longer, more difficult ferrata the next day. All went well!
The big objective of our trip was to complete the Via Ferrata Laurenzi, a long, high, rugged ridge route over the Molignon. This cabled route was rated by our guidebook as much more difficult and committing than any previous ferrata routes we’ve done so far, so we weren’t sure if we could do the whole thing or if we’d have to turn around at some point.
Although the Laurenzi ferrata route is well secured with cables, there are a number of difficult downclimbing sections requiring quite some strength and commitment. Here Claudia encounters the first of these awkward downclimbs. She tried several times and almost gave up before she conquered her fears and pushed through, even though she knew that there were more difficult sections to come. I was impressed and proud of her!
Now we’re having fun! This was definitely the finest ferrata route I’ve done so far in the Dolomites. With no crowds either, we could really get into the swing of things. (Nice pun, huh?)
The via ferrata cabled routes are probably considered lame by serious climbers, but for us mere mortals they provide a taste of the joy of climbing, especially when you resist the temptation to grab onto the cable and just use the natural rock handholds. In this section above, there were no cables anyways… just some very airy scrambling!
The third hut during our hike through the Rosengarten was Rifugio Re Alberto, situated right below the fantastically surreal Vajolet towers (pronounced similar to “violet” with the accent on the “let”).
Of course my dream was to photograph the towers with some nice sunset light. In the afternoon I scouted out my favorite spots to shoot from, then after dinner, despite the clouds covering the peak, I returned to my spot, set up my camera, sat there, and waited. About 20 minutes before sunset, we started seeing glimpses of the towers though the clouds, then soon enough the clouds began dissolving into mist just as the ruby glow of sunset illuminated the pinnacles! As the misty clouds swept around the glowing red towers, the scene was so magical I really had the feeling that I was dreaming, and even started to get a little worried that I’d wake up! Claudia and I were speechless… almost in disbelief; and we were both riding high all night after witnessing and photographing such a phenomenal sight.
One last vía ferrata after the Santner Pass took us to our exit point from the Rosengarten. A hitchhike to Bolzano, three trains, three busses, and one day later, now we’re out of Italy, back in Bavaria sitting in a nice apartment we scored in Mittenwald, Germany. More to come, but for now just a few days here to relax and take a vacation from our vacation! 🙂
I continue to be amazed and impressed with your work and the fact you followed your passion to use as a profession. Thank you for providing the treat to follow your adventures. I’ m honored.
Hugs from a fan and hs classmate of your mom,
Kathie Freres????????
Hi Kathie, thank you for your kind compliment! Yes, I am very much grateful that I have been able to earn a living from my passions so far… I’m glad you enjoy my photos! Take care, Jack
Always loved the Dolomites, hiked Rosengarten myself, though not on ferratas. Awesome photos, thanks for sharing. Can’t wait to see the sunset photos of the Vajolet towers!
Thanks Alexander! Yes it’s quite a test of patience for me to sit on all my photos for so long… I can’t wait to see them too! 🙂
fantastic and fascinating written stories. I can’t wait to see your pictures when your back at home. By the way: Which kind of backpack do you use on this trip. The f-stop?
Thanks Oskar! Yes, I’m using the F-Stop Satori on this trip. It’s perfect.
Thank you. That helps me to decide also for a f-stop Satori 😉
Great shots and stories as always Jack.
We are quite intrigued to see those sunset shots!
Thanks Heidi! I am already so excited to get back home and process my photos, but we still have a lot more traveling to do!
Jack,
Love reading the adventure you and Claudia are experiencing. It’s like reading an adventure novel. Waiting for the next chapter. Wish I was young again. Enjoy.
Thanks for your note, Ed! I’m glad you’re enjoying my write-ups!
Happy Birthday young man
Nice going you two. Computer man! I can’t believe it’s nearly 10 years since we did that trip. Fortunately no earthquakes for you this time? Can’t wait to see the tower photos.
These photos are awesome. Man, so many cool places in this world, and mountains are the best kind of backdrop (or centerpiece) for exploring them.
These pictures are absolutely breath-taking. Makes me miss Alaska even more! Hope you don’t mind, but I linked to the mountain slideshow on your home page on my upcoming Sunday post. I just discovered your work via Google. Looking forward to reading about your hiking adventures and seeing more of your work!
Welcome back to my neck of the woods (and mountains!!). It puts a huge smile on my face that you enjoyed the Dolomites so much you came back again, this time bringing Claudia! I absolutely love the photos in this entry – gorgeous as usual!!