From Tre Croci the beautiful road runs direct to Cortina down a rather steep incline. Although the former means of reaching Cortina from Schluderbach by the high road and through the Ampezzo Thal is the more easily accomplished, none who have taken the road by way of Misurina will regret its greater length because of its greater interest.

SCHLUDERBACH--PLaTZ WIESE--PRAGSER WILDSEE--NIEDERDORF

From Schluderbach, too, there is another road branching northward from the Imperial Road to Niederdorf on the Bruneck-Innichen-Toblach line, leading over the Platz Wiese, upwards of 6500 feet above sea-level.

There is a fine hotel on the Platz Wiese, about two hours from Schluderbach, and it is from thence that one ascends the Durrenstein, 9320 feet. This easily climbed mountain, although not providing much excitement for the expert Alpinist, is one of those which amply reward the climber for the fatigue and trouble of the ascent. As one stands upon the summit one has spread out around on all hands a most astonishing and magnificent panorama of the Dolomites, as well as of the glaciers and Middle Alps which lie to the north. Amongst the great heights and groups, on a good day plainly visible from the mountain, are those of the Tauern, Ortler, and Adamello, and the beautiful Pragser Thal, with amongst the chief heights the Hohe Gaisl, 10,330 feet; Cadini, 9320 feet; Monte Cristallo, 10,495 feet, with its glacier, and many other giants of the region.

[Sidenote: PRAGSER WILDSEE]

The road from Platz Wiese continues past the little watering-place Alt-Prags to Niederdorf, to reach which occupies about three and a half hours. There is from this road another, branching off and leading past the watering-place of Neu-Prags, with its prettily situated houses and hotels, to the lovely Pragser Lake, nearly 5000 feet above sea-level, and distant from Niederdorf seven and a half miles. Pragser Lake, or the Pragser Wildsee, is one of the most beautiful, secluded, and romantic of all the Alpine lakes, surrounded and sheltered as it is by the mighty walls of the Seekofel, 9220 feet; the Herrstein, 8035 feet; Col de Ricegon, 8770 feet; Hochalpenkopf, 8420 feet, and many other wild and impressive heights. In the olive-green waters of the lake itself the two first-named giants are reflected with wonderful distinctness and beauty; whilst on the slopes of most of the surrounding mountains the silvery, star-like flowers of the edelweiss and the royal blue gentians grow with a luxuriance scarcely equalled in any other part of the Dolomite region. The climate of this Alpine lake is indeed bracing and health-giving, for on the hottest summer day one finds a cool and refreshing air coming down from the mountains and traversing the surface of the lake, whilst in the evening the temperature is not materially lowered, as so often occurs at places having such a considerable alt.i.tude and set amid great peaks, so that one can remain in the open air quite safely, even though lightly clad, until the beautiful Alpine twilight wraps the lake and its sh.o.r.es in a mantle of mysterious beauty, and night seems to descend from the summits of the great peaks around.

No one, however, should think of visiting Pragser Wildsee in the summer season without first bespeaking accommodation at the beautiful hotel situated on the borders of the lake, or they may find themselves compelled (as have been many others before them) to turn their backs upon this lovely spot for lack of accommodation, as this is always crowded with visitors during the months of July, August, and the early part of September. This charming resort is most easily reached from Niederdorf, situated on the Puster Thal railway, one station eastward from Toblach.

CORTINA--FALZAREGO--BUCHENSTEIN.

From Cortina the old Imperial or high road takes one out of the Dolomites to the south-east into Venetian territory to Belluno, an interesting and picturesque old town standing on a hill between the Piave and Ardo, which at this point flow together. The Cathedral, built chiefly by Tullio Lombardo in the early years of the sixteenth century, was unfortunately greatly damaged during the earthquake in 1873; but it has been largely restored, and contains, in addition to many interesting architectural details, some fine altar paintings.

From the summit of the campanile, which is upwards of 200 feet in height, one obtains a most exquisite view of the old town and surrounding country. The Prefecture, in the Piazza del Duomo, is a fine early Renaissance building dating from the end of the fifteenth century, and was originally the Palazzo dei Rettori.

Belluno will shortly be connected by rail with Cortina, and possess a station of its own. The new Dolomite road, however, travels from Cortina in a south-westerly direction to the rock-strewn Falzarego Pa.s.s, 6945 feet, lying in the shadow of the Hexenfels, 8126 feet, whilst to the south-west rises the impressive, snow-covered Marmolada, with the Col di Lana, 8084 feet, in the foreground of the picture.

From this pa.s.s one can ascend the Nuvolau, 8460 feet, from the summit of which there is a panoramic view of the railway and surrounding peaks. At the other end of the pa.s.s the new Dolomite road descends more than a thousand feet into the valley of Andraz, a little, picturesquely situated village from which several interesting excursions can be made, near which lie the ruins of a very ancient castle bearing the same name. Buchenstein, the chief village of the Buchenstein Valley, distant from the end of the pa.s.s some nine miles, is reached by the road from Andraz. There are some excellent inns, and the village is splendidly situated and makes a good centre for holiday makers.

[Ill.u.s.tration: A PEEP OF THE DOLOMITES]

BUCHENSTEIN--CAPRILE--ALLEGHE SEE--ARaBA.

Near it a little road branches off to the south-east, which, leading through Italian territory and crossing a stream, leads to Caprile, just over the Italian frontier, descending on the left side of the Val Cordevole, with fine views of the Val di Livinallongo. The village of Caprile, at the far end of which is the short Venetian column, surmounted by a lion of St. Mark, a relic of the days when the Venetians ruled the district, is a somewhat straggling one, with many of the houses built upon arches. The church is ordinary, although there are some quaint decorations to the organ-loft worth seeing. But, disappointing as is the village itself, its beautiful surroundings, with the truly magnificent prospect of Monte Civetta, and the beautiful Alleghe Lake, tempt one to prolong one's stay.

From Caprile the road leads to the Lake, which lies at the foot of Monte Civetta. The high road, however, which is fairly level, leads first of all to the village of Araba at the foot of the Pordoijoch, 7355 feet.

BRUNECK--ENNEBERG--ARaBA.

On the way to Araba one can also reach, direct from the Puster Thal station, St. Lorenzen, through the wildly beautiful and romantic Enneberg Thal, which forms the shortest route to the middle division of the great Dolomite road. One peculiarity of the Gader or Enneberg Thal, and other similar valleys of the district, is the fact that the peasantry speak neither German nor Italian (although in some valleys the latter language is gradually becoming more used), but the patois known as Ladin, which somewhat resembles the Romanche of the Grisons district, although each valley has certain peculiarities of dialect.

No doubt these latter will in time die out, and German will become the common language of the more German valleys, and Italian of the more Italian.

The carriage-road, which is 45 kilometres (28 miles) in length, is not suitable for motors; it leads past Pedrazes, 4350 feet high, and Corvara, 5110 feet, to Araba. Near Corvara lies the way over the Grodener-Joch, 7010 feet, into the beautiful Grodener Thal, often sung by the poet Walther von der Vogelweide.

WAIDBRUCK--GRoDENER THAL--ARaBA.

The usual starting-point, however, for the latter is Waidbruck, to the south of the Brenner road between Franzenfeste and Bozen. From Waidbruck, 1545 feet, which lies at the head of the Grodener Thal, with the Trostburg, 2040 feet, towering above it, the road goes to St.

Ulrich, 4055 feet, distant eight miles, the chief village in the wide valley, prettily situated and surrounded by tree-clad slopes, beyond which rise some magnificent rocky Dolomite peaks. The church, dating from the end of the eighteenth century, has a beautiful interior, containing some excellent examples of the woodcarving for which the Grodener Thal has for ages been and still is famous.

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE LANGKOFEL]

[Sidenote: SOME DOLOMITE PEAKS]

From St. Ulrich it climbs upwards through the valley, which at each step becomes more beautiful and more magnificent, to St. Christina, 4685 feet, with its mountain pastures dominated by the huge Langkofel-Joch, 8800 feet, and many other impressive heights, such as Seceda, 8270 feet, Geislerspitzen, 9930 feet, to the north, and the Plattkofel, 9740 feet, to the south; the Stella Group to the south-east, with the Col dalla Pieres, 9055 feet; and the Pitzberg, 6020 feet, Puflatsch, 7140 feet, and the more distant Rosengarten and the Schlern to the south-west.

From St. Christina the road continues over the hill to St. Maria in Wolkenstein, to Plan, 5290 feet; from whence mule tracks lead over the magnificent Grodener-Joch, with its protection hut, or hospice, 7010 feet, into the Enneberg Valley to Araba; and also over the great Sella-Joch, 7275 feet, to Canazei, in the Fa.s.sa Valley, which lies southward of Pordoi. There are several excellent and interesting ascents which can be made from the Grodener Valley. First of all there is the romantic Geislerspitzen, which, however, should only be attempted by the skilled climber, as it is both a laborious and difficult ascent. In the same category, though more difficult, and suitable only for hardy mountaineers, are the Grosse Furchetta, with its highest point 9930 feet; Kleine Furchetta, a few feet less; the Fermeda-Thurm, 9440 feet; and the Gross Nadel, 9250 feet. Starting from the Sella-Joch, the magnificent Sella, with the Boe Spitz, 10,340 feet, as well as the wildly rugged Langkofel, can be ascended. From the Sella-Joch also one can easily ascend the Col Rodella, 8155 feet, which lies to the south-west of the former, from which summit one obtains a very fine and extensive panoramic view.

ARaBA--PORDOI--CANAZEI.

In Araba, the second part of the new Dolomite high road, which comes over the Pordoi-Joch to Canazei, in the Fa.s.sa Thal, the way ascends in wide zig-zags through a beautiful and broad Alpine valley, in which those interested in botany will find a wealth of Alpine flora scarcely excelled by that of any portion of Tyrol, up to the heights of the Pordoi-Joch, where there is an inn at which meals can be obtained, and from which a most magnificent circular panoramic view extends. From this place well-made tourist paths extend in many directions to the Boe-Spitz as well as to the Fedaja Pa.s.s, 6710 feet, and the frontier between Tyrol and Italy; a most attractive road, with the huge snow peaks and glaciers of the giant Marmolada close at hand.

The new Dolomite road goes from the Pordoi-Joch in a south-easterly direction, traversing a magnificent forest with wonderful and ever-changing views of the craggy peaks of the Dolomites, and thus on to Canazei in the curve of the Fa.s.sa Thal.

CANAZEI--Fa.s.sA THAL--NEUMARKT--TRAMIN.

This little town, 4790 feet, distant from Araba just over twelve miles, is charmingly situated, and much resorted to by tourists as a centre from which to make numerous interesting short tours in the Dolomites. The inns are simple in character though comfortable, and for that reason many will find that they possess an attractiveness exceeding that which one finds in hotels of a more pretentious cla.s.s.

The high road leads near Canazei, past Gries, Campitello, Vigo, and Moena, to Predazzo, the chief town in the Fa.s.sa Thal, 3340 feet, about nineteen miles from Canazei.

The place occupies, so we are told by Baron Richthofen and other authorities, including de Saussure and Churchill, the site of an ancient volcanic crater, although it is indeed difficult for those unversed in geology and seismic phenomena to realize the fact.

Predazzo, which stands in a broad valley at the junction of the Val Travignolo and Fleims Thal, is a prosperous town, mainly owing to the mineral wealth in the immediate neighbourhood, which of late years has been developed and worked, and the fertile nature of the valley. The inhabitants are princ.i.p.ally iron workers, farmers, and hay or timber merchants, and their sphere of trade is a far wider one than the uninitiated would imagine, extending as it does throughout the Austrian Empire, to Germany, Switzerland, and other countries. The town cannot, however, be described as either very picturesque or pretty; there are too many saw mills and iron furnaces in it, and these in a measure serve to destroy the beauty of a naturally pretty valley. But the painter of figure studies and tiny domestic pictures, and the camera user with an eye for quaint "bits" may find them in the older portion of the town amongst the wooden buildings; and picturesque groups of women and girls are sure soon to reward the patient artist or photographer who takes up a position commanding the stone fountain in the main street, to which many come daily to draw water.

There is a fine new church, which, however, cannot displace in one's artistic or sentimental affection the old one with its Tyrolese belfry and weather-worn look. The famous and curious old house known as the Nave d'Oro, now an hotel, but once the home of Giacomellis for hundreds of years, is worth inspection, as some of the armorial bearings of this erstwhile n.o.ble family still appear above the old carved doorways, and serve as decorations of the ceilings and fireplaces. The visitors' book contains what must be one of the most valuable (so far as scientists and geologists are concerned) collections of autographs to be found in any Tyrolean hotel.

Predazzo is one of the finest geological centres in Eastern Europe, and in the immediate neighbourhood of the town many beautiful and varied minerals and crystals are found, amongst them the Tourmaline granite, Uralite porphyry, and the Syenite porphyry, with its marvellous crystals, which, so far as we have been able to ascertain, are unique to this district.

Although Predazzo is chiefly--and, in fact, almost entirely--given over to mining, smelting, and timber-cutting, there is yet, amid all the hum of the timber sawing-mills, and the roar and smoke of the furnaces, a considerable lace-making school for women, where this most delicate of industries is taught and practised. Some exquisite specimens of lace are to be seen, and can be purchased at moderate cost.

An interesting fact in connection with the rich pasturage on the slopes of the Latemar is that it belongs by common right to the descendants of the original families founding the village, and was given to the latter by a grant dating from the Middle Ages, but by whom made it does not appear absolutely certain.

The road leads on through the Fleimse-Thal, past Cavalese, where there is an ancient palace of the Bishops of Trent, which has a painted facade. The building is now used as a jail. There is here a fine Gothic parish church, standing on a hill, with an old marble entrance porch, and some interesting pictures by native artists. The road then leads one on to the railway station at Neumarkt-Tramin, which is twenty-four miles from Predazzo and ninety-eight miles from Toblach.

[Ill.u.s.tration: MOUNT LATEMAR]

VIGO DI Fa.s.sA--KARER SEE.

At Vigo di Fa.s.sa, 4565 feet, the chief village in the Fa.s.sa Thal on the road to Bozen and the Karer Pa.s.s, the road branches off, leading in a westerly direction over the Pa.s.s, 5270 feet, and past the Karer See, 5030 feet, which lies at the base of the Latemar, to Bozen.

[Sidenote: THE VAJOLET AND SCHLERN]

Karer See is one of the most beautifully situated places between the Rosengarten and Latemar, and is also one of the most celebrated and fashionable resorts in the Dolomite region. From its situation and numerous delightful walks and excursions which can be taken from it, it is especially suited for a lengthy stay, and for these reasons partakes somewhat of the nature of the well-known Swiss resorts such as St. Moritz, Pontresina, Engleberg, and other places of a similar character. Many of the hotels are most beautifully situated on the borders of the lake, with a picturesque background of pine woods, beyond which tower the serrated and deeply fissured summits of the Dolomites, with striking views of the great peaks of the Latemar, Rothwand, Ortler, Oetz Thal, and Stubai Alps. From Karer See the Latemar and the Rosengarten, whose highest point is 9780 feet, are easily visited, and among the excursions which those who are not expert climbers can take is that from Karer See, by the Rosengarten, past the Ostertag and Ciampedie hut, 6530 feet, to the Vajolet hut; or past the Kolner hut, 7630 feet, over the Tschager-Joch, to the Vajolet hut, 7430 feet. Starting from the Vajolet hut, one can ascend the Vajolet Thurme through a ravine filled with _debris_ and a steep slope usually covered with snow; the Rosengarten Spitz, 9780 feet, and the Kesselkogel, 9845 feet; Cima di Laura, 9440 feet, and several others.

All of those mentioned are difficult ascents, and should only be attempted by expert climbers and with guides.

From the Vajolet hut a fairly good footpath also leads over the Grasleiten Pa.s.s, 7100 feet, to the hut which occupies a magnificent position with an extensive view of the giant Dolomites in the immediate vicinity, and towards the west a fine prospect of the Presanella and Ortler Group. From this point the path leads through the Barenschlucht up the Schlern.

WAIDBRUCK--SEIS-SCHLERN.

The Schlern, which is a huge accretion of Dolomite rock, towering above the green, undulating plateau which forms its base, the middle peak known as the Alt-Schlern or Petz, 8402 feet, is the highest of the series, although several of the peaks approach it in alt.i.tude within a few hundred feet. The Schlern forms one of the most attractive groups of Dolomite peaks, on account not only of the magnificent view which rewards the climber, but also because excellent accommodation for tourists and climbers has been provided on the slope of the Alt-Schlern just above the plateau, at a height of 8040 feet.

There are situated the Schlern house, belonging to the Bozen Alpine Club, with upwards of thirty beds, and the Schlern Inn, containing a little over half that number.