
Italian Dolomites Walking Holiday – Hiking around Plattkofel
Plattkofel (otherwise known as Sasplat or Sassopiatto) is the last mountain I was really, really hoping we could climb. However, when we awoke on our final walking day, we could see there was new snow and ice onย Plattkofel’s peak. It was also pretty misty. I was still keen, but my husband Marc is more sensible. He said it’d be daft to attempt such a high, steep peak in the mist, especially asย it was icy. Heย put his foot down, saying I am not allowed to be dangerous on our honeymoon.
So, we made a new plan to walk the whole way aroundย Plattkofel instead. This route adapted one of the walksย sent to us from Inn Travel. They had sent a decent map, so we easily made our own long route from that. ย We did a little cheat by taking a ropewayย from Saltria up to the edge of Plattkofel.
This was followed with a quick, steep hike up toย Zallinger hutte. The best part of this walk was we got to see loads of cute marmots! Can you see this dude’s cute little face as he hides under a rock? They are so fluffy a
nd sweet
Once we had made it to the first hut, we could follow a slowly ascending path around the mountain. I was a little sad to go past the turning for climbing Plattkofel. But as we went past it started to snow,ย and then it started to hail, so we were pretty sure we had made the right choice!
Further around the mountain was another hut, Utia de Sas Plat. This hut did not seem to be open, but we did get to see a helicopter on its way to visit it!!
At first the path was just a little slippy, then it became very muddy. This made the walk a little tricky as we needed to slide along the edge of a pretty steep drop! It was all worth it for the gorgeous misty views, but we both ended up with mucky trousers and legs. There were far more people as we got to thisย side of the mountain. There are several mountain huts as well as rope ways down to the surrounding valleys. We stopped at Rifugio Salei at Passo Sella for a snack and hot chocolate.
Plattkofelย belongs to the circular Saslonch / Langkofel / Sassolungo Group of mountains, so once we had hiked around this far, we were closer to theย Langkofel side of the mountain. Once there must have been a massive rock slide here, as there were so many hugeย boulders to climb over or walk around. We found a sign calling this a Cittร dei Sassiโ (City of Stones.) It looks amazing!
Once we made it through the city of stones, we could see the vertical cliffsย ofย Langkofel (Plattkofel is now on the opposite side, so you can’t see it from here.) You’d need quite a lot of equipment and experience to even consider climbing this cliff face!!
You get to walk the whole way along this edgeย of the mountain, over to the mountain hut, Rifugio Comici, where there are rope-ways off in other directions. There were plenty of pretty views from here, but I have a feeling it would be even more impressive on a sunny day! We took the path down fromย Rifugio Comici, curling aroundย Langkofel to head to the Alpe de Suisi side of the mountain again. On the way, we found a really tall waterfall.
Once we’d gone beyond the waterfall. we could see the scenery we already knew. We were (sort of) on the home stretch.
However, although this side of the mountain did not have the sprinkling of snow, it did have several mini snow drifts for us to clamber along. These were all compacted ice, so it is tricky to balance.
It is quite hard to describe this section of our walk! We peered up through the mist at the many spiky peaks above us. Then down below us stretched bright green pastures of theย Alpe de Suisi. Our pathway was between these two worlds. We had steep drops in one direction and amazing views in the other…it is not a safe combination!! I spent most of my time looking up at the peaks and not enough time watching my step.
For the next section, we wound our way back towards Plattkofel and the start of our walk. We zig-zagged down the side of the mountain so finished back in gorgeous, bright green fields on a beautiful sunny day. It is really strange how we had wandered through snow, rain, mist and a little hail, only to finish in the sunshine!!
We were a little worried that we would miss the last ropeway lift back to our hotel, so we really rushed this last section. It could have beenย a pleasant gentle walk, if we hadn’t rushed so much! Anyway, this was our final view ofย Plattkofel from this side. It looks menacing (although beautiful)ย to me!!
We did have to run over a couple of the fields. But we just made it back in time to catch a lift down the mountain. By now the snow had melted from the side ofย Plattkofel. After all the different weather conditions around the mountain, we still think we made the right decision to go around, rather than up!
I didn’t take so many photos of flowers on this walk (mostly because they were covered in snow!!) but here are a couple of pictures from the fields on our way back.
So, that is the final day of our amazing walking holiday in the Italian Dolomites. After this we took a train to Hamburg as I was keen to see more mountains from the train. Then we had to head home back to reality.
14 thoughts on “Italian Dolomites Walking Holiday – Hiking around Plattkofel”
I loved the post… the photos are spectacular.
Thank you!!
I’d love to go back on a sunny day and see the surrounding mountains too!
If it is nice in the mist it must be stunning on a clear day! ๐
spectacular pictures. Just beautiful.
Thank you!
And thanks for checking if you can comment!! ๐
Beautiful shots, Josy!
Thank you!!
It is pretty easy when the scenery is this pretty!!
Oh such a lovey post! I almost feel like packing my bags and going there ๐ Loved the photos as well!
Thank you! <3
It really is a gorgeous place to visit!!
Those jumping shots are the best!! What a gorgeous place to explore.
Thank you!
I love a good jumping photo!!
Okay, a few things.
1. Please teach me how to take jumping pictures- I’m always 98% done the descent and I just look I have a weird hover going on.
2. Please start a tour company where you take people on hikes wherever you are- I WILL BE THERE.
3. Those marmots are pretty freaking adorable and I vote that you bring one home next time…
I had never even heard of marmots before I saw these cuties but they are soooo sweet! ๐
For jump shots you basically need to train a friend/boyfriend/husband who is speedy at taking photos. It works best in bright light because then the shutter speed is fast enough to take them.
I went hiking with some new friends last week and none of them could take a jump shot first time like my husband can! In the end I had to put my camera into a shutter mode, so it takes several photos in quick succession. That worked though!!
If you come to this side of Canada we can take loooads of jumping photos! Seriously my husband Marc captures jump shots perfectly every time!