The Beginning
I should probably qualify the title of this by saying that Val Duron was unknown to me and obviously not to the numerous other people I saw during my journey and the owners of several rifugios (mountain restaurants), who presumably rely on the known’ness of their beautiful valley.
In any event I discovered Val Duron by accident. A Sunday morning stroll had led me into Campitello, the adjacent village to Canazei. In my efforts to find an open cafe and a latte macchiato I had noticed a number of people driving and walking up a hill at the back of the village. I am a curious soul and so I decided to follow them in the hope of discovering something new and wonderful.
"In any event I discovered Val Duron by accident."
At the top of the hill I found a car park. This led to a snowy road that meandered further up behind the village. The trekking signs showed a route to ‘Val Duron’. Making their way up the snowy road were a number of ski tourers, a couple of hikers and a family with a sledge. Carpe Diem as they say and I was of a mind to take a trek right then. But sensibleness prevailed. It was a bit busy for my liking; anything more than 2 people counts as a crowd in Rob’s world of hiking. I wasn’t really prepared, only having jeans and wearing my running shoes. And I was free for the next couple of days when I assumed it would be far less busy. So I returned home, after getting my fancy coffee, and planned a proper trek for the Tuesday, when the weather looked good, albeit super cold.
The brief respite also gave me time to contact my friend Katie. She has worked several seasons in the Dolomites and knows the territory around Val di Fassa well. As I suspected she was aware of Val Duron and informed me it was hikeable in winter and was well worth the effort.
Off I Go
On Tuesday I drove to the car park. No point in expending energy getting to the start point; is that bad? There was only one other person in the car park, an oldish man (Old Dude henceforth) who I estimated to be about 70. Somewhat unnervingly, he looked like he was equipped to trek to the South Pole. I had a backpack with two Kit Kats, some water and three cameras. I’m all about the pictures, less about the basic survival. 70 year old dude asked me if the Rifugio Micheluzzi was open. I replied, in my best Italian, that I did not know. Somehow, he immediately seemed to realise I was English and gave me a look that gave the impression he suspected I would be unlikely to survive beyond the next 6 hours! However, as my friend Hayley oft points out I have worked as a walking guide. I know how to walk – sort of!
Old dude toddled off up the very snowy road. Having donned my gloves I set off after him. This was such a magical experience, with the snow heaped up on the boughs of the pines. A veritable winter wonderland!
Not wishing to blow my own trumpet but I do keep myself in relatively good shape (a kind of regular oval shape). I soon overtook old dude. In fact this was just before the road got super steep. The sort of steep that if you fell over you wouldn’t be getting back up again until you’d slid to the bottom. Now I have my pride and having just overtaken old dude I could not slow down going up this slope as his steady pace would have reeled me in – there was very much a tortoise/hare metaphor at work here! Fortunately, this steep slope gave way to a shallower incline in relatively short measure. So my bursting lungs could recover in the knowledge that I had beaten the pensioner. This story had not been fully told though!
Soon after this I also set eyes upon two ski tourers up ahead, who I promptly overtook. Although, in the back of my mind I knew that if they were going up and coming back their return journey would bemuch more enjoyable than mine.
The next hour or so saw me trekking up various degrees of incline following the road. There were off shoots which followed a proper walking trail but they were so deep in snow that I thought it best to stick to the road. This was no hardship as the winding route was continuing through this fantastic winter scenery. What came next was a landscape surprise.
The Top
At the top of the road I emerged onto a wondrous sight. Val Duron is a big flat plateau, covered in a blanket of snow, stretching into the distance to where some mountains arise. I stopped to take in the magnificent vista but then realised that I was a mere literal snowball’s throw from the very open Rifugio Micheluzzi. The vista wasn’t going anywhere and it’s majesty was outweighed by the thought of a milky coffee.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, apart from the owner, I was the only person in the rifugio. Despite my impeccable Italian he seemed to realise I was English and appeared mildly surprised I was there. But I guess he was happy with any business he could get in these times. Val Duron would normally be a haven for tourers, snowshoers and hikers but travel restrictions in Italy mean you can’t travel between the various states.
Having finished my coffee I wrapped up and set off again. I was aiming for the mountains but not really sure how far I would get before I was forced to retreat. My short break had also given the ski tourers and the old dude time to overtake me – but not by much. So I set off with new vigour to hunt them all down.
At this point I was still on the snowy road, although the road was getting narrower and the snow was getting deeper. I took out old dude relatively quickly. He stopped to take photos with his phone. Although I suspect that this was a ruse to hide his humiliation at being overtaken again. I made sure I had my ‘proper’ camera out as I nonchalantly bounced passed him and then stopped a little further on, went down on one knee and took a ‘proper’ photograph. I got a wet knee.
The road then became just a solo track pockmarked with footprints and ski imprints. It was here that I overtook the ski tourers, who had decided to turn round. I was indeed envious of the their skiing route down.
Whilst I was nearing the mountains the snow was becoming increasingly deep. I wanted to go on but I knew I wasn’t really equipped for this level of hike. The fact that the ski tourers had given up was probably the impetus I needed. I consoled myself by taking some more pictures before doing something every hiker hates, backtracking.
The humiliator also became the humiliated as I crossed paths with the old dude. He smiled. He was happy in his ignorance of our competition, or so I thought. Old dude hiked on about 50m past where I had turned tail and then started walking back himself. Goddammit, he had beaten me.
Going Down
The way back was mostly easy as it was pretty much all downhill. I did reward myself with another stop at one of the other rifugios. It was guarded by two friendly Alsatians who playfully chased me around, exuberantly baring their teeth, before the owner called them off and apologised. In a surprised tone she asked me if I was on holiday and was even more surprised when I told her I had been working in Val di Fassa. You have to feel for these people and admire the fact that they were staying open for such little business. I really hope things return to some form of normality in the summer when I assume they do the majority of their trade.
The only real difficulty I encountered going down, apart from the terrifying dogs, was the really steep hill which I encountered at the very beginning of my trek. Fortunately, my walking boots have great grip but I still needed to zigzag a little to get down safely. I’d probably recommend taking walking poles to anyone doing this hike.
It only took me about 4.5 hours to get up and down, including the two short stops. I do walk quickly but I also stop to take a lot of photos. I also backtrack frequently if I think I’ve missed an opportunity for a nice photograph. This is one of the reasons I quite enjoy hiking solo as I don’t want to spoil anyone else’s enjoyment. Also, I tend to get the best of the environment. My interest in photography has developed in the last few years this definitely makes me look at my surroundings with newfound depth.
Back at the car park my final thoughts were that I would love to come back here in the summer. The walk would be easier and you could also complete a circular route that would take you back into Canazei. Overall though a great hike and my only real regret was that I hadn’t known about it earlier.