Dolomites July 2009

[Paul T]

Cliff and Martin,

Just caught up with the majority of this topic.  Amazing!!  Some awesome pics in here. 

[akoen]

What an incredible journey, Anne ... will all your lovely images feature on the forum ... please?

How long did your journey take and did you log the total miles (sorry kilometres)?

We were away i 3 weeks. Driving nonstop (only sleeping) it took 2 and a half day to Croatia. 2500 km one way. Germany, Austria and Slovenia, we run only through.

I am sorry to say that I have taken to few images. Some of them not to relevant here. But they are on my homepage here

Next time we will spend more time in the nature. This thread is incredible.

[ranunculus]

Some beautiful pictures on your site, Anne ... what a mammoth journey, but Croatia IS gorgeous!   

[Martinr]

Tony, as requested a closer look at the stranger in the Bartsia picture.

[tonyg]

I'd say its a frog - Coeloglossum viride.  I tend to notice them only when I sit down for a rest/lunch.  They are quite well camoflaged!

[ranunculus]

A close-up of Coeloglossum viride for comparison purposes ...

[Peter Maguire]

Still looks like a frog orchid, Cliff, with the flowers yet to open fully.

Lovely pictures by the way, I can see that I've a lot of catching up to do after being away/offline for three weeks, I've only quickly skimmed through so far.

[Martinr]

OK, I've been accused of being insane so I thought I'd better display some insanity. Time for some Via Ferrata. This was my first trip onto steep rock for an awful long time.

For those who don't know, Via Ferrata are rock scrambles/climbs where you don't have to find and place your own protection while climbing. The very kind Italians have protected the routes using fixed steel cables held in place with large bolts, and when it gets too steep they add bolted in ladders and sometimes things called stemples (think of a large staple stuck in the rock face).

The great things about Via Feratta are hugely reduced risk relative to traditional rock climbing and no chance of not being able to follow the route. All you need are a harness, a helmet and two karabiners attached to short lengths of rope fitted through a magic device that absorbs the energy if you do fall off. Memories of carrying lots of metal gear and 150M of rope in my youth make me very grateful for this reduced weight version of climbing.

Today was the introductory route for people who'd never done this sort of thing and those, like me, for whom it was a distant memory.

I pinched Joan's compact camera for the day. I saw lots of good flowers on the cliff but not in positions I was prepared to get the camera out! I'm not that insane.

So here we have a short sequence of pictures leading up to the climb proper, the real climb starts when you reach the ladder and put the camera away. I did pause at one point though to photograph this lovely campanula but not at the point where there was more Edelweiss in one place than I have seen before or since.

[David Nicholson]

Martin, this is sufficiently in advance of my "three steps up the ladder test" for testing for vertigo, that you qualify wonderfully for my Medal for Valour.

[Martinr]

Gosh, and it was only four steps up the ladder

[Diane Clement]

... I'd better display some insanity.
... steel cables held in place with large bolts  
... large staple stuck in the rock face
... a magic device that absorbs the energy if you do fall off  

Fantastic stuff, Martin, but I see you're hanging onto that cross.
I've never been brave enough to have a go. 

[tonyg]

I'd been wondering what to do to celebrate my 50th in a couple of years time .... don't know if I'll share the idea with the family just yet though   Better to show them the pics afterwards eh Martin?

The ladder looks like its up against a lump of tufa from the miniature gardens that one sees at shows .... only MUCH bigger

[Diane Clement]

The ladder looks like its up against a lump of tufa from the miniature gardens that one sees at shows .... only MUCH bigger    

Oh yes, so it does

[Peter Maguire]

Martin,
I'm pleased to see that in picture 5 you've clipped onto the cross at the summit, you can't be too careful. Did the divine safety device help deal with the exposed situation?

[tonyg]

Diane - that is VERY clever!