Col Bechei and back down (South Tyrol day 4)

Our goal for day 4: hiking to the top of Col Bechei, the peak continuing upward from the Fanes Hütte. The hike began just opposite the wooden Ladinische space explorer. In theory, there is a lovely glacial lake, Lago di Limo, beneath the peak. In practice, after several years of drought, the lake is disturbingly low. The morning began with clouds and a drizzle (this photo was taken on the way down, after the clouds had cleared).

We hiked up (see, clouds and drizzle)...

...and up...

...and up some more, until E and I decided we were done hiking up, and wanted to just sit--or lie--and enjoy the view.

S hiked to the top without us, an additional 45 minutes or so, round trip...

...that I easily filled by taking photos and watching the ever-shifting balance between clouds and light.

The mountain air was cool and breezy. Bugs were moving so slowly that E could almost pluck them out of the air. On Col Bechei, he spent a good fifteen minutes bonding with a fly he named Steve. Here's an accidental photo in which I captured a slow-moving mosquito so large that it had its own contrail:

Glacier-covered Marmolada stood in the distance.

Look, another slow-moving bug. This hoverfly hung out with me for quite some time, while Steve and E were deep in conversation.

We're guessing this is dolomite.

A 360^o summary of the view:

Once S returned to us, it was a relatively quick hop, skip, and jump back down to the Fanes Hütte, where we picked up our things and headed back down into the Rautal. For S, it was a quick ride. E and I took the road back down, rather than the trail, and enjoyed some new views.

Valley cows:

Col Bechei offered wildflowers we hadn't seen yet:

Schusternagel--cobbler's nails!--a variety of gentian

Click to enlarge, to see the curly tips--Teufelskralle--Devil's claw--Phyteuma orbiculare

Driving back to Gchliererhof, we pulled off the road for another view of photogenic Enneberg/Mareo/Marebbe.