Cisles-Höhenweg: Mount Seceda, Fermeda towers and the PieraLongiaAlm, National Park Puez-Odle (Die Geisler-Odel Gruppe)

"Flames frozen in stone."

I have wanted to come to this exact spot since my parents told me about the Dolomites when I was a kid.  And my cousins talked about Südtirol for years.  And I'd seen photos.  And I had sent my friends here. I don't know why it took so long, but better late than never.

Some terms you should know concerning hiking in the Alps:
Alm is the German term for alpine meadow.  (Alpine refers to higher elevation mountainous, a term that originated in the Alps.)
Schutzhütte, or "shelter hut"(malga in Italian) - Almhütten (meadow shelter huts) are situated within an hour or two from each other all over the Dolomites and the Alps. They are also called Berghütten (mountain huts). Some of these just serve a cold menu (which always includes coffee, beer, and at least some kind of cake), some are like full on restaurants with rib sticking meals available from extensive menus, and some are little hotels, or rifugios, where hikers and mountaineers can rest their weary feet for the night without exiting the mountains. You can essentially backpack for days - without the big heavy backpack and tent.

You will see many pics of Almhütten in the blogs of our hikes in Südtirol, so now you know the terms.

Up the Secede gondola out of Sankt Ulrich (Ortesei) and along the Cisles-Höhenweg at the top of Col Raiser, the views were immense, magical, unreal.

The images of course do not do our experience here justice, but they are still really nice!  Look for a royal blue clad Julian in most of the pictures, sometimes just a tiny smudge in the vast green landscape. The dimensions of great contrast, high jagged peaks vs deep lush valleys, give the brain a new perspective on existing on this planet.

Here is a preview of the hike:

Peiralongia Alm - a natural rock garden.

Where's Julian?

There was a lovely, rustic Malga PieraLongia situated next to a whimsical natural rock garden.

Here Julian discovered the most delicious cake EVER:

Also known as Schwarzplententorte. We ordered a second piece.

Recipe for this gluten free (!) deliciousness HERE.

Südtiroler Bier: FORST sparkels in the sun. YUM!

When we first went past the Malga, there were a few odd and end folks quietly drinking their Forsts. We came back later and the place was overrun by loud, possibly drunk (or just tired?) cyclists.

Dude! No!
No, no!

The Pieralongia Alm, situated below the Fermeda Peak of the Geissler-Odel group, was
j u s t   p l a i n   b e a u t i f u l. Unbelievably spectacular. Singular. Dreamy. Heavenly.

To see some dramatic shots by others of then Odel-Geisler Gruppe click HERE. Totally worth a moment of your time.

If you want to read more about the history of the Südtirol region and the amazing Dolomites UNESCO World Heritage Site, click HERE for starters.

This was the second of six hikes we were able to do in the Dolomites (the first being the Tschiamintal with Messner).  Stay tuned for four more. And then on to Venice!

I do not have the time nor the patience to sort through and choose the best photos from this hike, since they are all pretty much amazing.  So to see more of our experience, and get yourself motivated to get over to the Dolomites, see the full slide show on Flickr (not even in any order, but still great to view). Click the following link:

Forcella Pana / Odel-Geisler Gruppe Hike