Cortina

Cortina d'Ampezzo is a ski town about 2 hours north of our house.  It's an amazing place, with huge mountains that tower above the town.  We made our first trip in early spring, just after most of the snow melted off.

The ski jump behind Chance is leftover from the 1956 Olympic Games in Cortina.

The biggest anthill any of us have ever seen.

This photo shows part of the hike we did.  We came in on the upper trail from the left and hiked behind the waterfall then dropped down into the canyon via a fixed ladder, then climbed back out to the point where I took this photo.

Cassy behind the falls

The Italian Alpine Club maintains thousands of miles of trails in Italy and they're all marked clearly with this red and white symbol.  Many times the trail number is also painted over the symbol.  Combine the great markings with good maps that are sold in every town and it makes for an easy way to go out for the day without wandering aimlessly in the mountains.

Cassy descends the via ferrata (iron path).  This is a very mellow section...some via ferratas are super exposed and require a bit of gear for protection.