July in the Dolomites

I love the Dolomites.

Lago di Braies

 This region of the Alps lies mostly within Italy since the end of WW1 though it’s culturally got more in common with Austria. The reason I love it is mostly down to its geology. The mountains are made of Dolomitic Limestone. This rock is prone to erode into fantastic pinnacles and razor ridges at the mountain heights. It produces large pinkish off-white scree fans and chutes which cut through dark green coniferous trees as they tumble to the valley bottoms.

Croda Fiscaline and Cima Una

The mountains are not as high as some other areas of the alps with the higher massifs topping out just above 300m asl but this enhances their scenic qualities – the mountains are near, not impossibly distant as sometimes mountains appear above Chamonix or Zermatt.

Croda Rossa from Prato Piazza

And then there’s the flowers. The soil is full of nutrients. It appears sometimes to be alkaline and sometimes acid and supports a fantastic variety of wildflowers and insects.

Martagon Lily

Fire Lily

In June/July, when I was leading some hiking tours these flowers are at their magnificent best.