MARCO'S STORIES - Four days walking in the Dolomites - Day 3: These shepherds are crazy…

Here we are on the third day of the tour.

The day is wonderful. While I have breakfast a helicopter brings the food to the shelter. There is no other way to come here with a load. There are no roads, there isn't a cable car. Just walk, with your rucksack.

I start climbing and, arrived on the saddle, I turn back and see the refuge and the small lake. Really beautiful.

I cross the saddle and in front of me I have a charming valley.

Even this valley is isolated. If possible, even more isolated than the valley where I was yesterday. But it is more welcoming: a large basin full of streams and ponds.

I walk and walk for hours without meeting anyone.  Only a few sheep. Then, suddenly, under me, I see a group of three or four people. They're down, lower than me, under a huge boulder. Maybe they are doing my same path, I think, and they are resting for a while. I am heartened to know that I am not alone.

I get down for half an hour and reach them. Three shepherds came for fun and have lunch up here. I find it curious and I imagine the scene of the shepherds who organize the trip …

"Hi Walter, what do you think about having a rest tomorrow?"

"Thanks Klaus, but I can't. Tomorrow I have to work."

"Do you work? ... And what do you have to do?"

"What do I have to do? I have to do what I do every day: I get on the pasture, at 2000 meters, I check my sheeps, step two or three hours there and then I come back to the village."

"Are you coming back for lunch?"

"Naa...! I bring with me a piece of bacon, a piece of cheese, I sit under a huge boulder and I have my lunch there."

"All right, then. ...the same that I also do every day."

"However, if you want, we can organize for the day after tomorrow. It's holiday..."

"Great! I also do not work tomorrow. What would you like to do?"

"Well, we could go to the mountain, walking on stony ground. We climb 2000 meters and ...Who would be happiest then us?"

"Magic! And... what do you think... Do we bring food with us?"

"Of course we do! And... do you know what do we bring with us? A piece of bacon and a piece of cheese! It's genial, isn't it?"

"What a great idea!! But... How come that you have them?!"

"Yeah, we arrive on, we rest to a rock and we eat. And after a couple of hours we come back."

"Wonderful! ...We need these days, otherwise the work routines kills us”.

I keep walking, laughing with myself.

I am at the end of today's walk. And I taste the most delicious bacon I've ever eaten in the last thirty years now. In a shepherd's hut.

In the distance, I see the refuge. Soon I'll be there. Today also, it was a beautiful day.

I'll be very happy to provide details about the tour: maps, huts address, paths, photos, telephones, costs,... to anyone interested.

Previous episodes:

https://steemit.com/travel/@marcodobrovich/marco-s-stories-four-days-walking-in-the-dolomites-day-1-a-matter-of-style

https://steemit.com/travel/@marcodobrovich/marco-s-stories-four-days-walking-in-the-dolomites-day-2-i-m-not-afraid