Josef and Bernadette Lunger put heart and soul into looking after their hiking guests, who always look forward to stopping off here.
On the Monte Cavone The Monte Cavone Hut between Fiè allo Sciliar and Tires al Catinaccio has been run by the same family for three generations. It is one of the many spots shrouded in myth and legend in the Alpe di Siusi holiday area, and is a wonderful destination for a day out.
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Text: Katja Sanin Photo: Helmuth Rier
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Between a land and its people, there is a mysterious affinity, an unseen link that breathes life into the legends and sagas which mankind has told since time immemorial. Their origins are a mystery, and it is fascinating to see how the demons of nature and the sense of being at their mercy have worked their way into our consciousness as friendly and helpful – or wicked – witches, mountain maidens, fiends or dwarves. At the Monte Cavone, legend tells of a “Good Old Man”, who would remind the farmers of the area, in no uncertain terms, when it was time to start ploughing the fields. In this particular legend, we can see the shadow of a benevolent, pre-Christian god of fertility to whom the farming population would offer prayers and
sacrifices. Who knows if this was the same “Good Old Man” who whispered down to where Josef Lunger stood, at these heights of 1,737m, calling him to plant a herb garden? Josef and his wife Bernadette run the hut together with their two sons Michael and Georg, just as Josef did before them together with his own parents, Michael and Josefa. During the summer, all three generations worked together over the years until autumn 2015, when Michl Prentner, as Josef’s father was known locally, passed away and his wife, known as Seffa, who had spent the last few years with him in the valley, handed the kitchen sceptre to her daughter-in-law Bernadette. And now, slowly but surely, the third generation is taking the reins. »
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Fresh and prepared with love: The climb up to the Monte Cavone is well-rewarded with all manner of tasty delicacies.
History and family history. The Völsegg peak above the Monte Cavone is known as the “Sacred Mountain” and, although the facts remain unconfirmed, it is believed that it was at one point a sacrificial site. Günther Niederwanger, archaeologist specialising in the Mesolithic (Middle Stone Age, around 9600 to 4500 B.C.) in the Dolomite region, unearthed several finds here; the most noteworthy discoveries of the 1980’s excavations included an arrowhead and some decorated shards. Most probably, when Stone-Age herders took the goats or sheep up to the mountains in early summer and brought them back down in autumn, they would have offered a part of their flocks, crops or fruit to a deity. The Monte Cavone has always been a favoured pasture. “It doesn’t happen anymore, but in the past around 250 sheep would graze at the Monte Cavone in May. Even as far back as 1900, there was a hut for woodworkers and shepherds,” recalls Josefa Lunger. A number of families from Tires al Catinaccio lived at the Monte Cavone off and on until the start of the 1950’s when the Lunger family exchanged a grazing pasture of the Messner Farm with the Municipality of Tires, and the Monte Cavone passed into the hands of their family. Michl and Josefa first began running it in summer 1955. For the first three years they carried everything up on their own backs, and then with the help of a mule. In Easter 1965, Michael Lunger and his wife drove to the Monte Cavone for the first time in an off-road Steyr-Puch Haflinger.
The family have opted to keep the five rooms of the Monte Cavone simple in style, and to this day they are lit by candle and furnished with washbasins in place of lightbulbs and taps. “We got running water at the Monte Cavone Hut for the first time on the 17th July 1970,” says Josefa Lunger. With the boom in tourism in the Dolomite region in the 70’s, there were plans for a chairlift from Bagni di Lavina Bianca up to the Monte Cavone, but Michl Prentner argued against the proposal. Fortunately, in hindsight; Hosts aside, even today the Monte Cavone can only be accessed on foot, and when you arrive in this idyllic spot surrounded by larch woods at the end of your walk you can relax in utter peace as you enjoy the spectacular views over the Catinaccio. At One with Nature. It seems as though time stands still at the Monte Cavone, in this rustic world where life moves at a slower pace. The hut is unassuming in style: orders are taken down on a notepad and everything, down to the house speciality of nettle omelette, is cooked in a wood-fired oven. Josef and Bernadette live a lifestyle of bygone days, in times when hunters and foragers would roam and forage in search of wood, mushrooms and berries. Once the guests have been fed and watered, Bernadette enjoys heading out with her husband in search of wild herbs and fresh berries. In the kitchen, she and their son Michl create mouth-watering »
Hiking trails to the Monte Cavone From the Bagni di Lavina Bianca to the Monte Cavone Mountain Hut and the Völsegg Summit Take trail 4A from Bagni di Lavina Bianca to the Wuhnleger Lake and further on to the Monte Cavone Hut. Trail will lead you from the hut to the Völsegg Summit. Walking time: Around 1.5 hours Difficulty level: Easy From the Laghetto di Fiè Lake to the Monte Cavone Hut Take trail 1 from the Laghetto di Fiè Lake towards the Tuff Hut and the Hofer Hut, and then follow trails 7 and 7B to the Monte Cavone Hut. Walking time: Around 3,5 hours Difficulty level: Medium Loop trail to the Monte Cavone with start at Schönblick Restaurant Take trail 6 from Schönblick Restaurant to Völsegg and then follow trail 4B to the Wuhnleger Lake, where trails 4 and 4A will lead you to the Monte Cavone. The return trip follows trails 4 and 7A to the Schönblick Restaurant. Walking time: Around 3 hours Difficulty level: Medium
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dishes using everything that nature and the herb and vegetable garden provide. In the evenings, everybody sits down together to sort and wash the berries, make jam, and clean the mushrooms, nettles and goosefoot for the following day. There is a clear division of labour here at the Monte Cavone: Bernadette is the chef in the kitchen, Josef works the garden, Michael makes the desserts and Georg and his
The house speciality: nettle omelette.
wife Barbara take care of the guests. “The Monte Cavone is open to the public from Easter to AllSaints,” says Josef, as he shows me the tiny radish seeds which he harvests from the plants in autumn, dries and sorts together with Bernadette in winter, and replants in the vegetable garden in spring, along with lettuce, cress, arugula, sorrel, beetroot, leeks, celery, Swiss chard and parsley. The garden behind the house is a feast for the eyes, not to mention Josef’s pride and joy. Every morning, he spends two hours watering the plants after milking the cows for the Monte Cavone butter and curd cheese; up here, even the Speck and Kaminwurst (dried, smoked sausage) are salted and cured by the Lunger family over Christmas.
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Hiking Tips. You can get to the Monte Cavone from the Fiè side and from the Tires side: From the Laghetto di Fiè Lake, the 3.5 hour walk takes you past the Tuff Hut and the Hofer Hut below the Croda del Maglio along trails 7 and 7B. From the Bagni di Lavina Bianca, passing the Wuhnleger, it takes 1.5 hours. In the small Wuhnleger Lake, the Catinaccio Peaks and the Vajolet Towers are mirrored. From here, you can choose between the steep forest road and the somewhat less steep walking trail. The walking trail is slightly longer, but the countryside is more beautiful and you can always find a pleasant spot to stop off for a break en-route, with spectacular views over the surrounding mountains and the Tires Valley. Setting of from the Schönblick Restaurant, a beautiful loop-trail (around 3 hours) will take you past Völsegg and the Wuhnleger Lake up to the Monte Cavone. The most difficult of all the routes to the Monte Cavone is a 5.5 hour uphill walk and 1 hour downhill, crossing the Croda del Maglio ridge. The set-off point for this walk is the car park at the Bagni di Lavina Bianca near Tires. The ascent takes you up through the steep Gola dell’Orsara to the Sella del Cavaccio (2,070m) on trail no. 2. When you’re on the ridge, sure-footedness and a head for heights are an absolute must. Then follow trail no. 9 in the direction of Croda del Maglio–Monte Cavone. The varied climb, boasting incredible views and secured with steel cables, leads partly in front of and partly behind the mountain peaks of the Cima di Mezzodì, Monte Nicola and the Croda del Maglio towards the Monte Cavone Hut. For untiring mountain climbers, a 20-minute hike also leads from the hut to the nearby Völsegg Peak (1,834m). The peak consists of two rock spurs, where you can admire the far-reaching views over the Brenta, the glaciers of the Adamello, the Ortler Massif, the Venosta Alps, the Breonie Alps, the Catinaccio, the Latemar, the Corno Nero and the Corno Bianco Mountains. The summit cross was removed by the Alpine Volunteers of Tires and Aica di Fiè and works on the foundations began. In early 1997, 15 people lugged 1,200 kilos of cement, 200 litres of water and iron poles up from the Monte Cavone Hut to the Völsegg Peak, where the new summit cross, made from larch and donated by the town of Tires, was erected. Unfortunately, it did not remain there for long: It was destroyed by a storm shortly afterwards, and was replaced in 2003. «