Strange to us, but also kind of neat, is the fact that you can take a cable car to pretty much any peak in the Dolomites.  There are systems of chair lifts and gondolas that bring you to the top (sometimes all the way to the tippy top of tiny peaks you would never imagine you could go to), or start you out on your hike close to the top.  You also pass by on your hikes in the mountains, or walk to as a destination, rifugios (guest houses where you can eat and sleep) and restaurants.  For this particular hike, we parked and took a bus up a pass, then walked miles one way across a ridge, ending at a cable car that took us down to the town right where our car was parked.  Amazing! On the hike we passed by a restaurant with a lot of people.  It’s so weird to be exhausted from hiking, then come across a restaurant full of people who haven’t hiked at all to get there!  But at the same time it is neat to be at a restaurant with others who have been hiking, or to get a snack or hot cocoa, and relax with an amazing view.  It means that while these mountains are quite developed and seem to be mainly for those who can afford to pay the hefty sum for the ride up, it is also accessible to older people, children, and those with mobility issues.

Anyway, it meant we could walk among the mountain tops and get a ride back to our car!