A long drive out of the alps and towards the Dolomites. They are perhaps the most distinctive mountains in Europe, rising up over the horizon like a fantastical illustration from the Lord of the Rings. The mountain tops are sharpened into points like dragon’s teeth and ridged with vertical gulleys scouring the peaks down to the tree line.

We’d scouted out a couple of roadside parking options off a route which ran high along the side of a valley.

It turned out to be an increasingly narrow, single-track lane which created some drama when we met a handful of vehicles coming the other way. But the pullout was broad, flat and quiet and we settled into it for the evening.

The next morning we set out for a hike up a Dolomite. We’d read about a spectacular walk to the “Tre Cime” (three peaks) park in Lavaredo, but the guide book warned that we would need to get there early if we wanted a place to park at the top of the hair-pinned access road.

We got there before eight to find the entire 7km access road already backed-up from top to bottom. A tiny Fiat police car came down and stopped beside us. “There is no more space for campers up there” said the young policeman with a smile and a “what-can-you-do” shrug. Luckily we were right next to a rough parking area so we pulled off and made a cup of tea. As you do. And this all turned out rather well because the walk up to the start of the famous route was a quiet trail through trees with bits of Dolomite peeking out between them.

As we got higher and steeper, the trees shrank and the mountains grew, until they were towering over us like cloaked vampires. Or something.

Eventually we reached the massive (and packed) car park which marked the start of the scenic hike. So we were not alone, but really it didn’t matter. The scenery was so overwhelming in its scale that you almost didn’t notice the hundreds of people walking through it.

As we’d already had a fairly vigorous two hour workout just to get the start of the trail we felt obliged to order what turned out to be the top-three best hot chocolates we’d ever had. Ingredients: chocolate + heat.

Suitably sugared-up we pressed onwards and upwards and my goodness the views just kept on coming.

It was hard to pick a moment to turn around and go back down – there was always one more ridge to climb up to and peer over. Eventually though we began our long descent; knees protesting, skin wind-chapped, feet tender but completely exhilarated.