8 Col di Prà (843 m a.s.l.) - The North Edge of Agnèr

"... the grandiose architecture of the Dolomites surges with terrible force - looking form the bottom of the valley, one has to twist one's head upwards in order to take it all in. Monte Agnèr looms with its peak of a kilometre and a half; in front and beyond the more modest but by no means less charming stream are the walls of Pale di San Lucano. Less than 2900 metres high, the peak itself doesn't amount to much in terms of height. But what other Alpine cathedral can boast such apse? When it blazes in the setting sun and the pale clouds begin to engulf it slowly, one is charmed into believing that such sight could not possibly exist."

Dino Buzzati, Cordata di tre (A Roped Team of Three), in “Corriere della Sera”, June 23, 1956.

13 Pian della Stua (1373 m a.s.l.) - The transition from cliff to basin

Pian della Stua's ravaged landscape suggests that we stand on the debris of an ancient landslide, now completely covered by vegetation. The plants thrived thanks to the abundant volcanic material which are more fertile than the dolomite.

Val di Reiane is the northern slope composed of igneous rocks (andesite and reshaped pillow lava). It is streaked with gorges trending along ancient Triassic faults. The valley floor was carved in the predominantly thinly-layered limestones of the Livinallongo Formation, which are partly covered by scree and landslide particles; the alternation of layers of different erodibility has led to the creation of several waterfalls.  The valley’s southern flank is entirely carved from Schlern Dolomite and corresponds to the reef escarpment of Pale del Balcon.

Casera Pian della Stua, in the background the cliff escarpment of the Pala-Group, with Sass Negher (photo DG).

14 Casera Campigat (1801 m a.s.l.) - The cliff escarpment

Despite its rudimentary equipment, the hut (1801 metres above sea level) can provide the visitor with sufficient shelter in case of need. In the surroundings of Casera Campigat (Sass Negher, Campo Boaro, Val delle Camorze, Coston della Vena) there emerge igneous rocks (pillow lava) allowing us to observe directly their coming into contact with dolomite rocks. This is an area that abounds in various minerals quartz, analcime, heulandite, chalcedony and even native copper.

The Pass Cesurette and Casera Campigat, beyond the ridge the village of Garès appears; the twisting military road can be seen cresting towards the dairy; the path proceeds following the ridge to the right. In the foreground to the left can be identified the tectonic contact of the right transcurrent fault between the light-coloured rocks of the cliff escarpment and the dark-coloured reshaped pillow lava (photo Lucio D'Alberto).

15 Casera ai Doff (1878 m a.s.l.) - The Marmolada Conglomerate

A view from the path towards mountain pass Caoz and onte. Caoz (Monte Fernazza Formation), Lastei di Pape and Casera ai Doff (photo DG).

The visitor is offered a spectacular view over the Agnèr chain and the enormous glacier cirque of Val d’Angheràz from the mountain pass Caoz (1944). The tectonic impact in the shaping of the local landscape is obvious - the ravines etched into the transcurrent faults with their vertical fault planes along the ridge from Spiz d'Agnèr to Croda Granda.

16 Malgonera (approximately 1700 m a.s.l.) - Pillow Lavas

A stunning outcrop is visible from Malgonera along the CAI path Nr. 762, at an altitude of approx. 1700 metres above sea-level - a block of calcareous, thinly-layered strata of the Livinallongo Formation, covered by a stunning sequence of pillow lava, several hundred metres high. The outcrop highlights the relationship between volcanic activity and sedimentation.

Malga Malgonera with the cushion lava wall in the background. Above Monte Caoz carved in the Monte Fernazza Formation

17 Val Grande (1340 m a.s.l.) - Malgonera's laccolith rocks

The CAI path Nr. 762 descends from Malgonera towards Pont crossing what used to be the state-owned forest of Malgonera prior to the storm Vaia, and cuts through Val Grande. Val Grande offers the possibility to discover quite rare intrusive igneous rocks, such as pyroxenite, gabbro, monzonite and syenite.  Pyroxenite is a dark-coloured rock that is very poor in silica (ultrabasic rocks), and is mainly composed of black prismatic augite pyroxenite (black prismatic) and tiny green olivine crystals. Gabbro composed in similar quantities of prismatic augite pyroxenite (black prismatic) and plagioclase with light grey in colour and glassy appearance.

Val Grande, outcrop of pyroxenites, dark-colored ultra-basic intrusive rocks (photo DG