Lago Di Braies has been at the top of my list of bodies of water to see for the better part of a decade, now...right up there with the incredible lakes of the Canadian Rockies. I've ogled it's little canoe-housing cabin and dock and mirror-like surface a little extra lately, so even though we were pretty flexible with our plans, I wasn't willing to compromise on that one.
We exited the highway and wound through several little towns on narrow mountain-roads through the woods until we saw the sign for the lake, and ended up with a parking lot much to ourselves and nothing but the lake's motel between us and it's waters. I'd tried to reserve a room at that very motel about 4 months ago was told that no rooms were available because of a Tango Festival that was being held in the area, so I was anticipating a madhouse with people everywhere and no parking in sight. We got there at about 6 pm and watched as a few massive tour buses loaded up and pulled out, and were left with only a few lonesome cars parked here and there was the faint smell of pine and total silence as we approached the walkway. Then my eyes beheld the loveliest sight:
As the sun went down, the lake became more and more of a deep emerald green and it was breathtaking. It was still in the 60's and what looked like rain on the horizon was staying put, so we ended up climbing over a construction barricade and hiked all the way around the lake. Eventually, we had it all to ourselves and we hung out there until it got dark. Brian and I agreed that it was so satisfying, even if we didn't see a single other thing on my list, we'd be content.
