Day 4: Dolomites Hut-to-Hut

I think wine is like caffeine for my brain. Sleep again refused to come and all too sudden the rocky slopes were blazing brightly through our one bunk room window. But through the night it stayed warm and comfy and whose to complain in a place like this? We dressed and went down for breakfast at 7, a basket of bread, a plate of toppings (butter, Nutella, honey, and jam), and unlimited coffee. I ate a lot of bread and drank all the coffee I could in an effort to stimulate an early morning bowel movement. And we had them make sandwiches to go because today we were on our own, with nowhere to stop on the way.

Paying our bill for the evenings wine, bottled water, and todays sandwiches, we headed upstairs to finish packing for the day. Both of us were sore and took time to stretch in the narrow bunk room. The coffee worked and we were about ready to go at 8:15. The morning's hike descended the 403 trail through the shadow of the mountains on either side of the Rifugio, making for a cold start with pants, puffy jackets, hats, and gloves for Sarah. The sky was clear and just a few puffs floated high above.

Descent FOR EVVVVVVEEERRRRRR. Loose rock, winding switchbacks weaving through massive choss boulders, crossing over remnant snow patches, past piles of 100+ year old WWI rusted barbed wire and and tin cans and soldier's rock shelters... went on down and down. The view into the Val de below was stunning as we mindlessly, carefully navigating down the trail as it wound through the scree, eventually traversing along a narrow shoulder of loose switchbacks down into the brush, past the loud waterfall draining the snow patches we'd just descended past, into the trees, and finally to the wide, glacier-cut river bottom. Here, a little more than 2 hours after starting, we stopped for a snack and knee break.

Up to this point we'd only seen 1 other person, who'd carefully descended with us on the loose shoulder. After we hopped over the braided channels of the river a group of 3 silly trail runners came walking past, coming from further down the valley. They ran for like 200 feet past us and then just kept walking... silly. Turning southwest, we began our long hike up the valley, following the river bed at first and then traversing the side of the valley, gently at first through the trees, with water flowing down the trails that overflowed the nearby streams. Slowly climbing up the valley up the 401, we passed the tiny hut Cason de Travenzanzes and enjoyed the natural spring. As we made our way up the gently slopes trail we wondered out loud 1)are monarch butterflies only in the Americas? 2)Why aren't the chipmunks? And 3) are there predators here? After another hour of hiking, just below the treeline, we stopped and rested, ate our sandwiches (speck = prosciutto and it tastes better here), and stretched. Watching the clouds, we noticed they were getting thicker and more prevalent, but the valley's tall walls seemed to be keeping them away from us.

Now the real climbing started as we emerged out of the trees into the open highs of the valley. We both were feeling our legs today as we the trail climbed quickly. We rested often. Even caught 2 ibex in the distance scrambling across a rocky ridge. Progress was slow, but the air cool even with the sun beating down on us.

Up and up we went, seemingly forever, as the slope prevented us from seeing too far into the distance and where the trail went. We eventually crest a rise and joined with the 402 trail, which was busy with people descending from our eventual goal, Rifugio Lagazuoi. But it was clear from the clothing and lack of packs most of them had taken the gondola lift up. And from here we had our first sighting of the Rifugio... so close looking yet so far away. We rested our feet and loaded our pockets with hard candies for the next push.

After about 2 more hours hiking, up and up, with a solid and slow face-punch of steep switchbacks at the end, we finally are it to our highest point of the trip at Rif. Lagazuoi. The view is absolutely amazing, with near 360 degrees of the Dolomites visible.

We checked into the rifugio, got our assignment in Bunk Room 1, and both happily took our shoes off in the dedicated shoe drying room. This place is slightly fancier than the last for sure! Sarah showered and I had a beer on the porch overlooking the world, enjoying the freedom of shoeless feet.

Once Sarah met me and we were both feeling a bit rested and grounded, I grabbed my harness, helmet, headlamp, and via feratta equipment and went exploring in the old WWI tunnels below the Rifugio. The tunnels just kept spiraling down, and I did not go forever because I knew I'd have to go back up. Up burned in my thighs.

Returning topside, I found Sarah in the bunk room, which was now filled completely. All following the same Mont Trekking itinerary we're Bob and Barb from Colorado and Geoff and Jeanette from New Zealand. We chatted as I changed into less smelly clothing, and all spent some time resting before dinner. Initially, I was a bit nervous about sharing the narrow room with a bunch of others, but time would show it wouldn't be an issue.

Come dinner, we climbed the stairs to the main floor and found the table with our names, and the rest of our bunk mates. The three course dinner was wonderful, with noodles or soup to start, a meat to follow, and dessert. All the while, as wine flowed quite liberally amongst our bunk mates, the conversation didn't stop for hours. Our bunk mates were old enough to be our parents, but that didn't matter, and given that they'd spent the last few days together I think they enjoyed adding a new variable to the mix. Jeanette from New Zealand is a retired high school chemistry teacher and Bob from Colorado a physics professor from UC-Fort Collins who is on 6 month sabbatical working with researchers in Italy and Switzerland and his wife Barb took a leave from work to join him. Bob, Jeanette, and I nerded out about teaching for quite awhile- and I don't think Sarah even minded (because wine). Interestingly, Bob has done a ton of work with the particle physics projects in MN, and despite the level of physics that he exists at, it was cool to share that connection as we discussed the different detectors I've visited with students in northern MN. Through it all, Barb and Geoff stirred the pot and added hilarious commentary. What was fantastic was finding these other wonderful people who shared a similar preference for travel, not too many people, keep it outside, do the hard things. And to be still doing it at their age... nearing 70, is pretty amazing. I told Jeanette that Sarah and I both aspired to be still doing cool stuff like they are.

As the conversation flowed, so did the clouds, swallowing the mountaintop hut completely. No famous sunset to be had tonight. Around 9:30 we all started prepping for bed, and lights flicked off not much before 10.