Today was supposed to be a rainy day. Big surprise in the morning when there was sun and some blue skies visible. Still the afternoon was going to be wet and thunderstorms would be very likely. I managed to leave at 8:00am and later I was so glad I did!
The first 2km went along a gravel road then across Alm meadows.
After reaching Passo Duran it continued for 2km on the road which was not very pleasant as there was quite some traffic coming up, lots of motorbikes. Then I reached a hiking parking lot and from there a steep hill through the forest.
As I came over the ridge the cowbells suddenly disappeared and there was complete silence. A huge tree had fallen over the small path and my backpack went under and I over!
Then more forest, downhill and uphill, lots of mushrooms, no people at all. Total Dolomite wilderness. All the time I felt that the 3 hikers heading my way today would appear and pass me but I never saw them.
And then a never ending variation of mostly low growing mountain pine forests but also some bigger treed areas with spruce and larch trees and one rock field after the other. I actually lost count of them.
And also another terrifying stretch, short but very narrow and very steep down on the right. Couldn’t believe how long this continued, after the first rockslide area there was another one and another one, and …..
Until I came all around the mountains to the other side! Forest again, passed the Malga (Alm) Mochesin which is no longer operating but offering an emergency shelter.
And then higher up and actually ended up on the other side of the mountain where I crossed earlier through all these rockslides.
There were military ruins built during WWI and it started to get really dark in the sky now.
It had been drizzling a bit before but it looked like there would be more rain soon. 2 signs stating either 30 or 40 minutes to Sommariva Pramperet, you pick!
And after about 20 minutes the rain started, slowly but I could tell it was going to become a typical mountain downpour. What was worse was the thunder that seemed to be getting closer. Tried to remember what to do! Get down, sit on your backpack in a hollow space and wait. Also get rid of your electronics and metal items, put them far away and wait. I might have to wait all night!!!!
So I pushed on across over semi exposed areas, racing, running, not even taking the time to put my raincoat on. I just had to get to the Rifugio!
I arrived soaking wet. No one really concerned about my miserable state and I was not the only one that had that experience. I was shown to my bunk room and immediately recognized my last room mates’ equipment. At least one comfortable sign. The beds had no pillows or blankets (because of Covid), no heat and both our stuff spread out to dry was making it impossible to do just that. And then it really started to rain!
The couple from the UK arrived about 45min later and they had a reservation for the wrong day, so initially they put them into our room. Luckily quite a few hikers didn’t show up because of the rain and they moved them to a different room after dinner.
Some hikers from Ireland were even turned away after almost getting hit by lightning on a ridge and we found out way later there would have been an emergency shelter as well but the people in charge just didn’t care and sent them down the valley for an additional 3 hour hike in the pooring rain, with it getting dark already.
In the end we ended up in our same 3 girls setup as the night before. 😊
Dinner was simple and inexpensive but we were all grateful to have shelter. The highlight of the evening was the wood stove. It finally almost dried our clothes,
And there was torrential rains and thunderstorms all night.
Following this great adventure, Sibylle!