The Dolomites. Day 2

Where day one was mean, day two was sadistic. It started off fine; we knew the weather wasn’t going to be great, we knew our boots wouldn’t be dry, we knew it would be a challenging day with over 17km and more than 1500m of elevation gain. These were the things we knew. What we didn’t know is how this day would test us.

We began the day as dry as we could. On the trail, it’s advisable to pack as light as possible, so much of what we wore was still damp from the previous day, but at least when we started it wasn’t raining. By the time the rain really kicked in we were just a few minutes away from Rifugio Fannes. It was around 11:00 am, the kitchen was not yet open, but we could still get a cappuccino and wait the half hour until it was. We had a great lunch, put our packs back on and headed out.

Pay attention to that gap right there, because that gap is this peak right here.

A bit of an incline, and as we approached that point the rain and wind began to pick up. But we were geared up, and nothing could be worse than yesterday.

Carmen made easy work of this stretch, and waited for Rafer and myself to meet her. As we climbed, the wind got even stronger and the trail steeper. I was beginning to feel the previous 14km along with the almost 1000m of incline. The fatigue in my legs making the peak feel like it was getting further away. I took several breaks, all the while, Carmen waited. Once I was within earshot, Carmen called down to me saying she was going to go ahead – it was too cold and windy to wait. I waved her on.

Once I made it to the top, I finally saw what was next. The steep descent to Lago Lagazuoi.

Every YouTube video I watched showed this point along the trail, every single one of those videos showed numerous hikers navigating the infinite switchbacks under sunny skies dappled with puffy white clouds. For months I dreamt of reaching this place, hiking down and swimming in that beautiful alpine lake. Instead I was met with sheeting rain and wind blowing up the slope  so strong, it pushed me back from the edge. When I looked over, I saw Carmen’s backpack disappear around a corner. And I wouldn’t see her again until she reached the bottom.

I didn’t take any more pictures, visibility became worse, photos were pointless. We slowly worked our way down, again Carmen waited. When I turned off the last knee crushing switchback and returned to level ground, I found Carmen sitting under a tree trying to get a little bit of shelter from the wind and rain. While she waited, she called ahead to the next Rifugio to let them know where we were and that we were still coming. If she didn’t do that, we ran the risk of losing our reservation. The guy on the other end told her that we were at least 2 hours away. He was wrong.

At around the same time I reached Carmen, we heard our first crack of thunder. I told her not to wait, to get to the Rifugio as quickly as she could. She didn’t hesitate. I waited a couple of minutes for Rafer to catch up, and we moved on.

I’m recounting these events a few days removed from them, and at right about this point my memory is a bit spotty. I was exhausted, hungry, wet and cold and still had 2km and 400m of ascent. I could see the Rifugio from where I was, it didn’t seem so far away, but the path there wasn’t the most direct.

The thunder continued, but got further away. The wind, however, did not relent. We slowly climbed the path towards our home for the night. Several times, I lost the trail because I either missed a marker or there was none at all. Visibility was poor, and the fatigue was extreme.

I reached the final climb before Rafer, checking periodically to make sure he was behind me. The trail up wasn’t obvious at first, but I finally found the switchbacks that ran along the Lagazuoi tunnels, relics left behind by Italian soldiers from WWI. Their black openings yawning into the wind and the grey, promising shelter but nothing else. I plodded on, drained.

Eventually I had the Rifugio in sight. The path turned from gravel to steel to wood. I was done. I entered the Rifugio cold, wet, and starving. With no idea how far behind Rafer was. Carmen greeted me with a shower token and showed me our dorm. The shower token gave me 25 liters of hot water. Three minutes I’ll never forget.

Eventually Rafer showed up, we ate dinner, had some beer and went to bed. Day 2 was finally done.