Tuesday:
Up at a mostly civilized hour (6:30); Amy made a nice breakfast of scrambled eggs and toast. After breakfast we got everything packed up and divided between the backpacks and the other various things we were leaving behind, then we made our way over to Chalet Verena (Colletts main office in town) to hand over our two bags and park the car. We wound up waiting for a bit to catch the bus, "Cortina Express Fly-Bus".
The bus was comfy and not too crowded, so we enjoyed sitting back and watching the bus driver do his thing. I am in total awe of the people who drive the buses in this region -- it is really something to watch as they maneuver an enormous coach around hairpins turns and winding roads, looking out at the same time for swarms of bikers and cyclists. It's an absolute miracle that they can do it at all, when you think about it.
The bus route from Corvara to Passo Falzarego (sp?) took us down into La Villa and then back up again, maybe about a 35 in drive. Things were hopping at the Passo, fair number of hikers and bikers of various stripes. There is also a Rifugio there, as well as a sizeable cable car leading up to a neighboring peak:
We got onto the trail around 10:20am. Lots of other hikers along the same route; the temps were still quite warm. Steep uphill to Forcella Averau, including a fun scramble up through a narrow vally/canyon that with some scrambling.
Here we are starting out:
The path ahead:
... and back across the valley:
Looking directly back to Passo Falzarego:
Getting ready for a steep climb:
Coming down from Forcella Averau:
From there we hiked down to Rifugio Averau, where we had lunch (also a lift running there, quite a number of people about). Terrific weather. We had to descend a good bit from there, but eventually we made it up and over to Passagio Giau, where we took on some extra water. Lots of cyclists there as well. Fabulous views the whole way to the west of Marmolata, Sela Massif, and a peek at Sassongher every now and then.
Leaving Averau (we had to descend):
The route to Passagio Giau:
Fantastic view to the west from the trail:
Hiking down towards Giau (looking back):
View to the southeast from Passagio Gaiu:
again looking back (north) from Giau:
From Passagio Giau the crowds thinned out a good bit, which was good. We also started getting rained on a bit, just tiny sprinkles however, nothing serious. A couple of minutes into this section of the hike, we encountered a cow striking a majestic pose on a hilltop, overlooking the scene (we dubbed him the "übercow" for good measure):
Taking a break on the trail:
Celebratory chocolate having finished the steep ascent up to the pass above Passagio Giau:
At the top we encountered a pack of donkeys of all things. This guy showed up almost right away after he realized that someone was handing out chocolate:
Lengthy gentle downhill walk from there with the Ponte Lastoi de Formin cliffs on our left:
At the far end of the valley just as we were about to turn the corner to the northeast, we encountered a family with kids -- mom and dad and three very small children, toddling along the trail (cute, but kind of amazing that they were that far up in the mountains). Also a very striking looking horse, again positioned for maximal visual impact (?).
From there it was a fairly easy hike down a few more kilometers to Rifugio Croda da Lago, where we stayed the night (I think we rolled in a bit after 4:30). For some reason I didn't take any photos of the outside of the Rufugio -- I think I was just too tired at that point. They put us in a small bunkroom with six beds (no other hikers in with us, so we had our own private area, albeit somewhat cramped). We all managed to have a shower yay (although the hot water was very erratic, and we had to pay an extra three euros to get in the queue). The meals were basic but good. We discovered that there were two other groups doing the same hike that we were -- one from California (three women and two men), and a father-and-son pair from England. We chatted a bit with the English guys -- they were fun to talk with. There was also another German family of four and assorted Italian hikers / travelers.
After dinner I did my best to keep my eyes open but I was so tired I had to make my way to bed around 8:30 or so (the rest of the gang were not far behind).
Stats for the day: 15 kilometers of hiking, 1050 meters of ascent and 1135 meters of descent. A good days work.
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