August 30 – September 5, 2026
Day 14: Sunday, August 30… Work smarter not harder. I heard that somewhere. We smartly booked a night in the Hotel Costabella in San Pelligrino. Luxury! It was so nice it was almost embarassing. It even had a spa and hot tub. Since it was apparently “clothing not allowed”, we passed. All but one rifugio/hotel for this trip is “half-board”, which means dinner and breakfast are included in the (eye watering) price of the room. Costabella was on a different level. We reveled in flavors heretofore unexplored. The quantity and quality of both dinner and breakfast left us well fueled for a big day.
We also smartly jumped on a gondola to save 1,000 feet of climbing. It made sense given that our goal for the day was Rifugio Mulaz, one of the more remote places along the AV2. Early on we wandered through alpine meadows. By afternoon we left vegetation behind and entered a world of rock and scree. Every ridge we topped revealed another higher still. Words cannot express our joy at reaching our goal. Hard to imagine a more stunning setting.
We were assigned tables for dinner and breakfast. We met Missy, a nurse from Eagle, Colorado. Naturally, half way around the world in one of the most remote huts in the Dolomites, we find we have a mutual friend. Missy works with a very good friend of our son and daughter-in-law, and ours as well. Small world indeed. Missy and her friend Robin, a Seattle couple, a British couple, Sharon and I had lively conversation that lasted long after our palty dinner. Side note: from all the Colorado people (12+ so far) out here, is anyone left in CO?
Also hard to imagine a less comfortable setting. We were assigned bunks in what became known as the “sardine room”. All eleven bunks were physically touching, which meant I slept closer to a stranger than I normally do with Sharon in our queen bed. The symphony of snores was spectacular. We had the “grumpy grizzley bear growl” snore. The steady “auto rumble strip” snore. Across the room someone added a higher pitched “revving crotch rocket motorcycle” snore. And according to my lovely bride, I added to the harmony with my heavy breathing.
Day 15: Monday, August 31…
In our home mountains, we generally cover a mile uphill in 20-30 minutes, maybe 45 if it is really steep. Our first mile today took us two hours of blood, sweat and tears – literally. Straight up, straight down then a traverse to a hell-spawned scree and boulder slope. This led to a via ferrata section on both sides of a pass extreme enough to bring Sharon to tears. That was the first mile.
It became less death defying as the day wore on, but no less difficult. Most people we talked to were stopping after four and a half miles at Rifugio Rosetta (smart move). We stopped there long enough to refuel and wait out a passing rain storm. It was a welcome sight several hours later when we finally laid eyes on Rifugio Pradidali, our home for the evening. By every measure it was an improvement.
Pradidali was a big step up in comfort. We got settled and spent the hours before dinner enjoying somr drinks, the views and playing cards. Tonight at our assigned table we had two Italian climbers, a young American couple from near Denver (of course), and an Indian couple now living in Munich. Such a diverse mix of people once again made for lively banter.
The recent landscape has been beyond stunning. It is everything we were led to believe about the Dolomites.While we don’t mind working hard, the extreme difficulty has been a bit more than expected. We are both looking forward to a lighter effort day two days hence.
Day 16: Tuesday, SEPTEMBER 1… The route description from yesterday’s heinous section said this, “This remote and remarkable route is a delight!”. Hmmmm. The same guide describes the AV2 climb and descent beyond Pradidali as a “steep, rocky trail with some cables to assist in the more exposed areas.” That is followed by a 4,000′ “kneebreaker” descent that is “quite challenging with loose, moving scree“, and “some hands-on sections along the steep rocky track.” Doesn’t that sound special!
Might there be options? Without wifi or cell service to aid us, we went old school. On an old paper map from the rifugio we found an alternate path to the valley floor that skipped all the silliness. It was better than imagined. We still had a huge drop, but relatively easy by Dolomite standards. Lower down we strolled through forests and along streams. We traversed beautiful meadows. At one point we met the Denver couple from the previous evening. These young, capable climbers said the standard route was, “really technical and pretty sketchy!” Yeah us! We “chose wisely!”
Our day wasn’t over though. We still had to climb over the Forcella d’Oltro to get to the next valley. At times it was more like low-grade rock climbing than hiking.
Along this stretch of AV2, rifugio Cereda is the normal place to stay. We’d been unable to book a room and thus we’re forced to traverse some distance in the wrong direction along a barely beaten path.
Malga (mountain hut) Cavallera was worth the extra distance. It was modern, spacious, friendly – and eerily empty. We were the only trekkers in the dorm room! It was puzzling! But after the last few nights, we weren’t complaining. It was a glorious night of luxury.
Day 17: Wednesday, Sept. 2… With several hard days behind and a challenging trail ahead, this had been planned as a light day. We made the most of it. We strolled through the forest along a path recommended by our host. Three miles and a thousand some feet down we arrived at the tiny town of Mis. After a quick snack from a local shop, we allowed the bus to whisk us to the top of the pass and rifugio Cereda.
View from the Cavallera bunk room.
Day 18: Thursday, Sept 3…
As often happens on a through hike like this, we’ve fallen in with a group moving in the same direction and staying at the same rifugios. Anxiety levels were high at rifugio Cereda. We all faced a climb of 2,600 feet in a mile and a half. If you haven’t been in the mountains there is no way to describe how steep that is.
Turns out it was insanely steep, but not quite as bad as we all imagined. This ended up being our biggest elevation day of the trip. But that was not what made the day memorable. Our little United Nations tribe leapfrogged each other throughout the day. Everyone was cheery and encouraging. The scenery, as always, was Dolomite stunning. The setting of rifugio Boz was postcard perfect. After an ok dinner, almost everyone moved outside to chat and watch the colors fade behind the peaks. By all accounts, it was a very good day.
Day 19: Friday, Sept 4… One last big day on the trail. Many in our group are hiking the nine challenging miles from Boz to rifugio Dal Piaz. Several others are continuing another three miles to the small village of Croce d’Aune to catch a bus into Feltre. We are in the first group.
The mountains today had a very different feel. There was the usual dose of straight up, and jagged peaks. For most of the day though, we were immersed in the color green. Meadows and even the peaks were cloaked in a mantle of greenery. In spite of the hard work, we arrived early at Dal Piaz and shared some final beers with those who were contingent one. Definitely a bittersweet day.
It was a perfect last evening. Members of our tribe arrived through the afternoon and gathered for happy hour on the “patio” of Dal Piaz. I moved inside and chatted with Frank. He was the older half (74) of the pair of Irish mountain goats who were racing around the Dolomites like it was a stroll in the park. At dinner we sat and chatted with our Austrian mother/daughter and young Dutch/German couple. Fascinating people all. BTW – the mushroom and speck lasagna was to die for! The second course was beautifully prepared beef and potatoes. Dessert was apple kuchen with vanilla creme. Well played Dal Piaz!
Day 20: Saturday, Sept 5… The small town of Croce d’Aune looked like a tiny scale model village 3,000+ feet below. At this point in our hike, it required no special effort to make the descent. We did enjoy the whimsical wooden sculptures scattered along the trail. We arrived in time to enjoy one of many “final” gatherings of the tribe before the bus to Feltre arrived.
Final thoughts: The Dolomites delivered! We wanted beautiful mountains – check! We wanted a challenging hike – CHECK!! We hoped to meet interesting, like minded individuals – definitely check! We looked forward to the huts and the luxury of not hauling camping gear and food – ummm, sort of check? I think we envisioned a somewhat more leisurely stroll with time to enjoy a beer and lunch at a rifugios along the way. In reality the trail was so hard we typically did not have the time or mental bandwidth to dawdle. And it was often cool/windy/cloudy enough that a lengthy stop for lunch wasn’t especially appealing. The huts and hotels ranged from “OMG can you believe how nice this is?” to “adequate” but always in amazing locations.
The big question is always – would we do it again? The qualified answer is probably yes. But now with one hut to hut under our belt, I think we would be more discerning. We would aim for beauty as always, but also something a bit more … relaxed. But that’s for another day. Now we have biking plans to make and a whole country to explore. Until next week Seize the Carp!!
