Dinner last night was pretty weak. I think that’s been my impression for most of these huts: the food is deeply mediocre. Italy can do much better, but these huts just don’t. Our main course was about what you would expect on an airline, and Rifugio Castiglioni Marmolada is car accessible, meaning they can get fresh supplies regularly. I ended up full at least.
There were only 3 of us in our 8 person dorm and it was silent yet again. I guess the smell of horse shit blew in all night towards Zoë’s bed, but I didn’t smell anything. My mattress was too soft and I ended up bowed like a banana and woke up with a sore back. At least we were out of the rain which started sometime in the night and was still going when we woke up in the morning.
Breakfast was fine. I’ve learned to temper my expectations a bit. We took our time since the rain was only supposed to lessen throughout the day and we weren’t in a rush. I had 4 cups of tea because why not? They had pancakes at breakfast which I guess were my favorite part since they were a novelty. I could have done with some syrup but the Nutella was pretty good.
When we left at 8:00, the rain had basically stopped. We were in and out of clouds though as they blew around us. I started in a sweater and gloves. We had a walk along a road followed by a lengthy descent through a ski area. There was a shop selling groceries and we popped in to see if they had tortillas. They didn’t, just the crappy substitute I already had so we continued on.
Next we had our only climb of the day. We quickly shed our layers and began sweating, despite the cold. We passed some people early on in the climb and then there was no one. I guess people don’t hike on bad weather days? Or we were somehow ahead of everyone. Anyway we climbed and near the top, we met some Americans from Vermont. The woman said it was nice to speak English with someone. I told her we’ve been meeting lots of Americans at the huts. They pointed out some ibex on the hillside and with any luck, you’ll see one in the photos above. If not it means my photos were shit.
As we left them, it started to rain so we donned ponchos and gloves. I’m not sure if it started to rain so much as we entered a cloud but we were getting pretty wet. It got cold, fast with the wind and rain. We weren’t too far from the top and with no views, we immediately began our descent. It was lunch time but there was no way we were stopping to eat in this weather. We hoped getting down would provide better weather.
We descended and met a group of 10 young Italians who looked miserable. I cheered them up by telling them the weather on the other side was better. They said it had been raining for the past 90 minutes. It had probably only been 30 for us.
We continued to descend with numb hands and the clouds began to lift. The rain stopped and the mud started. Also there were groups of horses who just stared at us as we walked by. We saw a Refugio on our map not too far away and decided to have a hot lunch there. It seemed as good a day as any to get a hot meal.
At some point on our way down, our shoes doubled in weight due to mud. On the grassy slopes we dragged our shoes in all directions, scraping mud off in the wet grass. It actually worked pretty well but then we had to avoid the mud afterwards. I ended up scraping off the mud at least 3 times.
The Refugio at the bottom was bustling with people. I guess everyone went to the Refugios but not in between. We got seated inside, but in a room that was much less warm than the rest of the building, unfortunately. We were the only ones in the room and there were fly traps hanging on one side of the room. Throughout our meal, at least 5 flies came by. I’m not sure what’s with that room, but it was kind of annoying.
The meal was the best we’ve had, by far. Refugio Fuchiade has genuinely great food. Zoë’s hot chocolate was the consistency of pudding but our pasta dishes were phenomenal. The pasta was made in house. It was a very welcome change.
After lunch we had an hour more of walking on a flat road to our hotel for the evening. When I originally booked the huts, I did so using an incorrect version of our route. As a result I booked an itinerary that was easier than I had anticipated, once I got the correct route. All that to say, today’s place we should have skipped.
We arrived right around check in time at 15:00 to Hotel Monzoni. It was the cheapest one I could find in the area and it shows. The interior is dated. We can’t use any of the old-style outlets with our power adapters. The WiFi is shit. I’ve heard the food isn’t good so we’ll walk down the road for dinner.
The weather for the next 4 days should be mostly excellent. Despite the cold and the rain I’d still prefer today over the heat we had before. For us, eating out several days in a row doesn’t feel like a luxury, it feels like more of a slog, so I think we’re looking forward to being more in charge of our food again soon. Despite that, the Dolomites are still, by far, one of the best places I’ve hiked.
RIP, Dolly Parton. Zoë and I were listening to her 9 to 5 song just the other day as we recounted some songs from my PCT playlist I made of songs that wouldn’t get out of my head as we walked from Canada to Mexico. The internet pointed me to this version of Joelene I hadn’t heard before and I quite enjoyed it.