Passo Sella to Rifugio Pertini
Sunday, July 16
Sunday, July 16. Our journey in the Dolomites was nearing its end, but first... one final adventure.
We had two days left, and our plan was to wind things down with a very easy walk to a rifugio, stay there the night, and then get up early the following morning and hike a very short distance to a final Via Ferrata - a very short one - but one that would up the grade once again - to a 3 - midway along the scale of ferrata difficulty.
All of our walking and climbing would be taking place within a short distance of Passo Sella, itself reachable by car via the Strada Statale 242. We drove up from Mazzin, on the fantastically fun and twisty road to the pass (and with entirely too much traffic to have any fun whatsoever), to the pass. We weren't entirely sure where we'd park (we needed an overnight place to park), but there seemed to be enough possible locations that we felt we would figure it out. Eventually we stumbled upon a parking lot along the side road that led south just beyond the pass and before the Passo Sella Hotel. A friendly Italian fellow received our inquiries and reassured us of our ability to stay overnight (for a price, of course), and all was well. Soon we were sitting next to our cars on the soft grass of the endless meadow, getting our gear ready. The day was once again beautiful - warm, gentle breeze, no sign of rain.
Starting at a high elevation
Our ferrata climb was scheduled for the following morning. All we had to do today was to hike from our cars at the carpark, to the Rifugio Sandro Pertini. On paper, the stats were easy: total distance, less than four kilometres. Elevation gain... maybe 500 feet in total? I mean, you couldn't really ask for easier.
We headed out on what is known as the Alta Via Frederico Augusto, or the Friedrich August high-altitude path. Here near the Passo Sella, it also doubled as the access road for the various huts and ski installations that dotted a wide rolling meadowscape. Soaring abruptly and imposingly into the sky immediately to the west of us were the crags of the Sassolungo group, and behind us, back on the other side of the SS242 highway, was the wide, massive bulk of the Sella Group. It truly was a magnificent landscape - if perhaps a bit too developed-feeling with all of the structures.
Beneath the mighty Sassolungo
With such a piddlingly easy itinerary, we were in no need to rush. In fact, we were probably in need of stopping to draw out the time. This we readily did at a quaint little trailside baita known as the Baita Miara (if you recall, a baita is typically a hut that only hosts a restaurant). Here we had a morning break with drinks and sweets (the tort with vanilla sauce was especially good), followed by a trampoline expertise demo from Evie.
Following our break, we continued west on the Friedrich August high-altitude path (also designated the 4-557), soon cresting a high point where a side road led off and up to a high knob to the south, where we could see a few buildings and communication towers. This high knob, known as the Col Rodella, was in fact where we were going to have our climbing challenge the following morning. On its far side from us (the southern side) is a short but moderately-challenging (at grade 3) via ferrata.
Posing next to Snootiness
Commemorating the Hohenweg
Continuing west, now on a slight downhill, we passed another rifugio - the Friedrich August rifugio - a very upscale one that looked like it catered to especially... discerning... mountain guests (and we had passed several upscale-ish rifugios already - it seems that the easy access here lends itself to rifugios that seem more like spas and 5-star hotels than classic rifugios).
Beyond the Friedrich August rifugio, the trail switched from being a drivable roadway to an actual trail. We were still traversing mostly on the level, staying entirely in the meadow-zone above the trees and below the towering rock of the Sassolungo group. It couldn't have been much more than perhaps one kilometer of gently undulating easy trail before we saw the red-trimmed tidy structure that was going to be our home for the night: the Rifugio Sandro Pertini.
Apart from the quaint structure itself, the first thing we noticed was that... whoa... there were a crap-ton of people here. Seemingly a hundred - scattered everywhere over the grassy lawn in front of the rifugio, on the trail to the rifugio, packed on its open terrace - everywhere. I guess an easily-accessed rifugio on a sunny Sunday in the middle of July is where its at. Certainly a very different vibe than most of the other rifugios we had visited earlier in the week (with the exception of the Rifugio Re Alberto - which lended further credence to my theory that weekends are busy, and weekdays are not).
Anyway, normally we would have walked into the rifugio and signed in and got our stuff settled in our room(s), but today it seemed better to just maybe wait it out for a while. After all, it was only 1:30pm, and dinner was a long way off. We searched for a spot where there weren't any humans, found some suitable crags in the shade just above the rifugio, and parked ourselves there to wait it out and people-watch.
Our decision to hang out away from the crowds turns out to be the right one - after a couple hours, the swarms of people started to thin out... and by 5pm, there was nary a soul in sight. It was quite a transformation, from a crowded beehive of activity to a peaceful, quiet mountain hideaway. The weekenders had gone back to civilization.
With the rifugio now in a quiet phase, we entered and introduced ourselves and checked in. Our host led us up a back stairway to the bunk rooms. In this particular rifugio, there wasn't a single room that could accommodate all six of us, so we were offered a single room with four bunks and then two bunks in a larger common bunk room. The Hatko family took up residence in the four-person room, and Brian and I were assumed to be headed for the common bunk room. I recognized that it was the logical choice, but it felt slightly presumptiously annoying nevertheless.
With the accommodations worked out, we headed back downstairs to explore and hang out a bit. Evie gave a master demonstration on how to be the annoying younger sibling, thrusting herself into a camera shot over her resting, passive minding-her-own-business older sibling. This altercation resulted in a super-pissed off Katie, who after a bit of a blow-up with the unrepentant Evie, went off and sulked for a while in the now fortunately empty front lawn.
Sibling Annoyance: an idea is formed
Sibling Annoyance: establish dominance
Sibling Annoyance: maintain control
Sibling Annoyance: exit stage left
With the pre-dinner drama out of the way, we sat down for a delicious multi-course meal. I had a penne with a bolognese meat sauce and pork chops with roasted potatoes, and they were both... quite good. I think I'm not super-picky when it comes to rifugio food, but seriously... this is pretty fancy stuff for a mountain hut.
Delicious Dinner primo piatto
Delicious Dinner secondo piatto
After dinner, we went back out onto the deck to take in the final rays of the sun, and then we retired for the night. Tomorrow would be our final day (half-day, really) in the Dolomites.
Interactive trackmap with photo points - July 16 - Hike to Rif Pertini - click map to view
July 16 Dolomites - Hike Data
Start Time:
11:17a.m.
End Time:
1:29p.m.
Duration:
2h11m
Distance:
3.61 km
(2.24 mi)
Average Speed:
1.7 km/hr
(1.0 mph)
Start Elevation:
7279ft
(2219m)
*
Max Elevation:
7605ft
(2318m)
*
Min Elevation:
7241ft
(2207m)
*
End Elevation:
7492ft
(2283m)
*
* : +/- 75 feet
Total Elevation Gain:
481ft
(147m)
*
Total Elevation Loss:
248ft
(76m)
*
* : +/- 75 feet
Elevation Graph
