If I wanted a blizzard, I'm have gone to Dairy Queen

With the potential for a nasty weather day on the trail hanging over us like a balloon filled with rancid peanut butter and militant grasshoppers, we put on slightly damp boots like a Frenchman taking a cigarette before his execution.  Due to the potential conditions, we dressed to the max.  This was one of the longer days, so we got out early, starting with a sharp descent of about 500 meters on a windy, rocky road.  In this situation, the downhill is not your friend, but an annoying pest, pounding at your joints and booby trapping your every step.

After leveling off, we grabbed some chocolate for the trip and looked for an ATM, again unsuccessfully to give us financial flexibility.  There is an extreme shortage of such machines in these parts, so if you are the entrepreneurial type this may be your opportunity.  As often is the case, a steep downhill is followed by, yep, a steep uphill, so we headed out of the valley back up to about the same elevation we started.  A bridge between the two would have saved a lot of time and energy.  The weather was continuing in our favor, a nice day, warm enough to shed a layer.  We hit our first stop right on target, grabbing a quick bite and a refreshing Coca-Cola (intentional product placement) at Fanes, which I would recommend strongly for all your Rifugio needs.

After Fanes, the walk was very nice.  We first met one of the recurring characters in our playlet, we'll call him Siena.  A pleasant Italian solo hiking at a strong pace, we'll come back to him later.  Then we ran into this guy.  Obviously, was dropped off some time ago and never picked up.

This path led to a great valley, surrounded by majestic mountains, lots of animals including a very boisterous mountain goat who had just either a) broken up with his girlfriend or b) lost a lot of money in the Italian stock market.  He wasn't happy.  The Canadians, a nice couple that we encountered a few times, one of which was a poor man's Annette Bening, took this pic.  We seem so happy, little did we know.

After bidding farewell to the Canadians, for now, we headed back up.  A tough rocky climb of about 500M, passing the remnants of Nuovo Kids on da Bloc, the failed Italian boy band including the requisite man bun and one hiking in sandals??  At this point, we could see our goal, the gap in the mountain but visibility was declining and clouds were rolling in.  But, it was still dry.  This climb was one of the toughest of the week, calling for chocolate and hydration breaks at regular intervals. 

We made it to the peak, but were unable to see the lake below that is a highlight of this segment.  The descent was of equal size and very challenging, luckily, it was still dry.  Eventually, the lake appeared as we got about half way and we made it down with no issues.

At this point, we had about three hours and a 700 meter climb to the Rifugio.  That's when we started to hear thunder rumbling in the distance.  About the same time, Kevin discovered he had misjudged his water supply and he was out of water.  For a man that flows sweat at a rate only slightly lower than Niagara falls, this is not a good thing.  Lightening was closing in, but we were in the middle of nowhere, so we pressed forward.  Tim and I glanced back to see Kevin kneeling at a puddle, hydrating.  Desperate times.  At this point, with lightening close, we got the added bonus of 30-40 mph winds and stinging sleet.  While I like a good exfoliation as much as the next guy, I prefer it in a more controlled environment.  We considered seeking shelter, but there really weren't any good options.  The Blue Man group, a German family of three, all with blue jackets, huddled against a rock, singing 99 Luft balloons to try and keep calm.  The piercing sleet became snow as we ascended, but, the lightening persisted.  We came to a crossing that was not well marked, probably due to the snow obscuring some markings on rocks.  After much debate, we decided up and right was the correct path.  Estimating that we were 30-45 minutes from a yet unseen Rifugio.

As we ascended, we saw some markings confirming that we were on track.  There was a cave on the left, so we sought shelter for a brief respite.  Funny, during this time, Kevin got a call from his daughter after she dominated her track event.  Yes, you are never out of contact with AT&T.  Deciding to go with climbing over hypothermia, we went back out and continued up.  Kevin was alleviating his hydration issues by eating snow.  In 20-25 minutes, we could barely make out our rifugio.  The snow was up to about 3-4 inches, cold, too.  We plowed forward and made it. 

We were rewarded with timed showers ($3.50 E for four minutes) and a 12 bed, six bunk bed dormitory with 9 of our friends, including the Blue Man group that pulled in an hour later.  Snoring was minimal, with the girl across from me maintaining a low, consistent snore that was almost comforting.  NKOTB made it as well and the dude in sandals' feet were OK, just a bit blue.  His boots had broken and that was his only option.  We enjoyed ample wine and conversation that evening, flanked by Carrot Top the guide and his six American charges and a solitary German, Bauer who LOVED to talk.  The next morning we heard him telling the exact same stories to a woman who was pouring lighter fluid over herself and asking for matches.  It was quite a day, we were safe, but not really sure what tomorrow would bring.