Gruppo di Brenta

We were up at 5:45-had a pretty good nights sleep in our bunk beds. Unfortunately it was still socked in-praise God it’s not raining. Davide decided we should change our route in hopes that tomorrow is clearer because the beauty of that leg is stunning. We started back down the path we had walked up yesterday, feeling every bit of our packs. Mine feels like it’s 30 pounds and JDs feels 60. We are both probably exaggerating but hiking at about 8300 feet of elevation with big packs is killer. We packed way too much! At 3 miles going uphill my heart felt like it was going to burst. Thankfully we stopped at Refugio Tuckett for an espresso with the nicest people working there. The sun came out and gave us a glimpse of the beauty that has been around us all along and it was magical. After that breather, we kept heading up and up to SOSAT Ferrata. We were over a 1000 feet up on the side of a cliff-thankfully the clouds obscured the bottom so I couldn’t quite fathom how high we were. We ascended and descended the mountain face via ladders, rebar steps. We’ve never done a via Ferrata with packs so that made it even more challenging. The rain held off most of the day and we made it to Refugio Alimonta after 9 miles. This is definitely the hardest hiking I’ve ever done. The Refugio has a stone exterior and pine paneled interior. Our bunk room has room for 7 so again waiting to see if we have roommates. JD ordered a salami sandwich (only 5 euros!) and we each had a beer. There is no phone service here so we are really out of touch! Suddenly, the clouds parted and the sun came out illuminating these massive and beautiful mountains all around us. I cried at the beauty. We showered, then sat outside enjoying the view and the company of a couple from Portland. Dinner was served with a choice between appetizers, entree and dessert. We had assigned seats:) Sat with five very nice people from France and had a delightful evening meeting a couple from Montreal and four hysterical guys from Cornwell! Headed up to our room about 8:30. It was set up to sleep 7 and by midnight, seven were in there. Not sure communal sleeping is for me.Read more