Alta Via 4, Day Two: Trails, tales and Via Ferrata

Alta Via 4, Day 2: Trails, Tales and Via Ferrata (continued)

Wow, I’ve been struggling to keep up with my Alta Via blog posts!! Here we go onto Day Two of our trek (I better get with it because fall photo time will be here soon…)

Day Two: From Rifugio Locatelli to Rifugio Fonda Savio
Hiking Distance: 8 miles with 2,250 vertical feet of elevation gain and a via feratta section.
We awoke early on day two to chase sunrise with a couple of our bunkmates, who were from the UK (shout out to Rosi and Tabi if you’re reading this…). The night before they explained to us that one of the staff members at the rifugio would be taking them to a secret alpine lake for sunrise, once Ashley heard this, I knew she would not be able to resist a freezing cold morning dip to start our second day in the Dolomites. Our alarms went off and I’m sure we pissed off the other people in our bunk room, but sometimes the majority rules, and sometimes you have to get up early to chase sunrise when in the Dolomites. We set off on what we thought would be a short hike, but thinking back to it I’m pretty sure this added about three more miles of hiking to an already big day. We made it to the Secret Lake after skree field skiing down a massive couloir of scrappy rocks. I stayed above to survey the scene from a higher vantage point as the rest of the group took a freezing cold dip in a magical alpine lake that even had a few pieces of glacial ice floating in it. They tapped the glacier with their hands and I could hear the excitement from my vantage point up above. What a way to start our day…

We made our way back up to Locatelli to have a traditional cold breakfast, which consisted of cold cuts, bread (which we stuffed into our packs) cheese, coffee and sweet pastry bread. Breakfast of champions, we went back to our dorm, and packed our gear, but also made sure to leave our via Ferrara equipment close to the top of our packs, as we would encounter our first via feratta on the second day of our Alta via 4 hike.

The first part of day two was stunning, with crystal clear views of the Tri Cime and ample opportunities for me to trail behind the group and capture our new friends, hiking in a line, looking like ants with these legendary Triple Peaks in the distance. We were excited to have good conditions because we knew one of the more iconic viewpoints lie ahead of us. After hiking for a few miles path number 105 cruises past Rifugio Auronzo, which would be a great place to stop for breakfast or lunch, if you needed some more fuel to finish the hiking day. We decided to mostly skip this stop, and continue hiking to begin our via feratta. Just past Rifugio Auronzo is one of the more legendary viewpoints in the Dolomites, made famous thanks to IG.

We spent some time snapping photos here and then took to the side of the trail to eat our lunch (bread, spec, cheese, and chocolate). The via feratta after lunch was filled with excitement, and fear, and overall was a lot of fun to tackle this part of the trail with that group mentality. I disliked the feeling of going backwards down a mountain with a heavy pack on my back, unable to see my footings below me. We watched each other navigate tricky sections and made sure to give each other space as a small creek had started to run down one section, making the ladders, incredibly slippery under our hiking boots. Not an area where you want to slip and fall on a fellow hiker, luckily we made it out safely and started our ascent to the that night's rifugio.

As we got closer to our rifugio for that night, the trail climbs steeply and throughout the day you gain over 2000 vertical feet, while also descending another 2300 vertical feet. I kept looking up ahead, and finally perched in between the mountain peaks I caught my first glimpse of Rifugio Fonda Savio. A stunning Rifugio to spend the night in, as it’s perched right on the saddle of the majestic Dolomites. (Oh yeah, one big tip: try to avoid reserving this one last minute or you’ll be stuck on the bunk room in the attic.) We even read this in the blog we got our intell from.. it's a very cramped space, throughout the night we heard fellow bunkmates bump their heads trying to navigate the space in the dark. A less-than-ideal sleeping situation, we got settled in our bunk room, ate another delicious meal, including some homemade ravioli, and tucked ourselves into bed early, listening to a rain storm pound against the metal roof a foot above our heads. It was always difficult for me to fall asleep, knowing what views and adventure lie just outside the front door of the rifugio...

Check back soon for Day Three of our Alta Via 4 trek… follow my Instagram for more adventures, reels and all of our travels.