Day 2: To Rifugio Lavarella

Distance: 8.5KM

Total hours: 3.5 hrs

Elevation: -623m, +638m

Steps taken: 29,651
Fodara Velda –> Pederu Hutte –> Rifugio Lavarella

After a nice sleep, we packed up and had breakfast before heading off to Rifugio Lavarella!

When we set out, we were greeted by a sea of clouds! In gnome-lore, this was the sign of a good day.

It was a steep way down to Pederu Hutte, partially on jeep roads, partially on trail. Given how eroded some of the trail/road was, it’s no surprise that if it’s a poor weather day, people prefer the jeep taxi service to Pederu. This took us around 1 hour.

Of course, what comes down must go up. After a short break, we continued on.

While our destination was Lavarella, we came across more signs pointing to Fanes. This is because those signs are pointing towards Fanes the park, not Fanes the rifugio. We were quite stoked when we came across a Lavarella sign with a slightly creepy face carved into the post. Getting here took us 2.5 hours.

By the time we arrived at Rifugio Lavarella, it was lunch time! Clearly, hungry humans shouldn’t order on an empty tummy.

Over lunch, we learned about the Ladin people who lived in the area by reading the menu. They are a minority group who have lived in the alpine and can be traced back to 15 B.C. The Ladin language developed as a colloquial version of Latin. At the end of WW1, in 1918, the Ladin population, previously part of the Austrian empire, was given to Italy and split into 3 areas: Bolzano, Trento, and Belluno.

Since we had arrived a little earlier than check-in time, we decided to do some exploring. We had opted to explore the area and have a relaxing night in. I tried making friends with the locals but holy cow they weren’t very friendly.

Grünsee/Lé Vert was very clear but underwhelmingly small. Based on the research we had done, we had expected it to be bigger… like the Emerald Lake in Yoho National Park.

We also strolled over to Fanes the rifugio and took a look inside. I’m not sure if the Indian statue is offensive or not – Drew Hayden Taylor’s article on the CBC website had asked a similar question and provided a response.

Some slow-pace entertainment.

While it was nice to have a slower day, we could have made better use of the time if we pursued a more serious side quest (versus wait around close by). There were 2 options: 1: Trail 12 to 7 (4 hour strenuous hike) and 2: Trail 13 to Pass St. Antone (2.5 hours moderate hike).

After checking in, we went up to check out parts of Trail 13. The trail meanders through a large meadow before hitting a serious looking narrow sloping trail. We didn’t bring bags or bring enough layers to feel comfortable with going further.

Back at Rifugio Lavarella, the ‘bunk’ bed was fun!

Boots go in boot room.

The Rifugio owner has a sense of humour 🙂

Towels are provided.

Men and women have separate washroom areas – individual toilets, 3 showers each side.

Lights are set to turn on by motion sensor but they turn off quite quickly, so be aware if you’re a slow walker like me.
RIFUGIO BETA

Learned that in these parts, it’s good to keep an eye out for your belongings… especially the salty belongings.

Dinner was a set menu – in hindsight, we should have gone with the à la carte instead because there were more options.