WELCOME TO UNPAVED HAVEN

Distance: 19KM

Total hours: 8hrs

Elevation: +692m -1014m

Steps taken: 39,382

Rifugio Cinque Torri –> Passo Giau –> Forcella da Lago –> Rifugio Citta di Fiume –> Rifugio Staulanza

After a small cereal + ham breakfast (with coffee, of course), we headed off towards Passo Giau on a bluebird day.

The way to Passo Giau saw some elevation gain and mostly green meadows under cliffs with trees interspersed throughout.

Passo Giau is accessible by road, so we came across many day hikers, road bikers, and motorcyclists. It took us 2 hours to get to this point.

We took a biobreak at Rifugio Passo Giau, where we may have spent a bit more time than was necessary.

This rifugio, along with many others that we saw along the trails, charged a fee to use the washrooms. We usually just bought drinks and sat down to review the map and to take a break before continuing on.

One of the things I enjoy about long hikes is when my brain and body stop protesting and becomes a walking machine. It amazes me how the body can continue on. It took us around 2.5 hours to get to Forcella da Lago – we could see Cortina from there!

We saw Rifugio Città di Fiume from far way, while on the jeep road pictured above – it felt like it was just around the bend. The bend took us a long time to get through. We learned that things are never as close as they seem.

But eventually we did make it through to this rifugio (2 hours from Forcella da Lago), where we had a latte and short team meeting to determine if we wanted to continue on the jeep road (which is safer during stormy weather) or go through a shorter, but much more exposed route. Dark rain clouds were rolling in, so we had to decide quickly. The weather was showing rain in 30 minutes. We chose the shorter route (trail 472), with the plan of booking it once again.

Of course it started raining hard as we were walking through the middle part of the rocky segment. I was amazed and happy to be reminded that energy comes back after a short sit and with the desire to escape the rain. After several sections of talus and short shrubbery, the route led us to a forested area, which provided decent rain cover.

The trail leads to a paved road – the Rifugio Passo Staulanza was on the other side. It took us an hour to get there.

Boots go in the boot room. Having the use of a boot room makes me think that it’s something I’d want to have in my own place (a mud room of sorts). The private room here was small with a private shower. We learned the hard way that things do not dry outside, especially at this elevation and with the weather, so a lot of the clothes had to be hung outside our pack the next day.

We also used the spa – it costed €35 in 2022. The sauna, cold showers, and steam baths felt great on our muscles. We felt very relaxed after this.

After that it was dinner time! The appetizers stole the show… along with the huge golden retriever.

On to Day 6 to Rifugio Tissi!