Distance: 14.7km (448.2km), time spent: 10:08.
Weather: Nice.
On this day I have arrived at one of the stages on Der Traumpfad that I am most excited about. The last days on the trail has done little to ease my anticipation of this day, on the contrary it has increased them. For good or worse. In that matter, this stage needs a longer introduction, so bear over with me.
Rifugio Pian de Fontana painted red in the morning sun.
Between the Rifugio Pian de Fontana and the Rifugio 7th Alpini, the hikers have to make a choice. The original route went eastwards around the towering Schiara-massif, but in 2009 a landslide destroyed the route and it eventually got omitted from the German guidebooks. Instead, the hikers could either use the Via Ferrata Marmol crossing over the Schiara or walk down to the road and take a bus to Belluno. The first option requires via ferrata equipment, the second second option omits Rifugio 7th Alpini and the walk down from there to Belluno entirely, which apparently is the most used option. Of those two options, the Via Ferrata Marmol is the most enticing and taking the bus is not an option.
Leaving Rifugio Pian de Fontana, the path descends through beech trees.
The original route has now been opened and waymarked again and is described in my Cicerone guidebook. However, as this route is not included in the German guidebooks, it is not widely used and I am warned that it can be overgrown and the waymarks difficult to spot. For that reason, I had hoped the GPX tracks I had downloaded from the Cicerone website would help, but only a couple of the tracks worked on my GPS, this stage was not one of them.
Arriving at Casera dei Ranchi, an old farmstead now serving as an unsupported refuge.
The second problem I had in mind and probably the biggest of them, was the huge storm last year that ravaged the area. I had already seen and experienced the effects that storm have had on the environment here. Unsure of the state of the trail, I had yesterday asked the hostess at Rifugio Pian de Fontana about the state of the route. She told me that she had not walked it after the storm, but knew of several people that had tried. Some had come through, but many had returned. She warns me that a lot of trees has fallen down in the area due to the storm and if I fail to locate the path again if I have to walk around the debris of the storm, I would be in trouble.
Descending down the valley, the path sometimes went over slippery boardwalks where it would be difficult to maintain a good path.
Martina will go down and take the bus to Belluno, Florian and Lutz will do the Via Ferrata Marmol. If you need to rent via ferrata equipment, you can do that at Rifugio San Sebastiano at Passo Duran, which Florian did. Johanna and Katherine wans to walk with me. I am the most experienced of us three and so I feel a little bit responsible about them, as they would not have gone this way if I had not done so. Yesterday, I had made it clear that they needed to know what they were in for.
Starting the climb to the Forcella Torond at the bottom of the valley, the path went on what appeared as a forgotten road.
That is only the navigation part. On top of all this lies a total elevation gain of 2200m and loss of 2100m, over only 15k. So, it is an exciting and fun day we have in front of us. Nevertheless, the day starts off beautifully by the morning sun painting the refuge red. Martina accompanies us in the beginning, descending through a lovely forest to where the junction where she has to leave us. We rescue another couple from going the wrong way, as they where heading the same way we are going, although it took some convincing. It is sad to see Martina leave, but we know that we will meet her again in Belluno tomorrow (hopefully).
After crossing over a river on Pont Alt the track climbs up into the aftereffects of the storm, here Johanna is climbing up past fallen trees.
From the junction, the path keeps on descending down into the valley and will do so for a time. It is about 800 meters of descent from Rifugio Pian de Fontana before the trail will start to climb up again. This section is however easy to follow and if the storm did any damage to the route, it has now been fixed. In a clearing we arrive at Casera dei Ranchi, a refuge that is not supported, but should suffice to spend the night in if need be. Further down the valley becomes narrower and we see some aftereffects of the storm, which has been cleared. There are some small exposed sections and some parts going over slippery wodden boardwalks on the worst of them.
Katherine and Johanna navigating fallen trees.
It is a different story when the path starts to go up again. The road looks like it has seen its better days, open cracks and fissures in the surface, debris of vegetation strewn about it. On the other hand, someone has been here and cleared things up. There is hope for us, but by studying the map, I can see that there are some buildings further up. It may just be those using those buildings that has cleared the path up there, although the road carries evidence that it is a long time ago since it was in use. I feel like I am walking up into a forgotten place.
Higher up, the path becomes more exposed, but with great views of the mountains we have left behind us.
View back towards the mountain ridge we came down from yesterday.
Crossing a river on a small footbridge, Pont Alt, the track changes to a narrow footpath and it is from here that care needs to be taken. I track where we are going on my GPS, in the case we are getting away from the path and can then backtrack using it. Beginning to climb, it does not take long time before we start to see the effects of the storm in this area. Trees lies fallen down everywhere around us and across the path, some of them torn up by their roots too. However, a fallen tree and other debris also provides us with a way of crossing a large stream, where the actual path looks extremely slippery.
Katherine and Johanna climbing.
Progress is slow as we navigates our way past clusters of fallen trees, having to walk around, climb under or over them. In some places, we have to stop up and look closely for where the path is going. Thankfully, though, there appear that there have been someone here and cleared up the worst obstacles. As we get higher, we get more out into open ground, with good views of the mountains we have left behind. In some steep places there are cables and wooden ladders to aid in the climbing, all in different conditions, some appear to have been there for a long time. For all its obstacles, it has been an exciting climb so far.
One of several wooden layers on the path.
After steadily climbing and making our way, we finally arrive above the treeline, to a sort of safety. From here we have escaped the confines of the trees and can also use the peaks and ridges above as navigational guidelines. The vies back are wonderful, the Refuge Pian de Fontana is just visible. We walk across a lovely alpine meadow with tall grass before starting the final climb up to the Forcella Torond, with towering Pelf above us.
Arriving up at an alpine meadow after getting above the treeline.
On the final climb up to Forcella Torond, with superb views.
Here, Johanna and I get a little ahead and when we reaches the pass, Katherine fails to show up. I dump my backpack and walks quickly downwards, but there is no sign of her, until I hear shouting from above. She had taken a wrong turn and followed some animal tracks up to another ridge. All back on track, we find a place at the Forcella Torond (1723m) for lunch. From where we sit, we can overlook the valley far below and over to the final ridge of mountains we will hike over on Der Traumpfad.
Johanna on the final approach to Forcella Torond.
From the pass, the path descends down into another encounter with the aftermath of the storm, although easier than earlier. Finding the waymarks proves to be the most difficult on this part, but we come by. We can spot the next pass further up above us, Forcella Caneva, but the path up there is steep. Everything is getting narrower and tighter around us as we climb, having to do some easy scrambling on the way.
Crossing over Forcella Torond.
At the top of the pass at 1830m, beauty awaits us. Rolling grassy meadows flowing down from the steep sides of the peaks above. Johanna feels it looks like a hobbit-landscape. All the while, bathed in the serene light of the afternoon sun. This stage has been totally different from all the other stages on this trail, in almost every aspect imaginable. Most striking is the absence of other people, having been used to see other hikers every now and then. This is the first time on Der Traumpfad where I have the feeling of walking in a more remote area. We walk over the pleasant alpine meadows, glancing up at the towering Schiara, wondering how Florian and Lutz did.
View of the descent from Forcella Torond and the forest at the bottom before the next climb, the path goes down and then climbs up between the two ridges to the top right.
From the third and final pass, Forcella Pis Pilon (1733m), it is all steep down towards the Rifugio 7th Alpini, visible far away below. The descent is on treacherous scree, with loose rolling stones, not a good surface to walk on. About halfway down, we surprisingly meets another person, walking without a backpack or equipment. Talking to him, reveals that he had just gone out for a walk from the refuge, but he is interesting in our route as he wants to go to Pian de Fontana tomorrow and does not want to do the via ferrata.
View out from between the towering cliffs on the way up to Forcella Caneva.
Climbing up to Forcella Caneva, Katherine and Johanna negotiating sections of the path that needs scrambling.
The sun is going behind the steep peaks above the cabin. Katherine is starting to lag behind, so I feel she is tired after the day, already having told me that she did not believe this to be such a hard walk as it turned out to be. Johanna is doing fine, so I position myself behind Katherine to support her if she get too tired, lest something should happen. To which she responds to by going faster. She later told me that I tricked her, as she believed I did that to push her onto going faster.
View from Forcella Caneva towards the Forcella Pis Pilón.
Arriving at the Rifugio 7th Alpini, we all feel that we can be satisfied with our efforts today. Of Florian and Lutz there are no words yet. Which makes me wonder a little, we used over ten hours getting here and the via ferrata is shorter and should not take so long time. When Florian and Lutz finally arrives, they seems overjoyed. Climbing over the Schiara on the Via Ferrata Marmol had been a stupendeous experience, but Florian still wondered how Lutz had made it over with his oversized backpack.
Looking towards Belluno and the final ridge of mountains that Der Traumpfad is crossing over.
Forcella Caneva in the background.
The excitements of the day did not end upon our arrival at the cabin. While we eat dinner, I suddenly feel there is something missing in my mouth, then I understand that there is a part of my teeth that is missing. I feel dizzy and have to lie down, while it goes all quiet in the dining room. There is a first time for everything, this time for breaking a tooth on a hike. Good thing we are going down to Belluno tomorrow, there should be a dentist there.
Looking down at Rifugio 7th Alpini.
By far the most exciting day on Der Traumpfad since I left München. With all the uncertainty regarding the state of the path on this stage and the effects of the storm, it was a wonderful and varied hike from Rifugio Pian de Fontana. Also good that we were lucky with the weather. I fell asleep with a hole in a tooth, memories of high alpine meadows and towering mountains, as well as a knowledge that there is only one climb left before the long flat plains towards Venice.
Last light over Pis Pilón.
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