Rifugio Re Alberto to Hotel Piz Boe (in Mazzin)
Saturday, July 15
Saturday, July 15. Another super clear and beautiful day dawned on us. Up at the rarefied altitude of the Rifugio Re Alberto, the sky was an especially deep cobalt blue.
Our objective (just Brian and I, since the Hatkos were somewhere down in the Fassa Valley at this point), was to make it to the town of Mazzin, via the most efficient method possible. There we would book into the hotel we had booked (along with the Hatko family, who would be rejoining with us there).
After a typical continental-style rifugio breakfast, we checked out and readied our gear for the day's outing (the rifugio actually refunded us some money for the unused bunks, which I thought was generous of them).
The first order of business was to retrace our climb back down to the Rifugio Valojet, down the steep bare-rocked gulley/valley. We dispatched this with little effort.
Down the steep rock valley
From the base of the steep gulley, we turned left - uphill - following trail 584. This led up easy grades and into the exceptionally beautiful scenery of the upper end of the Valojet Valley. Presently we reached the head of the valley at 2600m-high (8530ft) Passo Principe, where a small rifugio clings to the edge of the pass. There was a bit of morning shade here, and at this altitude, it was genuinely chilly. Brian and I decided to stop into the rifugio for a mid-morning snack break to get out of the cold (plus who doesn't crave what is effectively a nice cafe-stop while hiking in the mountains?)
Quintissentially Beautiful Valley
Quintissentially Beautiful Valley (downhill view)
Brian and I were basically following the shortest route eastward in order to reach the town of Mazzin. There's no question we'll reach the town before sundown, but we wanted to arrive early if possible, meet up with the Hatkos, and hang out together for the evening. Hence, we didn't loiter at the Rifugio Passo Principe for too long, and by 10:30am, we were on the trail again.
We still had some up to do before we start the long descent towards the Fassa valley. From the Passo Principe - already at a fairly elevated height of 2600 metres - we followed a talus-cut path heading diagonally south-eastward, under the face of the Catinaccio D'Antermioa - the highest peak in the entire Rosengarten group at just over 3,000 metres (nearly 10,000 feet). We could look directly above us and see the little figures of climbers on the Via Ferrata route that goes over the top of this peak. That ferrata was something that was initially of interest to our group at one point, but the difficulties in reserving the nearby rifugios at the right times meant there was no good way to fit it into our schedule.
In any case, Brian and I continued our ascent on trail 584, below the southwest face of Cattinaccio D'Antermoia. We hiked upwards on a diagonal slant, entirely in the cool shade of the peak, until we emerged at some beautiful high overlooks down to the Valojet Valley. We stopped here for some nice hero shots.
Andrew and Valojet Valley
We continued to climb, now at a lesser grade, up the graded talus path. Soon the trail brought us up to the highest point we'd achieve on this entire trip - the 9100-foot high (2780m) Antermoia Pass (Passo D'Antermoia). From here it would be pretty much all downhill for us, all the way to the town of Mazzin - a 5,000+ foot descent. Hopefully, I hoped, on trail that wasn't too rough, 'cause that's a long way down.
The trail crossed over the pass and headed down into a different valley: The Valley of Antermoia (Val D'Antermoia). Unlike the more verdant and green Valojet valley on the western side, this valley had a much more dry, arid, and barren feel. The trail descended and then crossed large flat stretches of gravelly outwash plain. The feeling of aridness continued until we rounded a bend in the valley and spotted a sliver of blue-green in the distance: the watery alpine gem of the Lago D'Antermoia (Antermoia Lake).
Eastern end of Catinaccio VF
Gradually the lake grew from a thin sliver to a generously sized body of water (it wasn't massive by any stretch, but it was a decent little lake - and quite rare for this high up in the Dolomites, actually). The azure color contrasted beautifully with the surrounding peaks. Also of note was the grand framing of the Marmolada (the highest mountain in the Dolomites), far off in the distance, rising directly above the lake when viewed from this approach angle.
Closeup, Lago D'Antermoia
Soon we reached the shore of the lake (which had quite a lot of hikers lounging about on its shores) and began to traverse above and beside it on its northern side. Beyond the lake, we surmounted a small rise and came into view of the tidy (and unsurprisingly-named) Rifugio D'Antermioa. It was a typical stone-and-wood alpine structure, but in this case with a nice glassed-in veranda. We stopped for a satisfying lunch of tagliatelle (soup for Brian), bread, and radler.
As nice as it was to sit around in the glassed-in veranda, taking in the views, it was time to move on. To continue on the schedule, to reach town no later than mid-day.
We headed out from the Rifugio D'Antermoia shortly after 1pm. Now on trail 580, we continued east, mostly on the level until we came to a low pass known as the Passo Dona. A new vista opened up for us here, across acres upon acres of high, green meadow, all the way to the battlement-like walled tiers of the Sella Group, and the mighty crags of the Sassolungo group. The world suddenly seemed a lot greener from this pass.
We descended out of white talus and into the land of gentle green meadows. In fact, the little mini-valley we had descended into was structured such that we could no longer see any higher peaks - the squat bulk of the Sella Group had sunk below the near horizon and it was now just rounded green meadow hills in the view ahead of us. It was like we had entered an entirely new mini-world within the Dolomites.
Descending to Green Meadows
Mini-scape within the Dolomites
The creek draining our meadow-valley suddenly turned right and rushed down towards a prominent cleft in the side of the valley. Our trail did the same as well, and was now heading towards that same cleft. It was apparent that we'd soon be passing through that cleft, and based on the airy views beyond, starting a major (and probably final) descent down into the Fassa Valley.
After passing through the very scenic door-like entranceway into this new and lower valley, the trail began its descent. We had now started to descend back into the land of bushes and trees, which increased in frequency as we rapidly descended. The trail was actually kind of unpleasant along here - very steep, intertwined with the rushing creek, and not really graded or constructed in any consistent manner. It was just a rough, uneven, big-stepped descent.
