It’s a brand new day in the Dolomites. Today’s dawn at Rifugio Nuvolau brought a stark contrast to yesterday’s fantastic sunset: this time, dark fog blanketed everything and the visibility was so poor it ruined my plans for an early start. The staff at the rifugio told me it should be fine, and I should just wait for a bit. The silver lining though was it means I could spend a lingering breakfast with Megan and Fran, downing multiple servings of bread and the strongest coffee I’d encountered on the trail.
Once the fog lifted slightly, I was itching to go, so I said goodbye to them and started my descent from Nuvolau’s perch. I was immediately lost in the process. I knew I was supposed to go to Passo Giau, and it was supposed to be straightforward, but in the fog, every direction looked equally wrong. As I was walking around in circle (quite literally), I passed by Averau and saw Karen and Juan Carlos outside, and that gave me a chance to let me properly say goodbye. It’s such a relieve because I would hate to leave the trail without saying proper goodbye to them. They’d decided to end their hike here and continue their Italy journey from Cortina. I’m grateful to have met them on this hike - they have helped me a bunch on the trail, and even having company especially during the first few days was already a great help. After warm hugs and email exchanges, Karen’s told me: “You’re very brave. Good luck!”
And so I set off on my own, and for the entire day I would be hiking almost exclusively on my own, for the first time on the trail.
Later I found out that I actually went the wrong way to Passo Giau which was much more difficult than the original trail. It involved a lot of scrambling and while there was no ice in sight, it started raining as soon as I left Averau, and so the trails were especially muddy and slippery. Two Spanish hikers kept an eye on me through the most difficult sections, but once we reached flatter ground, they moved ahead and I was truly alone.
At Passo Giau, I couldn’t bring myself to eat my packed lunch from Nuvolau. I only had a piece of chocolate to restore some energy. and that’s when I met Fran and Megan again. I crossed paths with Fran and Megan one last time, but the dark grey sky hurried our goodbyes and I rushed to cross the main road to enter Route 436, which would bring me to Forcella de Col Piombin, then Forcella Giau, where Monte Pelmo appeared across vast green pastures.
The landscape today was quite different from the previous days: the close-up mountain views were gone, and instead, they were replaced by wide sweeping meadows with peaks in the distance. The afternoon brought hail, then rain, then both. I barely saw another soul, and I guess the southern section’s remoteness and the weather kept the day hikers away. But having no choice but to reach the next rifugio for shelter, I pressed on.
I started to get used to hiking alone again, not knowing who I’ll meet in the next destination. I spent a lot of time hiking alone on the Fishermen’s Trail, and today brought me some of the familiar feelings, albeit in a totally different scenery and weather. But even with soaked socks and one leg getting sucked into mud, I found myself enjoying the solitary moments.
The final stretch to Citta di Fiume was fortunately a jeep track, which I’d normally hate because I find it boring, but it was very much welcomed after the muddy trails. I finally arrived in Citta di Fiume all cold and tired, but still somehow gaining the strength to sketch outside. I ended up meeting two hikers from Australia, Laura and Amy, who were doing some parts of the Alta Via 1. Our conversation flowed so easily that I ended up not finishing my sketch until dinner was called.
We were seated together, along with two sisters from Belgium, Roos and Kaat who were doing Alta Via 1 from south to north and would end their hike today. Tomorrow, they would catch the bus back to the airport and fly home. I confessed my doubts about completing the whole trail, but they became the best hype girls ever: they told me that the next day would be easy, that I was killing it by doing it myself, and the next day would be easier. I kept saying that I’ve been meeting the nicest people but I really enjoyed our conversations over dinner, and its amazing how much you can bond with someone during just a nice dinner, sharing the same hiking experience while also learning about each other’s lives. I was a bit sad that we only got to spend 1 night together, because tomorrow all of us would be going different ways.
And that’s how my Day 5 on the trail went. It started as a foggy, solitary morning, which then morphed into moments of unexpected connections. My body felt the accumulated fatigue of five days on the trail, but their encouragement kept me going. Maybe I would make it after all. Maybe that was the real magic of the trail - not just the views or physical achievements, but these fleeting connections that somehow gave you strength to keep going.
