I left Citta di Fiume by myself after hugging Laura, Amy, Roos, and Kaat goodbye. When walking towards Coldai, I came across a woman who seemed to be in her 70s—I saw her at Citta di Fiume, but didn’t really have a chance to talk to her—and she quickly mentioned that she’s heading to Coldai too and that she’s from Canada. Her name is Patricia, and despite being in her 70s she definitely was a much faster and more agile hiker than I was.
The morning trail towards Coldai was a gentle start: a jeep track followed by a trail through the woods that was mostly was mostly still wet from yesterday’s shower. Everything gleamed green, such a contrast from the snow-covered paths of my first days. I quickly reached Passo Staulanza and found myself at two diverging paths: a trail following the highway, or another track through the woods with a sign that says “to Coldai” which looked inviting and looked more like a real hiking trail. However, this trail doesn’t align with the GPX trail that I had on my phone and the guidebook. For once, I trusted the official route and stuck to the highway until I reached the switchbacks toward Coldai.
Those switchbacks taught me a lesson. At one point, thinking I’d found a shortcut, I went off-trail into some exposed scrambling. Definitely not the smart choice - sometimes the longer, winding path is exactly what you need to take.
Rifugio Coldai was quiet when I arrived, just a few hikers stopping for lunch before continuing their day. Some people were stopping by for lunch and the they went on their journey for the day. I recognized one Australian hiker from Città di Fiume, now alone where he’d had two companions before.But this time he was all alone. He said that one of his friends was injured, and the other one was accompanying her back to town. He said he might continue today—he’s heading to Vazzoler—and tomorrow, but then that’s it. He’s not used to hiking alone, he said.
I didn’t catch his name, but he said he’s from Australia, and when I told him I’m from Indonesia, he said that Java was his first big trip abroad and he really enjoyed it there. He also menitoned that he used to work in engineering, but decided to switch and now he’s doing his law degree while working as a paralegal. As someone’s who has been thinking to pivot in my career—but never really quite take the courage to do so—I told him I find it admirable that he took a big step to change his career. Not everyone is courageous enough to do it.
A few minutes later, Patricia walked in and she looked tired. She said she should have arrived way sooner, it’s just that the “to Coldai” sign in front of Passo Staulanza misled her. It turns out, it wasn’t a real trail; the trail was leading her even further away than the actual track, and after 1 km of a rather difficult trail, she realized that she was going the wrong way and she had to backtrack. This, I believe is the first time my navigation instincts had actually paid off.
The three of us shared lunch before the Australian continued toward Vazzoler. I settled in with my journal and hot chocolate while Patricia headed upstairs to rest. An hour later, familiar faces appeared - Stephanie and Lisa from Rifugio Fanes (I remembered Stephanie borrowing my charger). Later I found out they were best friends since age 16, met at tennis camp, now taking on the trail together until Vazzoler before catching a bus to Algordo.
Our quiet and relatively chill afternoon changed when a school group burst into the rifugio - not just for a visit, but to stay the night. I guess this explains why I didn’t see that many hikers at the rifugio except for me, Patricia, Stephanie, Lisa, and also Phil who was napping in the same room as mine. He said he’s been sick since Fanes with the cold.
The few of us hiking the trail except for Phil ended up together at one table for the afternoon and dinner. We shared wine and trail stories while wondering about our impending sleepless night as the students’ chatters echoed through the rifugio. As the evening unfolded, I thought about how this morning I’d started alone, hugging goodbye to friends made just yesterday. Yet here I was again, sharing a hearty dinner and life stories with new faces. It’s probably just how this trail works: no matter how solitary the journey begins, you never stay alone for long.
