day6.md (8902B)
1 <table style="width: 100%; table-layout: fixed;"> <thead> <tr> 2 <th style="text-align: left"> <a href="../day5">← Day 5</a> </th> 3 <th style="text-align: center"> <a href="../">Alta Via 2</a> </th> 4 <th style="text-align: right"> <a href="../day7">Day 7 →</a> </th> 5 </tr> </thead> </table> 6 7 # Day 6 - The Farangole trail 8 9 <p align="center"><em>August 25, 2025</em></p> 10 11 ## Route of the day 12 13 <details> 14 <summary><strong>Click to see map</strong></summary> 15 <img src="../img/25-0000-map.png"> 16 </details> 17 18 *Download the [gpx file](../gpx/av2-day6.gpx) or see the route on 19 [outdooractive.com](https://www.outdooractive.com/en/route/hiking-trail/province-of-belluno/-2025-alta-via-2-day-6/325542632/?share=%7E3zdmb4fp%244ossqbdc)* 20 21 ## The starry night 22 23 During the night I woke up and managed to catch a glimpse of a wonderful 24 starry night, the likes of which I had never seen before. 25 26 If you live in a place with a lot of light pollution, like every medium 27 to large city in the World, seeing *a few* stars may already be an unusual 28 experience. At the moment I live in a fairly small city, and we literally 29 never see stars over here. We are lucky if we see Venus once in a while. 30 31 But I grew up in a small village in a sparsely populated area, I *was* 32 used to seeing skies full of stars at night. But this time, at 2500 33 metres above sea level, in the middle of literally nowhere, the sky was 34 soething else. 35 36 I did not manage to take a good picture, sorry. I did not feel like 37 going out in the freezing cold, and my phone's camera is probably not 38 good enough anyway. 39 40 ## The Farangole pass 41 42 At Rifugio Mulaz, the sun rises at 6:40 and sets at around 7:05. 43 In the morning. Luckily for you, I got up early enough to catch 44 the *sunset*. 45 46  47 48 <p align="center"><em> 49 Rifugio Mulaz is closely surrounded by high mountains. This is the 50 only spot where you could see something in the distance. This time 51 of the year, the sun rises from the peaks on the left of this picture, 52 only to hide away behind those on the right a few minutes later. 53 </em></p> 54 55 It's a beautiful day, if only a bit cold. This time we get up earlier than 56 usual and we are ready to leave at 7:15. The main challenge of the day 57 is going to be the *Passo delle Farangole* (2932 meters on sea level), 58 a high mountain pass not far from the hut. Our guide book even suggests 59 a possible alternative route for less confident hikers, but we deemed 60 it within our capabilities. 61 62 After steep, but short, climb to *Forcella Margherita* (2655m) we reach a 63 section of the trail that would not be particularly challenging, if 64 not for the fact that the track is not well marked. 65 66  67 68 <p align="center"><em> 69 The trail after Forcella Margherita, right before the Farangole pass. 70 </em></p> 71 72 In fact, the traces of the hikers who missed the path are *more* visible 73 than the actual trail, likely because said hikers made them more clear 74 by backtracking their steps when they realized they were out of the 75 trail. We do the same a couple of times. 76 77 We soon reach the start of the equipped trail that leads to the pass, 78 but it looks sketchy, so I decide to try climbing up the scree next to 79 it. This was probably a mistake, so we soon turn left and attach our 80 trusty ropes to the steel supports. 81 82  83 84 <p align="center"><em>Climbing up to the Farangole Pass.</em></p> 85 86 The track is very steep, and at times 87 [exposed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exposure_%28heights%29), but the 88 steel ropes and the other supporting material is in a good state. 89 Overall, this famous Farangole Pass is easier than we expected. 90 91  92 93 <p align="center"><em> 94 And down we go. The steel ladder looks like it ends in the void, 95 but actually there is an extra steel beam protruding from the 96 rock, and after that there is only a 60cm drop. 97 </em></p> 98 99 After clearing the pass at around 9:00, we feel satisfied and proud of 100 ourselves. My knee does not even hurt anymore. 101 102 Little did we now that the truly difficult part is the Farangole *trail*, 103 which we'll have to go through later this morning. But for now, in our 104 blissful ignorance, we enjoy the beautiful weather and we take plenty 105 of pictures as we walk down from the pass. 106 107  108 109 <p align="center"><em> 110 The view North, towards the mountains we have just passed. 111 </em></p> 112 113  114 115 <p align="center"><em>An imposing rocky plateau on the South.</em></p> 116 117  118 119 <p align="center"><em>The view to the North-East.</em></p> 120 121 ## The Farangole trail 122 123 As the trail gets tight and very exposed, we realize that maybe 124 *this* is the section the guide book was warning us about. We 125 proceed carefully, attaching our home-made harness when a steel rope 126 is available. Unfortunately, most of the trail is on a narrow ledge 127 surrounded by grass and soft soil, where no piece of supporting material 128 can be fixed. At least it is not wet today. 129 130  131 132 <p align="center"><em> 133 My dad walking on a narrow section of the Farangole trail. 134 </em></p> 135 136  137 138 <p align="center"><em>Another hiker following us on the same trail.</em></p> 139 140 Since this trail is challenging and dangerous, we have to keep 141 constant focus on our steps and the way ahead of us. We have little 142 time to relax and enjoy the beautiful view, and we take much fewer 143 pictures than we did earlier. 144 145  146 147 <p align="center"><em> 148 The view from the last part of the Farangole trail, towards 149 the East. Soon we'll have to walk down to the dry bed of the 150 river you can see at the bottom of this picture. The tiny line 151 on the hill on the left is the Farangole trail. 152 </em></p> 153 154 At 12:30 we reach the bottom of *Valgrande* (*Pian dei Cantoni*, 2310m). 155 156 ## To Rifugio Rosetta and beyond 157 158 The way up to Rifugio Rosetta is steep, but short. The previous 159 part was not physically demanding, but it was dangerous and 160 technically fairly challenging. I am relieved that now I can just 161 let my legs bring me up, and I reach the hut at 13:05. 162 163  164 165 <p align="center"><em>Rifugio Rosetta</em></p> 166 167 [Rifugio Rosetta](https://www.rifugiorosetta.it) (2581m) is easily 168 reachable with a cable car, and because of this it is very crowded, 169 similarly to the area around Piz Boè that we passed through on 170 [day 3](../day3). 171 172 This is a good time for a break, so we decide to sit down, drink 173 a glass of [skiwasser](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skiwasser), and 174 eat another slice of strüdel. Yes, we ate a lot of those. The one 175 they serve in this hut is particularly good, with plenty of fresh 176 fruit and pine nuts. 177 178 We get up and leave the hut at 14:05. The weather gets cold and foggy, 179 but luckily for us it won't last long. Our plan is to walk down until 180 *Col de le Fede* (2200m) and then up again to *Pass dei Ball* (2433m). 181 182 The way down is slow and tedious, and my knee starts hurting again. 183 184  185 186 <p align="center"><em>Walking down from Rifugio Rosetta.</em></p> 187 188 The way up to the pass is steep, and there is a long section equipped 189 with a steel rope. But the equipped part is actually very easy compared 190 to other similar trails that we have walked this morning and in the 191 previous days. 192 193  194 195 <p align="center"><em>My dad walking on this equipped section.</em></p> 196 197 After reaching Pass dei Ball, we walk down slowly to 198 [Rifugio Pradidali](https://www.rifugiopradidali.com/eng/Home.html) 199 (2278m), which we reach at 17:05. 200 201 Later we would discover that there is an alternative route to 202 go from Rosetta to Pradidali, which starts by walking up to the 203 East and skips both the slow and tedious descent and the 204 more steep section before Pass dei Ball. This alternative path was 205 probably slightly easier, but it would not have saved us that much 206 time and effort. 207 208 The Pradidali is a nice hut, but there is no phone signal nor WiFi. 209 The showers are still expensive, and when it is my turn the water boiler 210 has run out of gas, and I can either wait for it to be replaced or do a 211 freezing cold shower. I don't want to wait, so arctic shower here I come! 212 213 <table style="width: 100%; table-layout: fixed;"> <thead> <tr> 214 <th style="text-align: left"> <a href="../day5">← Day 5</a> </th> 215 <th style="text-align: center"> <a href="../">Alta Via 2</a> </th> 216 <th style="text-align: right"> <a href="../day7">Day 7 →</a> </th> 217 </tr> </thead> </table> 218 219 220 221 222 223