day8.md (8364B)
1 <table style="width: 100%; table-layout: fixed;"> <thead> <tr> 2 <th style="text-align: left"> <a href="../day7">← Day 7</a> </th> 3 <th style="text-align: center"> <a href="../">Alta Via 2</a> </th> 4 <th style="text-align: right"> <a href="../day9">Day 9 →</a> </th> 5 </tr> </thead> </table> 6 7 # Day 8 - The Troi dei Caserin 8 9 <p align="center"><em>August 27, 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/27-0000-map.png"> 16 </details> 17 18 *Download the [gpx file](../gpx/av2-day8.gpx) or see the route on 19 [outdooractive.com](https://www.outdooractive.com/en/route/hiking-trail/san-martino-di-castrozza-primiero-vanoi/-2025-alta-via-2-day-8/325543034/?share=%7E3zdmeu44%244ossqbdb)* 20 21 ## A damp morning 22 23 Today the final part of Alta Via 2 begins. We are entering the *Vette 24 Feltrine*, a part that is perhaps less well-known by tourists, but no 25 less beautiful. The trails we'll have to walk are going to be narrow, 26 often steep. 27 28 The weather forecasts for the day are not great, but we 29 should reach [Rifugio Boz](https://www.rifugioboz.it/) (1718 meters 30 on sea level) before it starts raining. For now there is just a thick fog, 31 and the weather is unpleasantly hot and humid. 32 33  34 35 <p align="center"><em>Our last sight of Rifugio Cereda and the Pala Group.</em></p> 36 37 We leave at 7:45. At first we walk on a secondary paved road, then on 38 a dirt road. Both my guide booklet and the signs try to make us walk 39 downhill towards the nearby villages of Matiuz and Padreterno, but there 40 is a clearly faster road that stays in the forest and leads to the 41 start of the actual trail. 42 43  44 45 <p align="center"><em> 46 The top sign is marked as "AV2", for Alta Via 2. There is a gap that 47 was probably filled by a sign pointing left, which is the way we took. 48 I suspect someone - perhaps the local forest authorities - removed 49 the sign because they did not want people to go that way, but I 50 can't imagine why. Or perhaps the sign simply fell off. 51 </em></p> 52 53 After about one hour of walk in the forest, the actual trail begins. 54 The humidity is very intense, still unpleasant. Unfortunately this also 55 means that the pictures of the day are very... foggy. 56 57  58 59 <p align="center"><em>The valley behind us, in the fog.</em></p> 60 61 ## L'Intaiàda 62 63 The trail becomes steep, and then extremely steep. We walk along 64 a vertical wall of granite, where a narrow passage is carved out. 65 Indeed, this part of the trail is called *L'Intaiàda*, which 66 can be roughly translated as *The Carved-Out*. 67 68  69 70 <p align="center"><em>Admittedly not the best picture of L'Intaiàda.</em></p> 71 72 The trail continues, narrow and exposed, but well equipped with some 73 sturdy metal ropes where needed. It requires some attention, but I don't 74 find it scary or particularly difficult; there is always some rock or 75 support piece I can hang on to rest while I think about the next steps. 76 77  78 79 <p align="center"><em>Another section of L'Intaiàda.</em></p> 80 81  82 83 The trail continues very steep, and at 12:05 we reach the *Pass del 84 Comedon* (2130m). 85 86  87 88 <p align="center"><em>View from the pass.</em></p> 89 90 ## A quick break at Bivacco Feltre 91 92 From the pass we walk down an extremely steep trail, initially very 93 exposed, then less scary. 94 95 My left knee has been doing well so far, but suddently I feel an acute 96 sting of pain that almost makes loose my balance. This is not good. It 97 is also very different from the constant, mild to moderate pain that I 98 have felt when walking downhill in the past few days. But I push through, 99 slowly and steadily. 100 101 The fog becomes even thicker, at times we can't see much farther than 102 20-30 meters. 103 104  105 106 <p align="center"><em>We are close to Bivacco Feltre, but we can't see it.</em></p> 107 108 For a brief moment I catch a glimpse of *Bivacco Feltre* (1930m), a 109 [sheet metal shelter](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bivouac_shelter) 110 where hikers can wait for the bad weather to subside, or spend the night 111 in case of need. 112 113  114 115 <p align="center"><em>Bivacco Feltre.</em></p> 116 117 We reach the bivouac at 13:05, and we decide to take a break. We eat 118 a protein bar and refill our water bottles. Unfortunately, we can see 119 literally nothing besides the meadow around us, and the fog. 120 121  122 123 <p align="center"><em> 124 Our view from Bivacco Feltre. The guide book describes the place 125 as "pleasant and majestic". I guess I'll have to trust them on this one. 126 </em></p> 127 128 We need some rest, but we don't want to wait for too long. The journey 129 is still long, and if we don't reach our destination before 17:00 we 130 will probably be caught by the forecasted thunderstorm. We leave the 131 bivouac at 13:30. 132 133 ## The Troi dei Caserin 134 135 From the shelter we walk down, loosing about 200 or 300 meters of 136 altitude. We quickly gain them back, as the trail continues upwards. 137 The fog is still very thick, we can't see further than 10m. 138 139 The trail so far is not particuarly hard, but there are some interesting 140 passages where we have to cross some waterfalls and some small water 141 streams. Or maybe I found them interesting only because my bad knee 142 prevented me from pushing with my left leg and I had to make some complex 143 alternative manouvers. 144 145  146 147 At 14:50 we reach *Col dei Bech* (1960m), which means *Ibex' hill*. 148 And in fact, just after Cold dei Bech, in one of the rare moments when 149 the fog let us see at more than 15 meters, we did see a small family 150 of chamois. Ok, not quite ibex, but close enough. Judging from the 151 quantity of warm shit that we saw on the trail, they had probably walked 152 right ahead of us for a while. 153 154 We continue on this trail that becomes increasingly narrow and exposed, 155 difficult in some sections. We are on the *Troi dei Caserin* ("the 156 Caserins' trail"). 157 158  159 160 There are some steel ropes in the most dangerous parts, but not for 161 long: soon we reach a grassy section, and the trail becomes ever 162 more narrow. On our left, the emptiness of a hundred-meters free fall is 163 hidden by the fog. My aching knee makes everything even more challenging. 164 165 We did not take many pictures of this part of the journey, mainly because 166 we were focusing on keeping our feet on the ground. Apparently, my dad 167 and I walked this same trail some 15 years ago, when it was covered in 168 half a meter of snow. And I say apparently because, even though we both 169 remember that trip quite well, we have no recollection of taking such a 170 dangerous path in those conditions. But there is no alternative road, 171 so we must have done it... somehow. 172 173 At 16:45 we reach *Pass de Mura* (1867m). The view opens up, but we 174 can't quite see our destination yet. 175 176  177 178 <p align="center"><em> 179 You see the tiny building down there? It is not Rifugio 180 Boz, but Malga Neva. Luckily for us, the Rifugio is closer than that. 181 </em></p> 182 183 We walk down from the pass and we reach [Rifugio 184 Boz](https://www.rifugioboz.it/) (1718m) at 17:05. Just as we walk 185 through the door, a strong storm begins. 186 187 ## At Rifugio Boz 188 189 We are tired, hungry and our muscles are sore. As we check in, the hut 190 manager asks us if we are walking the Alta Via. We respond that yes, 191 we are, and tomorrow we will be going all the way to [Rifugio Dal 192 Piaz](https://www.rifugiodalpiaz.com), and we'll finally walk down 193 victorious to Croce d'Aune in the evening. 194 195 "Are you sure about that?" - she says. 196 197 "Why?" - we ask, not sure if she was joking or not. 198 199 "Have you seen the weather forecast?" 200 201 <table style="width: 100%; table-layout: fixed;"> <thead> <tr> 202 <th style="text-align: left"> <a href="../day7">← Day 7</a> </th> 203 <th style="text-align: center"> <a href="../">Alta Via 2</a> </th> 204 <th style="text-align: right"> <a href="../day9">Day 9 →</a> </th> 205 </tr> </thead> </table> 206 207 208 209 210 211