Searching for the trail in the Marmarole

We wake up late in the morning, and as we exit the spartan hut we are greeted by a clear blue ski with a burning sun which predicts a hot day. The Musati bivouac hut sits in a wild glacier cauldron, 1200 meters above the winding road which descends from the Passo di Tre Croci.

The via feratta starts almost behind the refugee, and even though the terrain seems too rough for running I hope that the mountain path will actually turn into a running trail at one point. But as the advance, crossing ridge after ridge we encounter the same combination of via feratta, a lot of gravel and wild and barren landscape. During the entire day we meet exactly 3 tourists, on a Saturday with perfect weather. And so we find that besides the overcrowded trails around Cortina d’Ampezzo you can find wild places even in the touristic Dolomites. One the way we meet several times mountain goats, which are better suited for the terrain in comparison with us in our minimalistic trail running equipment.

I completely give up on running after descending a long slope with moving gravel, which turned out to be a relatively painful experience for my exposed ankles. And so we continue for the rest of the day first towards the Voltolina bivouac and then back to the car. My hopes of trying out the Dulfer route in the Cima Grande are shattered when Mihaela starts to complain about her knee, so we plan a friendlier tour around the Tre Cime di Lavaredo.