Saturday 2nd September: Weather: 7°C to 12°C at Rosetta: Blue skies, sunny day. 24°C back in di Castrozza
San Martino di Castrozza: 12.1k walk: 7hrs: 8.30am to 3.30pm: 1 x 15 min stop: Asc: 790m Desc: 790m
Day Walk: Cable car from S. Martino di Castrozza Then Walk from Rifugio Rosetta to Rifugio Pradidali and return
Accommodation: Sport Club Residence San Martino di Castrozza
Blue skies and last of full moon
Cable car up to Rosetta
Roseetta sits in a barren moonscape
Top of Rosetta Cable car 2700 m
Moonscape to Rifugio Rosetta
240 zig zags down the mountain
Passo Ball up there at 2,443 metres
Hanging cables over steep drop
Ian manoeuvring on cables
Highlight was doing a circuit walk from Rifugio Rosetta to Rifugio Pradidali on a stunning day in the Dolomites. Rifugio Pradidali was to be the last rifugio on our AV2 walk, however it was "fully complete”, I was told, when I tried to book from Australia, forcing us to detour down to San Martino di Castrozza. It was not a long walk today at just over 12k, nor a high ascent/descent of 790metres up and down, but it was difficult - really difficult, taking us 7 hours and we were both exhausted at the end. We had cables, rungs and spikes on the 5k to Pradidali and on the 7k back to Rosetta we were hop stepping and jumping stones and boulders for the entire walk through a barren moonscape. But it was spectacular!
We awake to a cool morning in our cosy Sports residence apartment, about the size of a small mobile home but it suits us perfectly, and we make our own breakfast of fruit and yoghurt. At 7.45am, we walk to the Col Verde/Rosetta Cable car station, about 400 metres up the road from us. It only costs 50 euro return for the two of us (discounted for over 70’s) and we jump on. It’s quite cold at 7°C, and when we alight from the first stage of the cable car at Col Verde, we have to wait 15 minutes in the cold air for the second stage to start rolling. It then takes us up to Rosetta where the sun is out and it’s warmer at 10°C.
Rifugio Rosetta, about 400 metres downhill, stands out like a sore thumb in the moonscape and all hikes begin there. We intend doing the Pradidali circuit, out 5k to Rifugio Pradidali, then back 7k to Rifugio Rosetta. It would have been our last walk on the AV2, except that Rifugio Pradidali was full, but we thought it would be nice to do as a day walk from di Castrozza. The hiking signs to Passo Balle, on the way to Pradidali, point to the right and we follow them down a never ending track of 240 zig zags. The story goes that the zig zag path was funded by Baron von Lesser with lotteries between 1905 and 1912 and he paid the workers by the metre, so they spun out the metres into a shallow gradient to make more money. Consequently it’s an amazingly steady gradient over the 240 zig zags instead of a steep descen. With fewer zig zags, less metres and less money for the workers.
For an hour we are winding our way down th zig zags, perilously close to the cliff edge down towards the valley of di Castrozza. Eventually we cross to a grassy knoll half way down where our ascent to Passo Balle begins. We knew we were in for a via Ferrata section, and this was it. I can’t say it was easy, but it was definitely easier than some of the via ferrata’s of the past few days done in freezing conditions. This via ferrata had cables circling around huge rocky outcrops almost horizontally with minimal ascent. And despite the sheer drop below, the cables felt OK with lots of footholds. Ian plays it safe and puts away his poles so he can grab the cables two handed. It took us another hour to climb the cables, and eventually after a rocky scree scramble the last 100 metres, we are at Passo del Ball at 2,443m looking down at Rifugio Pradidali. Another 25 minutes and we are at the rifugio having coffee and spicy fruit rolls on a rocky ledge wall outside. It’s now 11.45am and we make it a short 15 minute coffee stop as we are unsure what the next section holds for us and the last cable car down is at 4.20pm.
We leave Pradidali at exactly 12pm midday, and immediately it’s an uphill trudge over loose rocks, stones and scree. We’re not sure if we are on path 709 taking us back to Rosetta, so we stop and check the map several times. Most of the red/white way markers on rocks have disappeared - fallen down in mini avalanches. Eventually after one and a half hours of slog uphill, in warmish weather, we reach the top of Passo Pradidali at 2,658 metres. Most of today’s walk was above 2400 metres so there is nothing growing on this lunar landscape. The pine trees stop at about 2,000 metres, the meadow grass stops at about 2200 metres and above 2400 metres - nothing! Definitely not a pretty Alpe di Suisi!
An hours more walking over a rubbly moonscape and we encounter a few through hikers heading to Pradidali - slowly - and a few day hikers heading back to Rosetta - as slow as us. No one is moving quickly as it’s a slog up and and down mounds of rubble, side stepping boulders amd rocks while avoiding rolling your feet around on the marble like stones. At last we see a sign for 30 minutes to Rosetta - that means it will probably take us an hour - but we relax a little knowing we’ll make the last cable car down.
The weather has turned chilly, dropping quickly back to 10°C as a dark cloud and mist rolls across the mountain tops. It’s too cold to stop for a cup of tea, so we quickly bypass Rosetta, and walk the last 400 metres up to the cable car station which already has a load of hikers and is just about to leave. Italians are a chatty lot and the car is full of noisy Italians recounting the days events, their dogs sitting at their feet. We’re at the bottom in di Castrozza at 3.30pm, and check out the rotisserie shop which smelled good yesterday afternoon, but decided we’ll save the pork knuckle for Munich and just finish off our ham for dinner. Some fresh bread would be nice, so another stop at the Conad’s minimarket. There’s a Coop around the corner, and I look for a microwaveable bowl - we have a microwave in our apartment but no bowl/container to boil water and no jug. They don’t have one but I walk out with some peanuts and a Brie cheese.
Back at the apartment and we have a late lunch at 4.30pm - some bread and cheese with a beer/wine before having a shower then dinner of ham, bread, salad, tomato and cheese with mayonnaise - and of course a red wine mixed with a cold rose. The red is too dry, the rose is too sweet but the two together are perfect. Time to sort photos and an early night. It didn’t seem like a long walk at 12k, nor a steep ascent and descent at 790m up and down, but sstepping over rocks and stones all day is really tiring - more so than our 15k walks and 1,500 m up and down on the Tour des Geantes last year.
Coffee Rifugio Pradidali at 11.45am
Passo Pradidali at 2658 metres
Walking sideways on a steep hill
Rifugio Rosetta in sight at 3pm
A picturesque moonscape