Alta Via 2

Context

The Alta Via 2 is a high route between Brixen in South Tyrol to Feltre in Veneto. The route was developed in the 1960s by the Italian Alpine Club to promote multi-day trekking through the Dolomites. It was originally pieced together from traditional shepherd’s paths, World War I military roads, and alpine club trails. The official route is ~100 miles long with ~35,000 feet of ascending.

The route crosses the former Astro-Hungarian and Italian front lines of the White War and passes the Marmolada glacier where the Austro Hungarian soldiers built an “Ice City” in 1916. Apparently some of the via ferrata sections were originally built during that era, although fortunately the hardware we saw had been installed more recently.

I originally learned about the Alta Via 2 when reading about various treks commonly done in Europe. The Alta Via 2 is quite popular, although seemingly slightly less popular than Tour du Mount Blanc.

Along the route are about ~20 rifugios. When Mary and I originally decided to do this Alta Via route, my first step was to book a set of rifugios. The full route is commonly done in 10-12 stages, but it seemed reasonable to me to attempt the full route in 7 days. I selected the specific sections we would hike by consulting Caltopo and cross referencing against various trip reports online.

I ultimately came up with a list of seven rifugios we would stay in: Genova, Boe, Passo Valles, Mulaz, Traviso, and Boz. To book the huts, I emailed each of their respective managers in December of 2024. It required a bit of back and forth, but eventually I managed to get reservations for all six huts. Two of the huts required deposits and the other four trusted in my good intentions to follow through with the reservations.

Mary and I arrived in Europe on August 25th, and after spending a week in Chamonix and another week near Zermatt, we caught a series of trains to Brixen on September 8th with the intent to begin our hike Septemer 9th. In Brixen, we stayed at Hotel Traube which was very pleasant and included free Gondola passes on the Plosebahn which we would use to start our first day.

Day 1: Plosebahn -> Rifugio Genova (10 miles, 3500 ft)

Our first day dawned with clouds hugging the mountains. We went for a brief stroll along the river that runs through Brixen and watched the many school children careen around on their bicycles. Despite being in Italy, Brixen is a very German looking town. We made it back to the hotel at about seven, ate the hotel breakfast, and then caught a bus up to the base of the Plosebahn Gondola. The bus ride might have been the low point of the day. The road was very windy although you would not have guessed it by our driver’s speed. The gondola began running at 9AM; we caught one of the first gondola cars and rode up to about 6600 feet

Between the bus and the gondola we had avoided climbing 4800 ft!

From the top of the gondola we walked up a ski hill towards Rifugio Plose which sits at the top of a hill. It was under construction and closed when we passed.

After walking under another gondola, the trail became more trail-like and slowly descended down to Passo Rodella. There were many tasty berries along the way! We briefly walked on the road that crossed Passo Rodella before turning off the road and climbing up to Forcella de Putia which translates to something like “Saddle of Putia”. By the time we made it to the pass we were inside a cloud with very minimal visibility. We walked on towards Genova and arrived there at about 2pm or so. At Genova we were given a key to our private room (this was the only rifugio that had locks on the doors) and set our stuff down in the room. We walked back downstairs and inspected the reading material available at the hut (mostly Italian) and had a snack and then walked back upstairs and took a nap.

Our most spacious rifugio room on the trip.

Genova was the only rifugio to not include a fixed menu dinner in the overnight fee. At 6:30 or so we walked downstairs and I ordered bacon, eggs, and potatoes. We chatted with a couple from Manchester and Notingham (the same Notingham that figures significantly in Robin Hood) and also two girls from Canada. Both groups had booked the huts through a tour agency. The upside of that strategy is convenience although the downside is that the booking agency charges a decent commission. We paid about 80 euros a night for a half-board. The Canadians were paying about 110 euros per night by going through the booking agency.

Day 2: Rifugio Genova -> Rifugio Boè (15.5 miles, 6500 ft)

The next day was rainy. After a reasonably light breakfast of bread, jam, yogurt, muesli, and hard boiled eggs we began our hike in the rain. The rain continued all day. The tragedy of the rain was that we got quite wet and also were not able to see that much. We stopped for lunch at Rifugio Puez and had a tasty sausage and polenta and tried to dry our jackets.

One of the few photos taken on this rainy day.

The low point of the day was in the afternoon after crossing Passo Frara. We were climbing up towards Rifugio Piscadiadu on a via ferrata. It was raining and I was a little cold and the visibility was zero.

Once we made it to Piscadiadu things started to look up. The rain stopped for the first time all day and the visibility began improving. The rest of our walk to Boe became quite pleasant.

A very happy site.

Boe was a beautiful rifugio. It was restored in 2018 and feels very well built and spacious. Since 1990, the same family has run the hut and the hut running feels like a very dialed operation. We hung our clothes in an attempt to dry them and walked down stairs to our assigned table where we chatted with two English fellows — Nigel and Andrew. They both had many good stories including one about making an appearance in an old patagonia trip report while they were hiking TMB.

Dinner arrived at 6:45. We were served spinach dumplings as the first course. The dumplings were very oily and tasty and there was fresh bread to mop up the juices and oils. The second course of a pork chop and fries was not exceptionally good from a culinary perspective but was most excellent from a caloric perspective.

After dessert we said good night to our British friends and paid our bill. We had a reasonable long day the next day (a planned 24 miles to Passo Valles) so we sadly decided it would be best to depart before breakfast. With that decision made, we crawled into our sleeping bag liners beneath slightly scratchy wool blankets and fell asleep.

Day 3: Rifugio Boè -> Passo San Pellegrino (22 miles, 5000ft)

We packed our stuff and quietly walked downstairs and departed the hut at about 6 AM. We started walking with headlamps but pretty soon that became unnecessary. The day dawned bright and blue. Disappointingly today was one of our lower days; it was a shame to waste such nice weather on valley walking.

The Marmolada glacier in the distance, lit by the morning sun.

We descended down towards Passo Pordo. As we descended the morning light struck the green hillside opposite us and the Marmolada glacier behind it in a very aesthetic fashion. We paused at the pass to eat our sandwiches that the Rifugio Boe staff had packed for us in lieu of breakfast and also purchased a croissant and apple cake from an open hotel on the pass. My shoes were so muddy from the descent that I walked into the hotel in my socks to order to avoid tracking in mud.

Refueled, we walked up from the pass and over a ridge and then angled down towards Lake Ferdia which sits below the Marmolada glacier.

A reservoir that sits on a divide and therefore requires damns on both ends.

In retrospect, it might have been neat to try to walk over the top of the Marmolada glacier and take a more direct path towards Passo San Peligrino, but in interest of predictability we followed the designed route down the valley towards Malga Ciapella. All the hotels in Maga Ciapella were closed for the season, but we stopped at a small grocery store to buy some snacks and then bought some sandwiches and pizza at the local cafe. Both were unremarkable, but it was still a very nice break.

From Malga Ciapella we went up and over a very chill pass to Passo San Peligrino. For half the climb we were on a nice gravel road and even once the route became single track the trail stayed very good with a moderate grade. On the climb we were amused to watch a man coral his two donkeys with a four wheeler. We were perplexed as to his actual goal as it seemed he was simply chasing the donkeys away by going after them in his four wheeler, but regardless of his intent the scene was most engaging. He was chasing his donkeys the same direction we were walking, so the spectacle provided amusement for a good 15 minutes.

Up and over!

We had originally planned to make it all the way to Passo Valles today, but given that the planned subsequent day was quite short we decided to abbreviate today and stop at Passo San Pellegrino at Hotel Costabella. The decision involved eating our 40 euro deposit at Passo Valles but otherwise was quite straightforward. We were able to book a half board stay at Hotel Costbella day off for 190 euros which was not significantly more expensive than the average rifugio stay which for two people might be 160 euros.

Descending down towards Passo San Peligrino.

Hotel Castabella was a peculiar place. We were excited to check out their “spa” but a little underwhelmed to find it had no pool — only a sauna and a steam room. We were similarly excited for dinner but a little perplexed at the “fine dining” experience. Given our appetites and standards, a couple plates of pasta and pizza would have been superior to multiple small portioned courses. That said, it was very nice to have a full size room with hangers and we were finally able to dry all our wet clothes from the previous day.

Day 4: Passo San Pellegrino -> Rifugio Mulaz (11 miles, 4800 ft)

After a leisurely breakfast at our San Pellegrino hotel, we started walking at about 8:15 and walked up and over a single pass and past Lago di Cavia to make it to Passo Valles in about two hours.

Easy walking.

The Passo Valles Rifugio looked quite nice and we heard from subsequent hikers that as a result of the rifugio being on a paved road the food was quite good.

From Passo Valles, we continued up to Forcella Venegia, then around to Forcella Venegiotta, and then up via ferrata section to Rifugio Mulaz. We went back and forth with another couple that was hiking at a reasonable clip, and spurred on by competition we made it to Mulaz at the reasonable early hour of 1:30, right ahead of the other couple. We subsequently learned that the other couple was from Scotland, although the women had grown up in Italy.

Rifugio Mulaz from above.

Mulaz was a small rifugio and we got a private room that was so small either Mary or I would pratically have to lay down before we could close the door. After setting our bags down, we walked downstairs and I ordered an apple pastry and hot chocolate, both with cream. We toasted the sandwiches we made at the hotel breakfast and had a very nice time.

At Hotel Castabella, Mary had spotted [Lou Whittaker’s memoir] (https://www.amazon.com/Lou-Whittaker-Memoirs-Mountain-Guide/dp/0898864593) so after our snack I picked up the memoir and read a bit about the early history of mountaineering in the PNW. The book reads as if it was a stream of conscious dictation by Lou Whiticker but none the less I found it quite engaging.

In the afternoon we went for a short walk up to the top of Mt. Mulaz and got a mix of pleasant views and white out clouds.

Nice pointy rocks.

We also saw the mechanism the hut uses to bring supplies in! Wow!

Day 5: Rifugio Mulaz -> Rifuio Traviso (15.2 miles, 6900 ft)

Prior to departing on Alta Via 2, our Seattle friend Aaron Long had shared a route he had run that included a high line parraling the Alta Via 2 between Rifugio Mulaz and Rifugio Rosseta. He had spoken highly about his route which he dubbed on Strava “Chossy chutes” so we decided to follow his highline to Rosseta.

The high line route started off with a 3000 ft climb. The trail was reasonably good and we were climbing so the bad bits didn’t slow us down. The visibility was sporatic, but the occasional glimpse of the mountain side made the route worthwhile.

As we started our climb, we saw a group of Chamois bounding down the hillside. They appeared to be descending about 200 feet a minute. Impressive creatures!

Faster than Killian Jornet.

Slower than Killian Jornet.

After getting to our high point and having a snack we also began our descent.

Playing “Will the rock move?”

We made it to Rifugio Rossetta at about 1PM and stepped inside to get lunch. The hut was bustling and basically every table was full. We waited for about 10 minutes, forlornly watching other people eat. But then a table opened up and we ordered sausage, potatoes, apple cake, and hot chocolate. All the food arrived very quickly. By the time we finished our meal, the whole place had cleared out. We were back to walking again by 1:45 or so with 8 more miles to Treviso.

A proper trail!

We passed Rifugio Pradidali about two hours later. Rifugio Pradidalia appears to be the climber Rifugio. After not seeing many climbers or Italians for most of the trip, we saw multiple groups of Italian climbers as we walked towards Pradidali. Some of the climbers were still on the wall and some were returning to the hut for dinner.

We paused at Pradidali and ate a quick snack of biscotti and then continued on up to the top of Passo Lede before beginning our most heinous descent of the trip. From Passo Lede to Traviso we descended 4000 ft over two miles. Much of that descending was on rocky fall-line trail and the rest was on slippery wet grass muddy trail. It took about two hours to descend all the way to the valley. I paused about half way down and emailed Traviso to let them know we would be getting in a little late but that we still very much wanted dinner.

About ¾ of the way down we bumped into six women from Scottland who were doing the whole route in 6 days! They were also going to Traviso. We were slightly faster on the downhil and passed them. I was a little anxious that my email about dinner might not have been received at Traviso so we continued to boggie. At the base of the climb I checked my email and saw that Traviso had responded to my email and asked what we would like for dinner. Great news! I replied to their email and the final 400 ft climb up to the hut was relatively easy knowing that we would have hot food waiting for us. We made it to Traviso at 7:20 which was only 20 minutes after their advertised dinner time of 7.

Day 6: Rifugio Traviso -> Rifugio Boz (14.7 miles, 6800 ft)

Today started with a reasonably lame breakfast consisting of bread, cheese, butter, jam, nutella, and coffee. Only partially fueled, we started walking at about 7:15 and had a pleasant stroll up and over the ridge to Passo Cereda. Descending down towards Passo Cereda, the trail cut a dramatic contour along a very steep grassy ridge.

We made it to Passo Cereda at 10:30 or so, which was too early for the rifugio to serve lunch. Luckily, a hotel was open and we were able to buy sandwiches, cake, croissants, and some drinks. While we ate we were harassed by a very cute cat who was attempting to capatilize on his cuteness by stealing our food. We pushed him away when he hopped up onto the table. It is remarkable how when cats are physically moved (i.e. pushed off a table) they do not react with anything like anger but rather take it as a fact of life and try again minutes later.

As we were wrapping up our lunch the Scottish women arrived and also stopped at the cafe. We chatted with them briefly and then paid our bill and began the climb up to Passo Comedo. The climb was long but mostly shaded, and the last thousand vertical feel had many via ferretas and very nice views back into the verdant valley. From Passo Comedon, we traversed along the flank of Sass di Mura. Similar to the morning, the trail was good but traversed very steep grassy hillsides.

In and out clouds.

We had a pleasant stroll until we arrived at Rifugio Boz at 4pm. Rifugio Boz and Rifugio Traviso were our first rifugios below the treeline. When we arrived at Boz, there were 10 people sitting outside and reading and talking. At our previous rifugios the temperatures had been sufficiently low to discourage such behavior. After setting our stuff down in the communal bunk room, I took my book and journal and sat outside and ate a linser tort.

Day 7: Rifuio Boz -> Feltre (13.3 miles, 1800 ft)

We hoped to catch a 1 PM trian out of Feltre, so we planned to deviate from the officlial Alta Via 2 route and walked directly into Feltre.

An early start to catch a train.

We followed the ridgeline official route for the first 3.5 miles, but then turned left and hiked down towards Feltre in a more direct fashion. We were worried about trail quality, but if anything the trail was much better once we turned off the Alta Via 2 route.

To Feltre.

The walking in Feltre was reasonably nice and we made it downtown at about noon! We ate some fantastic pizza and then caught our train. What an excellent walk!

The fantastic pizza.

Maps:

• CALTOPO