After an uninspiring breakfast, we started out in what was going to be a long day in the rain. We carefully backtracked down the slick rocky path to Rifugio Averau and further down around the backside of Nuvolau towards Passo Giau. Along the trail we noticed a lonely chamois (mountain goat) trying to find his lost family.

At Rifugio Passo Giau we stopped to get some relieve from the rain, and enjoy coffee and pie. After a while, we put our rain gear back on and walked up and down very tricky sections across icy and muddy sections caused by the unrelenting rain. At one point I lost my footing going down a slippery area and tumbled off the trail. Fortunately I landed in the grass and as OK except for my hiking pole, that was seriously bended when I tried to control my fall. I did straighten it as much as I could and we moved on. The ran got worse with lighting striking in the distance. After a while we stopped at a large rock to get out of the worst of the rain to eat some chocolate bars to keep up our energy.

Finally, the rain subsided, and we hiked down into a large valley where we arrived at Rifugio Citta di Fiume, our destination for the day. Our long miserable walking day had come to an end! At the Rifugio we got out of our wet clothes, took a nice shower, and put our soaked boots to dry in a separate laundry drying room. After dinner we went to bed early.