No rain today! The boots were still wet inside, so I covered my socks with some plastic bag to keep them dry, which worked great. The trial dropped down gradually in open woods to the valley floor where the trail became rockier. After a while we reached Passo Staulanza and its Rifugio for a quick cup of coffee and pie. From there, we followed the road and a dirt track until we reached a building where we climbed steeply up hill and along a ski slope to a high valley with wonderful views and wild flowers. The path dropped down to a hut at C.ra di Pioda, which fortunately had a toilet and water trough. From there the path went uphill steeply via many switchbacks to Rifugio Coldai. From the terrace of the Rifugio we had a wonderful view of the valley below.

After the rest break (with coffee and pie) we climbed to the pass Forcella Colda where we got a spectacular view of Lago Coldai. We walked around the lake first uphill, then down across some snow fields with great views of the town of Alleghe far below. Back uphill, we reached Forcella di Col Rean where we took a side trip to Rifugio Tissi which we could see far above. The trail to the Rifugio was steep and became very rough, basically climbing up a rocky gully until almost to the top of the hill. At the Rifugio we dropped our bags and climbed the short distance to the summit with amazing views all the way down to the town of Alleghe and the lake.

After taking some pictures, we walked down to the Rifugio, where we had a.well deserved lunch. After lunch we followed the trail going down hill most of the way through rocky terrain, followed by grassy and muddy trails. Another rocky ascent followed to col Sella di Pelsa. From there it was downhill all the way to Rifugio Vazzoler, where we would spend the night.

Here we really experienced the difference between the service in the Rifugios. The Rifugios north of Cortina had excellent service and food. The food in the Rifugios south of Cortina was way below standard, especially the breakfast, which consisted of some slices of bread and jelly. That does not give you much energy for a full day of hiking in the mountains! That evening we enjoyed watching the staff putting in a new large oven and stove into the kitchen, using a Backhoe to lift it of the delivery truck.