This article is a sequel to the Part 1: Whistling wildly with the marmots.

After sinning in the Krönplatz gondola, it was time to redeem ourselves with something really big. Actually, our fourth day in the central Dolomites was somewhat of a mountaineering pinnacle of our this year’s trip to Italy. Let’s get started!

Day four: Piz Boe G.O.A.T.

We are in constant search for high peaks and cold beer. Armed to the teeth and in good company, we are ready to visit Piz Boe (3150m), which some people also call “the retiree’s 3k peak”. I will immediately spoil it for you and say: It wasn’t actually so easy!

After 45 minutes drive, you arrive at the common scenery – you see some green, Alpish meadows which gradually become huge stony crests. The path is steep from the beginning so you must be ready to small amounts or no warm up. Not the best thing but eventually you will start breathing in the required tempo.

Marmolada is now closer than ever so you can take some epic photos while going up. Dusty serpentine winds a long way up and people are forming a caravan. We meet two older men, 60 and something and even 70+ and they seem in better shape than me. They bolster us to continue and 70+ says that his grandson is somewhere ahead but he will catch onto the little bugger. Damn grandpa, I don’t have kids yet. I think I will not do this with my grandkids.

Rifugio Forcella Pordoi (2848m) is the first rifugio we came across that day. We rest a little bit and drink a beer – the notes in my little black book of RAM say: the food seems okay and we drink Schweiger Bräu. We are on the side of the Kaiser anyway. The views of Piz Boe are so amazing here that we couldn’t stand still for long so we decided to continue.

The best was only waiting for us because soon the whole terrain will become Martian. The Dolomites do this to you: wherever you look, the views are astonishing so you just try to keep your eyes open all the time, because the feeling is if you were about to blink, you would miss something. Talking about some real FOMO.

There is actually a small part of the easy ferrata close to the end of the path towards the Rifugio Capanna Piz Fassa which sits on the throne of the Piz Boe peak. Sometimes it gets crowded here so you need to practice your patience a little bit. The opinions can differ of course, but the sheer quantity of people gave me some off-putting feeling when we arrived at the top. Naturally, you cannot expect to be alone here, it is a really popular peak and many people can actually reach it (there is a gondola which can take you up the first part of the journey so some people cut down on the route and difficulty – we consider it heresy so no way!).

After enjoying some more of the absolutely incredible views and checking out the old school alpine toilet – the need to instantly puke while being inside of the toilet is strong so we advise speed when doing your things in there – we decided it is time to descend. We are going the other way down, towards the Rifugio Boé (2871m). We now face a downwards ferrata and the territory is in shade all the time so the ferrata is chained in ice. Great! Take your time on this one.

At the Rifugio Boé we ate some vegetable soup (that was the only option for non-carnivores). The whole establishment is looking new, more like a classic hotel than a mountaineering hut but we didn’t mind that. We were catching some sun like lizards on the terrace and that was everything we needed.

The way back was around the Piz Boe rocks, again a real Martian territory feeling. At the end, my legs started to feel a little bit sore. The descend through the rocky area was a little bit hurtful for our knees but nothing we couldn’t handle. Back at the starting point, we turned back and still in awe, bowed in front of the Great Piz Boe.

Route breakdown:

Passo Pordoi -> Rifugio Forcella Pordoi -> Piz Boe / Rifugio Capanna Piz Fassa -> Rifugio Boé -> return back towards Rifugio Pordoi and then down towards Passo Pordoi

Strong 15 kilometres (ascend around 1050 metres), 8.5 hours of total time enjoying the incredible Piz Boe mountain domain.

Oh what the hell is this? What is this pizza doing here? Get back in our bellies, naughty pizza!
And it did just that. Sorry, this pizza just wanted to be here. I wanted to get going and tell you about the fifth day in the Dolomites but this pizza was just nagging me.
Somebody would maybe expect something more of the Italian pizza (We are actually in Italy, although I feel the presence of the Kaiser all the time. In my heart), but this pizza was actually quite good. Never judge someone based on the looks!

Day five: I want you in the Coffin, baby!

And now for something completely different! I have said a million times, and I know I’m boring you with it but we absolutely hate the gondolas and people who use them. It is like using an e-bike on your day off, when you’re not in a hurry and not just traveling from point A to point B but have precious time to enjoy every moment. Anyway, you gotta trust me on this one! Krönplatz was a rainy and sad day but our fifth day was sunny and just screaming ADVENTURE.

To keep the consistency of all of this, remember children, the motto of the day is:

“This is not on foot, but it is also not a gondola!”

We got numerous suggestions to visit The Coffin, Langkofel – a gondola for two, in a crammed up little place that looks like a coffin. The Coffin is located in Passo Sella. Yeah, I know, it is like a dream come true!  The ride itself lasts for about 15 minutes. There are no words to describe it but it surely isn’t for those faint-hearted, or people who are afraid of heights for example. Marina, this one is for you and you absolutely passed the test. We are proud of you!

So, how do you get in? The coffins are moving all the time so you need to run a little bit (faster walking is enough to be completely honest) and jump inside the coffin – then the second person jumps inside and the men guarding this plane of the undead lock the door and you are in for the ride of your life! The coffins are kinda shaky and they sometimes stop for a little while and then you ask yourself: “Will we stay here forever?” and “WHY NOW?!?” Anyway, the Langkofel will continue it’s way to the top, don’t worry.

If someone wants something more than awesome photos, here is our recorded video preview of the Coffin ride.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6h2fS1uIuMU

It’s coming up.
It’s coming up.
It’s coming up. x2
It’s dééééééééééh!

When you arrive closer to the finishing point of the coffin’s way, you need to turn around and be ready to jump outside. My legs were a little bit shaky from the ride so my knees stumbled a little bit but I regained my balance and everything was fine. Anica landed like a pro.

We were in front of the Rifugio Toni Demetz (2685m), a fine traditional establishment in which they serve drinks, pretzels (also other fine food but I just wanted to write down this awesome word) and cakes. We felt that we didn’t deserve food because the Coffin carried us all the way up BUT we needed something to drink, like real ladies and their bodyguard gentlemen. Two cold beers and two Avernas were served. Averna is something similar to Jägermeister, so a herbal beverage, good for stomach and digestion in general.

The way goes down from here. Rifugio Vicenza (2256m) is directly on our way so we decided to stop and eat something. It is time for another Apfelstrudel and another beer. Yeah, the needs are bigger than consumption currently. We ate this with a view, checked out their toilets which are regular toilets with a waiting line, and then decided to continue.

The route was a circular one, so we were going around the Sassolungo mountain. The pathway goes up and down and in the end it was funny that we made the 70% of the height gain as the day before, at Piz Boe. We passed something that looked like iceberg leftovers. Going near the big rocks, we passed a small stream and soon there were waypoints for Rifugio Comici (2154m). This is in it’s purest sense a restaurant, no kidding anyone about this one. Marina and Ana talked about some neon lights in the toilets, showing which toilets are occupied and which are free to use. Maybe it’s better for me not to see this. A lot of fancy people were nested here so we decided to lay down on the grass a little bit, enjoy the view and then continue towards our starting/finishing point.

When returning to Passo Sella, from Rifugio Comici, you pass through some kind of a botanical garden. The smells were nice. Some of us were already thinking about pizza. Some older couple was in front of us and the pathway was narrow. For the love of the mountain god, they wouldn’t move so we can pass them. It is understandable when younger and more arrogant people do this but older people? When we finally passed them, I looked them a little bit longer, intentionally, but I think that the message didn’t come through. They were alone in this world.

We came a little bit before 3pm to Passo Sella and kitchen closes at 3pm. So, everything we managed to get was a portion of french fries. And of course, a couple of beers and something called Skiwasser (in it’s most basic form it consists of raspberry syrup, lemon juice and water). We talked about Jyotish – Marina and Tompa are both students and kinda fans of my father’s work. Yeah, I know daddy, if you are reading this, don’t be mad on me. You know I love you. Tompa said he bought some stones and all I managed to say was this:

“Jesus man, don’t buy the precious stones and minerals! I know this is my father, but don’t buy the stones!” – I said to him, like my caring father always says to me – invest in crypto and other stocks and shares.
*smiley with angel wings* * wink wink*

Today was also a parting day for us. Marina and Tompa were going back home to Zagreb and we still had a day in front of us. To celebrate our great stay together in Dolomites, in the evening we went to Badia Pub (est. 1985) where I drank a strong Moscow Mule and Ana was sipping some craft IPA. It is maybe here that our fascination with ginger beer started (these days, Ana is trying to make her own, home-made ginger beer). But is also a place where the legend, Reinhold Messner drank beer – there is a picture on the wall! I immediately fell in love with this place. Cheers my friends, it was a great adventure and until next time!

Route breakdown:

Passo Sella -> Langkofel / The Coffin -> Rifugio Toni Demetz -> Rifugio Vicenza -> Rifugio Comici -> botanical garden on the way -> Passo Sella. In the evening Badia Pub.

Little over 13 kilometres (almost 800 metres ascend), almost 6 hours of circulating Sassolungo. And then drinking where the legends drank.

Day six: Skirting Tofana di Rozes and saying “see you soon”!

After 5 days of constant action, you just have to feel a little bit of tiredness. This is active vacation so we were ready for something like this but with time, with days that pass by, you start to feel some kind of guilt that you didn’t do more kilometres, see more amazing places but also your body is telling you, first gently, then a little louder: “You should rest a little bit.”

For our last day in central Dolomites, we decided to snoop around Tofana di Rozes. It seems that we made a good closure hike which is also a good entry hike for what is about to come next time we come here.

To be completely honest about this whole adventure in Italy, we didn’t know what miracles are hiding, well, everywhere! Ana was maybe a little bit more informed but she also didn’t know all the details. So, from the beginning, we took it easy and okay, you want to use your time well and see as much as you can, but you also sometimes need to just let it go and go with the flow. Marina and Tompa, being laid-back and cool people,  helped us in that so I would like to thank them once again for joining us for a couple of beautiful days. It is important to have good company on the hikes, not just for safety reasons, but also for reminding you sometimes to slow down, to wait for someone, to speed up or that there is no shame to be slower/faster, have patience for waiting someone, sometimes you take the lead and sometimes you follow others. Hiking is definitely an activity from which you can, if you share it, get many joys. Of course, so you won’t think I’m going soft on you: we are picky about whom do we want to take on hiking trips but mostly goodwill and persistence is enough for me.

So, this last day was all about the cooldown. But also about new plans and dreams! We started from Da Strodel restaurant, on the main road, not far away from Passo Falzarego. Our destination ultimately was Rifugio Angelo Dibona (2083m) but first we needed to pass near the ruins of an old WW1 hospital. It was cool to just sit down on the bench near the hospital and immerse ourselves in the views. The whole time we followed Tofana di Rozes and on the other side, now to us familiar: Averau, Nuvolau and Cinque Torri. It was good to know the names of the peaks, rifugios and in general places.

Of course, me being a nostalgic and emotional person (the stars want it that way heheh), I felt some sadness overtake me. Ana also wanted to say goodbye to this place and I’m not a very good goodbye person so I decided this all meant “see you soon!”. We were seeing some people going higher, diverging from our path and we guessed they were probably going up – to the Tofana. I got some crazy ideas but after rejecting them for today, silently we had an agreement, signed mostly with our eyes, catching close but unknown mountain peaks, and concealed thoughts of new adventures and grandeur. Uh, our stomachs are growling!

After passing one more beer and food transport, we soon arrived at the Rifugio Dibona. We ordered two skiwassers but needed to wait a little bit for food because the kitchen is opening at 12:00. When kitchen opened, we ordered two vegetable soups and then two portions of home-made gnocchettini, made from spinach and buckwheat with cheese. The food was godly! Skiwasser also hit the right spot after the meal!

We wanted to go some more secluded route back near the hospital and then towards starting point. We needed to use Gaia again to find our way, the waypoints are kinda scarce but we found a path going up into the forest. It was immediately clear that this is a way less travelled. Soon we were hearing marmots doing their weird high pitched sounds, somewhere above us. Then, we experienced another special moment – we crossed paths with a young roe deer. We were as quiet as possible and I was able to take a picture of it. Soon, leaving this magical trail behind us, we arrived at our car.

Well, what can I say? We were satisfied. We added some more things on the bucketlist, for example: Scrrecken Stein (the rock of terror) at which horrible battles were fought in WW1 – the mountaineering/climbing way passes right through as we were able to understand it. I know at least one person who would like to go there, yes, I am talking to you Igor! Next time you go! Marmolada was of course there from the start but we needed some field experience, to see how the Dolomites breathe and how our bodies respond. I think we are ready for more and we will definitely return! On the way back, we went to the Museum of the Great War, located beside the road, near Passo Falzarego. We didn’t go inside the museum but dwelt in the souvenir shop and wasted a little bit of money on Kaiser boxes full of wine, postcards, old bullets, pins and more.

p.s. thank you Anica for giving me a little push towards new experiences, when my enormous energy and will to live fully is blocked by vortex of doubts and tiring thoughts. As long as I’m able, I will carry a skillet and some taters so we can eat and be happy, somewhere under the stars.

And for you, dear readers, I hope we dispersed every doubt in your hearts about going to the Dolomites. See you on the trails!

Keep on keeping on!

Route breakdown:

Da Strobel car park -> Wartime hospital -> Rifugio Dibona -> wild roe deer and marmot way back.

14 kilometres sharp (560m ascend), almost 6 hours of daydreaming of our next adventures.

The whole central Dolomites experience breakdown:

6 days, 80 kilometres, 4275m ascend.