The fence behind Rifugio Scotter was erected a few years ago, after A a boulder tumbled down the mountain and hit the inn.
Once we hit the road, there was no safe way to cross it other than to walk west on a bridge across the river, cross the road, then walk back east on the bridge across the river. Domegge and its neighbor Calalzo di Cadore are both disappointingly car-centric, despite having been settled since at least the 5th century BCE.
Our route headed up the side of Antelao toward Forcella Piccolo dell'Antelao (2,120 m). Lots of wildflowers en route, including wild carnations.
The trail up soon became scree.
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| Can you spot the hiker up ahead, coming down? |
The trail was steep, and there were ample opportunities to slip, but this here acrophobe generally finds scree manageable if I just look at the trail immediately in front of me. I took this photo of S after I reached a spot with a few trees, which are stabilizing to stand next to and made it easier for me to look up.
This was a little before the pass, but the highest view we'd have of the Boite Valley and San Vito.
It was also the intersection of our trail with the Alta Via 5, our third Alta Via of this trip.
Over the pass we went. We reminded ourselves to eat, so paused for an apple, water, and a protein bar. While we sat, a trio of backpack-less trail runners came jogging up after us, then headed down toward Rifugio Galassi. We were still finishing our apple when they came trotting back up and headed over the pass again toward Scotter. We felt very slow, but we were also carrying 18-lb backpacks, and we had a few decades on those young'uns. We later learned that the Lavaredo Ultra Trail races were taking place in the area June 24-28.
From here, just 4,900' down to Domegge di Cadore.
Rifugio Galassai. We figured Ms. Namenlos had made it there, since we hadn't passed her on our way. Was she enough over jetlag to already be hiking, or was she sitting on the veranda eating breakfast? We didn't stop to find out.
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| Alta Via 5 meets up with Alta Via 4 here and heads south behind the hut. Both end in Pieve di Cadore. |
The trail heading down involved almost no scree; instead, it was bordered by scrub and trees, and was relatively easy going.
Only one section of trail appeared sketchy. Whatever alpine club was responsible for its maintenance was clearly aware of this, and had rigged up loose fiber ropes to provide a psychological security blanket.
From then on, we had lots of greenery easing the way down.
Fancypants cairn...
Can you spot the red and white striped rifugio supply box heading down the mountain on the cable line? When we passed beneath the cable, we saw signs warning hikers not to linger. You never know when a cable might snap.
As we descended into shadier trails, we ran into none other than Ms. Namenlos. I told her we were glad to find her alive and well. "Yes, yes!," she said cheerfully, "but you were right--I did have to use my headlamp last night! Really, I only used it to be polite--I wanted the people at the Rifugio to see that I was coming..."
She had paused in the present spot because she wasn't sure which way to go. Her map pointed in the same direction as ours, but she had heard tell of a waterfall nearby and didn't want to miss it. We knew nothing of waterfalls, so we continued downhill without her. ("Don't slow down! Keep up the pace!," S kept urging from behind me.)
About two miles later, we found the waterfall. Cascata delle Pile was impossible to miss. We paused for another apple and some Amaretti.
From here, the remaining 7 miles downhill were on dry river beds, gravel, and paved roads.
The painter Titian (Tiziano Vecellio, c. 1485–1576), was born in Pieve di Cadore, two towns down the freeway from Domegge, our destination for the night. Local mountains show up in his paintings.
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| "Titian was inspired here" |
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| Signage offered examples |
Just before gravel trail ceded to paved road, we paused for Apfelschorle and Kuchen at the Ristorante Alla Pineta, with views of saw-toothy mountains in the distance. We didn't realize it then, but we'd be hiking across that range the very next day.
Wild strawberries...
I had routed us through Rizzios, a town known for its characteristic 16th-18th c. village architecture. The public fountain was a welcome sight.
A final scenic stretch of trail ran from Rizzios down to Domegge before intersecting with a busy road.
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| Little Free Library with a view! |
Once we hit the road, there was no safe way to cross it other than to walk west on a bridge across the river, cross the road, then walk back east on the bridge across the river. Domegge and its neighbor Calalzo di Cadore are both disappointingly car-centric, despite having been settled since at least the 5th century BCE.
Hot--did I mention it was hot?--and tired, we stopped at a gelato shop on our way to our hotel, and found this ad for a local race. If the Lavaredo Ultra Trail 10k, 20k, 50k, or 120k (!) is too much for you, perhaps the S. Giovanni 5k is a gentler option...
...with just a little hill at the end.
After gelato, we checked in at our hotel, showered, and set off in search of groceries and dinner in neighboring Calalzo.
Lest tourists think Calalzo is merely run-of-the-mill car-centric, one of the few stretches of actual sidewalk had giant sacks of concrete debris placed in the middle of it at short intervals for a good half mile. This genius move forces pedestrians to step into the road, possibly in front of oncoming cars, in order to pass each sack. This, plus the need to cross a river twice just to cross a road, earns Calalzo-Domegge our 2026 award for "Least Pedestrian-Friendly Town of the Alps."
Meanwhile, the award for Best Pizza of 2026 goes to the Casa Marrazzo yellow tomato pizza with fresh ricotta, confit yellow cherry tomatoes, and basil cream at Pizzeria el Gringo, located in Calalzo just beyond all those sacks of concrete.
Ta da! 12.6 of the day's 16 miles, 2,000' up, 4,900' down, a few thrills but 100% acrophobe approved.
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