Wadlstrumpf: St. Ulrich to Trieste, Day 7 - Rifugio Giaf to Rifugio Casera Tartoi

Saturday June 27, Rifugio Giaf to Rifugio Casera Tartoi

When planning our route, I struggled to find a convenient route from Rifugio Giaf, in the Friulian Dolomites, down into Friuli, so that we could begin our southward trek toward Trieste.

My initial plan was for us simply to skirt the mountains alongside the Tagliamento river valley, but I was unable to find accommodations without taking a bus, and bus schedules were uncooperative on weekends.

Huts on the Carnican Voralps across the Tagliamento valley offered more promise, but the hiking distances were inconvenient. Hiking from Giaf to Rifugio Casera Tartoi would have taken under 4.5 hours, while the next day's hike from Tartoi to Rifugio Tita Piaz would have been our longest day yet: 13+ miles, 3,500' up, 4,500' down.

The interwebs told of another rifugio, Casera Tragonia, that had been offering rustic accommodations for a few years and could have solved the imbalance between Saturday and Sunday's distances, but attempts at contacting the managers proved futile. We later learned they had new management and were closed this summer for a major expansion.

We ultimately settled on Tartoi, and planned a circuitous route along the Alta Via 6 to add a few more miles. We figured we'd just deal with the next day's strenuous hike to Tita Piaz when the time came.

Then the first heat dome planted itself over Europe. The governments of Italy, Spain, Portugal, and France were issuing activity warnings and regulating how long day laborers were allowed to be outside. In Germany, record temperatures were being set in Sachsen Anhalt and Berlin; Drewitz, near Berlin, reached 41.5°C (almost 107°F). As I type, central Europe is enduring its fifth heat dome of this summer; heat-related deaths likely now total well over 25,000, with some 16,000 attributed to a single week in June. Italy, where people are used to hot summers, fared better than countries like Germany, where AC is relatively uncommon and summers are typically cooler: <3,000 deaths vs. 12,000+.

In the Friulian and Carnian Alps, it was of course cooler in the mountains than in the valleys and plains (where temps were forecast from mid/high 90s to over 100°F from Sunday to Wednesday). We'd already learned that hiking with 18-lb packs in the high 80s was rough for us. We didn't think we'd do well with temps in the 90s.

We decided the most direct route to Tartoi would suit us just fine: we'd hike down to Forni di Sopra and up to Tartoi without lingering, getting uphill before the stronger heat of the afternoon. (Ironically, the name Forni di Sopra means "Upper Oven"--not for routine summer heat, but for the important smelting industry there during the Roman era and Middle Ages).

We and the Alpine Club hikers all got an early start. Most folks were heading up to the scree field we had come down the day before; few folks were heading down to the valley with us.

Rifugio Giaf, lovely and cool in the morning

The trail through the woods eventually met up with a cobblestone road...

...that eventually met up with a paved road, where we paused for a look back at the saw-toothy Dolomites.

We reached the Tagliamento river bed outside of Forni di Sopra. One of the last free-flowing natural braided rivers in the Alps, untamed by dams, it looked almost entirely dry, but for reasons beyond the heat: the water runs in aquifers beneath the porous limestone rocks on the bed's surface.

S felt that the heat warranted seeking out gelato in town. We followed the river toward Forni di Sopra, but never made it as far as gelato. We were distracted by an old-fashioned fruit-and-veggie shop, where we bought a pound of cherries. We sat in the shade on a bench across the street and ate them all.

I don't have many photos of the hike up to Rifugio Casera Tartoi because it was hot and we were in a relative hurry. First we followed a road up past town, then crossed a stream and followed trails in and out of woods and meadows.

A last look back at the pass we had crossed the day before

By the time we arrived at the hut, we were confident we shouldn't attempt the next day's long ridge hike to Rifugio Tita Piaz. Too hot. We inquired whether we could stay a second night at Tartoi, and they said they'd be happy to have us. The rifugio payment at Tita Piaz was a loss, but better to be safe than have heatstroke in a scree field.

Tartoi was clearly a stop off for day hikers, whom we watched coming and going as we sat in the shade of the veranda. Over lunch, we planned what looked like a manageable loop hike for Sunday. How delightful it would be to hike without schlepping all of our clothes and gear with us all day--a hiking vacation from hiking!

Butterflies and moths abounded at Tartoi.

We were two of about ten guests that night. Six of us shared the Matrazenlage. Our host showed us how to turn on the electric mattress pads to prewarm the beds. At first we thought he was joking, but he was serious; nights could be cool on the mountain. (We didn't use them.)

The bedroom was part of a former hayloft above the former cheese-making room (now dining room). We spent much of the afternoon on Saturday and Sunday, reading, rerouting upcoming low-elevation hikes, and admiring the view from the cool shady balcony. It was a reminder that maybe we should plan relative "rest" days into our long-distance hikes.