After a good nights’ rest we arose at 06:00 hrs to determine how best to (unevenly) distribute loads. Resuming my role as Astrid’s Beast of Burden, I opted for the less painful taxi ride to St. Andrea followed by ski lift to St. Stubele. This in no way should be considered as cheating, as this alternative is fully endorsed in the official Alto Via 2 guidebook.
From St. Stubele we hiked to Refugio Plosse in 50 mins (an ascent of 400m), instigating flood warnings in the process as sweat pores kicked into overdrive. With the rifugio to ourselves we soaked in the sun while downing a few isotonics. With iPods activated we then embarked on the long gentle decent to Paso Rodella, in time for gargantuan lunch (fried egg, chips and bacon German style, oh and of course more Weiß Bier).
This turned out to be a big mistake as the afternoon’s hike to the col at Forcela de Putia was very arduous, with the sun beating down relentlessly in the confined gully leading to the pass. The thinner air at 2400 m also added to the drudgery. However, we soldiered on with true British stiff upper lip (let’s face it the Dutch have a quivering lower lip only) and sauntered into Rifugio Genova at 15:38 hrs.
I’m advised Weiß Bier can anesthetize parts of the human body that Ibuprofen cannot reach, so have ordered several litres in anticipation of the aches and pains to come!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment