The original plan was to grab something from a gas station for breakfast on the way to the trailhead but once we saw how nice our bed and breakfast was, I lobbied hard to eat there! We sat down at 7 am and Andre gave us an education on the various breakfast options, all of which were either made in house or locally. We enjoyed fresh unpasteurized yogurt, milk from a cow milked that morning, a selection of cheeses, meats, and breads. Maybe the best part was the coffee, also from a local roaster! We learned the history of a place in the valley that had been doing farm to table for 40 yrs, starting because they couldn’t get food delivery to their remote area! Now they are a Michelin star restaurant and local vendors via to be part of their meals! So far, based on interactions with 2 locals, Austria is fast becoming my favorite country! Andre describes Austrians as being a perfect mix of German efficiency and Mediterranean chill.

We reluctantly said goodbye and in my mind started planning a trip back to the area! We made it to the car park only a few mins behind schedule and it was mostly empty, another pleasant surprise. The next one was not so great. We knew about the $10 euro/day parking fee and had scoped it out the night before, seeing that it took cards. In reality it did not take cards, or at least wouldn’t allow us to choose that payment for the length of time we needed. We ended up having to use some of our limited cash and that will cause a problem later… We set off from the car park and worked our way up the valley, taking way too many pictures but not caring because it was all so freaking beautiful! The first part was easy and gentle, not super crowded but a fare amount of what we assumed to be day hikers. We hiked down from the car park to the trailhead and set off for the next 5 days! The first 2-ish miles follow the road that the bus uses to drop hikers off and the grade is easy, hiking through the forest.

As we approached the end of the valley we left the crowds behind and began our climb up to the top. We had fabulous weather and clear views and probably took way too many pictures but it was hard to ignore the beauty around us!

As we got closer to the top, we heard thunder in the distance and put on a bit of speed since being on a ridge top in a thunderstorm is not ideal! We came over top of one ridge and could see a hut off in the distance but ours turned out to be closer and tucked out of view. The storm seemed to be passing by to the south and since we had an hour before check in (3:00 pm) we decided to take a chance and head out for the Via Ferrata Torre Di Toblin we had planned. This was up and around the mountain just north of the rifugio. Setting out we were chilly but soon after the clouds parted and the sun came out, making us warmer than ideal! Right at the start of the true via ferrata there were old tunnels from I believe WWI. We of course had to go exploring! The amount of work it must have taken to carve these tunnels and look outs is almost beyond comprehension!

The Via Ferrata Torre Di Toblin is not one I would recommend to do without proper equipment. A fall from some of the elements would certainly be fatal. With the proper gear though, it was a lot of fun, mostly of the type 2 kind with a dab of type 3! We never had any near falls to test our equipment and we got passed by a local guy who worked at the rifugio who had no equipment, but that is not something I’d recommend!

We returned to the rifugio just in time for dinner. Being our first night we really had no idea what to expect. It turns out that they will lead you to your table and that same table is yours for breakfast. Dinner consists of a two courses and a dessert. The first course is some form of pasta, potato, or soup, the main course is usually a couple of options of meat dishes. I opted for the mushroom soup since I was cold and the guys went for the pasta option. Overall I was super impressed with the quality of the dinner, especially since we get dessert! It was during dinner that we made a critical discovery of an error. Since most rifugios only take cash we had each gone to the atm at the airport to get euros. Josh had forgotten his debit card so Steve and I took out extra but I think we didn’t give him the full amount at the moment, not wanting to flash a wad of cash around in the airport. Rather than put it in the same wallet, I think I stashed it in another bag and then forgot about it… this came back to bite me in the ass when I wanted to order a glass of wine with dinner and we did the math. We barely had enough to cover the cost of lodging for each rifugio if none of them took credit cards. I will admit that I had a bit of a meltdown at the prospect of no drinks and no showers, given that I had built up my expectations a bit much!

Our bed for the night was in the bunk room and I had the bottom bunk and made a secluded nest by hanging my fleece blanket up to block one side and using one of the thin blankets provided to block the other. With 18 people on the room, it was going to be warm! Honestly, I slept pretty well all things considered. Breakfast was slices of meat and cheese with bread and jam. While tasty, it was a tad light for the hike we had before us!

Alta Via 4 day one stats: