The Journey to Bivacco in the Dolomites

With this post I would like to share my trail running experiences. It was my last trail running adventure and it happened in August 2024. Together with Ariadna we explored the Italian Alps. The Dolomites to be precise.

As we wanted to visit a bivacco, this run turned out to be a two-day run with an overnight stay in the same bivacco. We drove to the starting point of the route and after a quick breakfast break in the local café we set off. Right from the start we decided to split up as Ariadna wanted to do a longer run with more climbing and I was feeling a bit tired at this point in our journey and took a shorter route. However, I still managed to walk about 4 extra kilometres and lost almost an hour because my route went through the pasture and I thought I had to go around it. Then, after quite a while on my loop, I realised I was on the wrong track and decided to turn back and go through the pasture. It was strange for me because there were a lot of cows and they were staring at me, which gave me the feeling that they were not used to seeing people. To top it all off, there was a big black bull in front of me, with all his eyes on me, clearly indicating to me that I was not going to get through on this tiny path. Well, I was in no mood to argue with the bull and calmly walked uphill, climbed some stones and made it past the gatekeeper.

It was a long way up the mountain and it was getting cold at this altitude. The weather in the mountains changes very quickly and unexpectedly. The grey and white clouds were getting darker and darker and I was expecting the rain to start at any moment. Fortunately this did not happen. At some point I saw Ariadna very far ahead when our paths finally crossed. The last 3-5 kilometres were the hardest as it was a very steep climb, even with some chained handrails. It was really interesting and beautiful to climb into the unknown, although at times it was really scary as the path was between a mountain wall on the right and a cliff on the left. It took quite a while and Ariadna was running far ahead. I was very tired and sweaty when I finally saw that cabin I had been waiting for.

The cabin itself looks like an alien ship out of a 60s film. It is relatively small from the outside, but there is enough room for about 6 people (if I remember correctly) and a large table in the middle of the room. Sleeping there was a bit spooky as we heard some strange noises from time to time and it was a very windy and rainy night.

In the morning we woke up to a very weird noise. Like scraping or cutting iron. Maybe a bear trying to destroy the cabin? No, it was just sheep scratching at the strings of the basic structure of our cabin.

The way back was almost as hard for me as the way here. Especially as we had not had much food or water. I resigned myself to the fact that I couldn't run and decided to walk. Ariadna looked fresher and although she also said she was tired, she just started running and we only met at the starting point.

All in all, it was a very nice and interesting experience, where I pushed my limits again and explored very beautiful, hardly accessible places. And I would definitely recommend the route to this bivacco to anyone who wants to explore the Dolomites.

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