Today’s route led us thru ideallic alpine pastures and along shimmering alpine lakes. In the distance, we heard the sound of cowbells from the cows grazing in the pastures and many greeted us along our route. We crossed thru a grassy bowl, Passo Tageda and then began the slow climb thru large boulder fields to Forcella del Lago. After a brief celebration of reaching the saddle, we braced for the steep jaw dropping 1000ft descent down the other side to Lago Lagazuoi. Once we made it to the bottom, enjoyed a lakeside lunch and watched rock climbers on the cliffs above. In the distance we could see Rifugio Lagazuoi perched high on the ridge, which was our destination for the evening, but it was still 3 miles and about 2400ft climb away. The trail followed rocky terrain and steep switchbacks to eventually reach 9100ft elevation, our highest point along the 6 day trek. This route journeys thru Parco Naturale delle Dolomiti d'Ampezzo where there are remnants of the Austrian-Italian WWI front line. We explored several tunnels and bunkers used in WWI found along the final stretch of trail on way to Lagazuoi.
