The next pass we arrived at was Forcella Ambrizola.  Most of the way there was through green, rolling hillside.  But then it turned to rocky and loose footing and the clouds rolled in, thick and dark.  Our plans to have lunch at the forcella were thwarted.  Instead we kept moving until we reached the summit of Col Duro.  We thought the weather was cooperating enough for us to stop and eat our sandwiches, but no sooner did we pull them out than the rain started.   It quickly changed from rain to hailing slushy ice balls.  We quickly pulled out our rain gear and made for lower elevation as quickly as possible.  The rain made the rocky, rough trail even more difficult.   We attempted to stop at a small, abandoned farm, Malga Prendera for a few minutes but the rain picked up again and so we made a dash for it.  The sky was too dark for comfort and we wanted to get as far away from the anticipated downpour as possible. 

Pelmo

Somehow (and fortunately for us), the downpour never came and the sun came out.  But with the sun came the heat.  For the remainder of the day it felt like we were hiking in a sauna.  We made it to Citta di Fiume (another small rifugio) in decent enough time, but we were so exhausted and still had another hour and a half still to go.  While beautiful, most of the trails we had encountered were rough and rocky and our feet felt it.  The last stretch that day across the rocky scree at the base of the enormous Pelmo in the baking sun nearly did me in. 

Hiking around Pelmo

After being on the trail for just over eight hours (stops included) we finally arrived at Passo Staulanza.  We were a bit disappointed to discover that the trail was on a highway and most of the people who stayed there that night hadn’t even come by foot! The perk of this place was that it did have Magnum ice cream, wifi and a private room with a bathroom and shower.  After the day we had, those were all welcomed luxuries. 

Pictures from our day are here.