Grosse Fanesalm – Lago de Braies
After going through the days route a last time, enjoying a cup of coffee in the sun heated wooden panel of the hüt and filling up our water bottles in the free running river passing the hüt, we swung our 120-litre Norrøna back-packs up just to realize that last nights dinner and the mornings breakfast had substantially reduced the weight on our shoulders.
The day started with a few hundred meters ascent into Limosee as the highest point on the route, before starting a playful descent down to Faneshütte.
As everything else in the Dolomites this time of year, the rifugio was closed, but its beautiful terrace bathing in sun and with stunning views made for a great spot for lunch. After another round of Pancetta, Salami and local cheese, we took a nap in the shadow on the hot stone floor of the terrace.
We skied most of the remaining descent down to Pederu at 1500 meters. Originally our route headed from Pederu over the next high faces and down to Braies on the other side. However, this route was simply too risky for avalanches now, and we were lucky to catch a ride around the mountain with some locals, to again pick up our original route from Braies.
A beautiful frozen lake nested between vertical faces shooting up on three sides, made for a perfect camp spot. A hütt built on long posts out on the lake served perfectly for fixing our hammocks to and the floor of the hut then offered roof above our heads. A bonfire on the beach, some steaks, spaghetti, tomato sauce and red wine dozed us of in each our floating beds.
