Mountain Huts, called Rifugios, make multiple day treks through the Italian Alps accessible to hikers.
Puez-Geisler nature park in the Dolomites. Dmitry Djouce. CC BY 2.0
The mountain range located in northern Italy has 18 major peaks and uniquely diverse mountain landscapes. The Dolomites have sharp peaks in varying shapes, along with alpine meadows and valleys that have drawn hikers for years. Mountain huts, also known as rifugios, are placed throughout the Italian mountain range, all within a day’s hike of the next hut. The trek to visit each hut is a total of 75 miles, and typically takes hikers ten days to complete. The huts are stocked with food, and offer basic bedding for travelers. While not every rifugio offers places for hikers to stay overnight, many only serve food, so travelers can stop for lunch before continuing to the next hut. The huts allow hikers to do multiple day-treks without having to pack much. All they will need is personal items and sleeping bag linings. The rifugios are open starting in June and often draw travelers of varying hiking experience.
The Dolomites first started attracting hikers during the ‘golden age of mountaineering’ in the late 19th century. Many mountaineers who first summited the peaks wrote early travel guides for the region, drawing more explorers. Then, in World War One, the Dolomites became the front line for the Italian and Austro-Hungarian armies to pass through. As a result, there are still visible remnants of the war, one being an open-air museum of Mt. Lagazuoi. The ‘castle of rock’ has complex systems of tunnels dug into the mountainside during the war. The tunnels are open for people to walk through and learn more about World War One’s impact on the region.
Additionally,a museum is dedicated to World War One on the range’s highest peak, Marmolada. The summit stands at over 10,000 feet, making the museum the highest in Europe. The locals of the region often speak Italian, German and Ladin, a Rhaeto-Romaniclanguage that is recognized as an official language of the region. Roughly 30,000 people speak Ladin, and there are considerable efforts to preserve the region’s language and the culture.
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Dana Flynn
Dana is a recent graduate from Tufts University with a degree in English. While at Tufts she enjoyed working on a campus literary magazine and reading as much as possible. Originally from the Pacific Northwest, she loves to explore and learn new things.