The rock shelters of the Brenta Dolomites

31 August 2022

The mountain shelter is a place that contains thousand stories, where everyone can live and write their own. The shelter represents warmth, good food, a game of cards, unforgettable sunsets, silences punctuated by the wind that blows between the rocks. As much as we love living in the heart of the mountains with our tent, the shelter always retains its unique and irresistible charm. In mountain places made of rocks, pinnacles, ridges and scree, the shelters represent an inestimable place, to be preserved.

One of these places is certainly the Brenta Dolomites group. It is the only Dolomite group located west of the Adige River, and for this reason it has always aroused a particular curiosity and attraction. Incredible kingdom of rocks, the Brenta Dolomites welcome, among their imposing peaks, numerous alpine huts set in the Dolomites, in a breathtaking scenery. So, we decided to cross this Dolomite group in three days of ring trekking, exploring the following huts: Graffer, Stoppani, Tuckett, Brentei, Tosa-Pedrotti, Selvata Refuge and Croz dell'Altissimo.

Our itinerary start from Andalo, in the province of Trento on the Paganella Plateau. Maybe this eastern side of the Dolomite group is not as popular as the western one, but in any case, the long approach climb will keep various surprises. We walk in complete solitude for a whole day, with our heads harnessed among a thousand thoughts that slowly melt away. Then a green valley appears, dotted with clear rocks and surrounded by Dolomite walls.

Rocks, valleys and dolomitic debris, which make the routes memorable, for the emotions they arouse in a specific moment of our journey. The increasingly dark clouds, the fatigue, the silence and absolute solitude along the path, and the view that suddenly opens onto the green and rocky valley. From here on we enter the land of huts.

The Graffer hut welcomes us for the first night, giving us a memorable sunset, together with that silence that we had sought so much, and that has never stopped accompanying us. The following day we wake up above a sea of clouds, and then emerge in front of new and vertical Dolomite walls.

The Tosa-Pedrotti refuge thus hosts us for the second night in this rocky amphitheater, with the sunset lights going off in the heart of the dormitories, when even the last people leave the common room, in a sort of religious and silent ritual, in preparation for the following day. Day in which everyone will continue with their backpack on, going to write a unique and unforgettable story. A story whose components, after all, are always the same, but which each time gives a different amazement.

For further information and details about this path, visit the Focus On Trip website: https://focusontrips.com/