Day 17 – Same Pass, Different Hütte!

Jan 30, 2024

Today’s Adventure

Cindy and I are leaving the Dolomites tomorrow morning and heading north. A series of trains will take us to Seefeld, Austria, where we will spend the next ten days hiking and cross country skiing. With that departure in mind we wanted to make sure that our outing for Day 17 would leave us with good final memories of this awesome adventure in Italy.

We started our day with an easy bus ride from the base of the Monte Baranci ski area (just a short walk from our apartment) to Kreuzberg Pass. After a quick bio break at the Hotel Kreuzberg and a look at their boutique ski hill we headed across the road to find today’s trailhead.

We started out on Trail 131, which climbed quickly through the forest via a series of switchbacks until it intersected with Trail 13. A right turn on Trail 13 took us a bit further uphill to our lunch destination, the Alpe Nemes Hütte.

This was our third visit to the Alpe Nemes Hütte. The first time was in January of 2020 during our freshman tour of the Dolomites. The second time was just last February. Because of the prior visits we knew what to expect in terms of trail conditions, the awesome views, the menu, and most importantly the overall hütte experience so that’s why we saved this hike for our last day in Italy.

We arrived at the Alpe Nemes Hütte a bit before 12 Noon. There were only a few customers when we arrived so we picked a choice table on the sun deck. The table backed up to the building so we were in full sunshine, sheltered from the wind, and treated to an unobstructed view of the Sexten Dolomites for our lunch.

We ordered a pair of Forst pale lagers while we checked out the menu. We decided to share the Piatto Tirolese – a platter of local speck, cheeses, and sausage with pickles, horseradish, and a basket of bread. We finished off our lunch with a piece of their homemade Apfelstrudel.

By this time the hütte was getting fairly crowded so we settled our tab in preparation for heading home. Of note, this was the only time so far on the trip that we had to dig out Euros to pay for lunch – everywhere else, no matter how remote, has accepted Apple Pay linked with our Visa card. This app makes it so much easier to manage currency conversions or ATM visits during your trip because you basically don’t need to make them!

We headed back down the hill from the Alpe Nemes Hütte via the same trail that we used on the way up but when we reached the intersection with Trail 131, the route back to Kreuzberg Pass, we stayed on Trail 13. This took us out onto the Nemes Alpe, a very scenic (and protected) pasture area set on a rolling plateau. We followed a nicely groomed and very quiet winter hiking trail across the Nemes Alpe until we entered the forest on the other side.

At this point the trail started a steady descent with some lovely keyhole views across the valley towards the Sexten Dolomites. We crossed an active ski run (quickly!) and then followed a series of switchbacks that dropped us into the village of Moos. We found the church – an easy landmark due to the unique design of the bell tower – and waited at the bus stop there for our bus ride back to San Candido.

All told we walked about 8 miles today with just under 1,100 feet of vertical – enough to justify a nice lunch, but not enough to tire us out for the big travel day tomorrow!

For Innichen’s main page click here.

For Seefeld’s main page click here.

For the entire trip’s main page click here.