By headlamp

We set off in the dead of night, by headlamp. Many of us at the campsite chose to start the day between 5 and 6am. So, in the sleeping mountain, there are just as many little glowing dots as there are groups startling in the switchbacks. The climb is steep from the get-go, a foretaste of the day ahead.

Don’t look up

At dawn, we see the full scale of what awaits us. The mountain is a sandy, arid wall that we must cross. As the sun rises, the heat also climbs and we sweat litres of water.

After a bit of scrambling on nice rock formations, we finally emerge onto a wide grassy slope. In the distance, the refuge is visible, and one last effort over the folds of the mountain brings us there.

Ortu di u Piobbu

The bivouac area is huge, with dozens of tents scattered among stone walls. We set up quickly, then grab a good cold beer.

Tomorrow’s weather looks complicated and thunder is already rumbling intermittently. We’ll have to take the valley route rather than the ridge path to reach the next refuge…