​Day 16. Is there anything as a hangover from too much hiking? I have got a headache when I wake up and don’t feel very well. The Italian breakfast is as good as it gets, how can they really eat pastries and fluffy bread that has more air than flour every morning? Luckily there is muesli, yoghurt and some fruits.

I cannot find the supermarket for my refill of snacks and nuts for the next six days. So I already walk much further before someone finally directs me in the right direction. The choice is not obvious, but I can get at least something after searching for 15 minutes in my hangover mind that is very dizzy.

After repackaging to avoid carrying too much waste into (and out) of the mountains, I have only a short hike before the first highlight, the Slizza gorge. This beautiful place makes me (temporarily) forget my headache.  The gorge has amazingly coloured water in plenty of shades from green to turquoise. I take hundreds of pictures but none can really show the beauty of the gorge. 

A steep way up and soon I am back on the Alpe Adria bike track for a few kilometers. The sun is burning and the cyclists are astonished about having a hiker sharing their road. Time for my first headache pill to be able to support this. 

Finally it’s time to hike away from the track into the forest to two lakes, the lower and upper Lago di Fusine. The second highlight of the day. Even more colours and the mountain backdrop makes it perfect. As I nearly step onto some kind of snake and almost start to scream, the snake is probably as much surprised as I am. I don’t think there are any kind of dangerous snakes up in the Alps but I don’t know for sure! 

Time for lunch, a bread roll and some cheese, made perfect through this amazing view. Then I hike around the lake to the other side, hike up to an immense erratic boulder Masso Pirona and am at the second lake. 

Time for another short break but as I am out of water I soon need to continue to the other side of the lake where a water source is indicated. It is actually a big parking space where even some people are camping. I offer myself an ice cream for relief from the hot sun and another pill against my headache. At least I know that I have only 90minutes of hike left to the hut, even though rather steep. It’s not that bad and even sooner I arrive at the nice Rifugio Zacchi. I am again the only guest today but things are not as easy as we have some language problems. In any case, a warm shower is included and as I am wet from sweating I take mine after some stretching and back exercise.  Then I sit outside,  enjoy the view and write my blog. The tenant tells me what is already mentioned in the guidebook, it will be very hard tomorrow to find the trail! Without the equipment he doesn’t recommend to take the via ferrata that is indicated as an alternative. At least the bad weather is only coming in after tomorrow, seems I can continue today, not sure what will happen then though because I have a few difficult days ahead and none is advised at bad weather. I just count on my luck as always!