#puez

The trick about mountain huts in the Dolomites is to call ahead to reserve a spot. Puez Hütte, according to google reviews, is purportedly staffed by a notoriously rude woman. When I called to ask, per favore, for a “camera doppia,” the response was “no.” and a click. There doesn’t seem to be a dial tone to let you know you’ve been hung up on, so I stayed on the phone dorkily for another minute just in case she had merely put me on hold.

Then I furrowed my brow and turned to Tamara pleadingly. Tamara, a small blonde in her early twenties, is confidently kind in many languages, her dark smoker’s voice somehow lighting up Rifugio Firenze. In less than 30 seconds we had a reservation.

So we plotted our arrival at Puez Hütte today, after a gorgeous hike up the well-maintained and marked switchbacks of the Alta Via 2. Next to our steps, sheep grazed the meadows, their bells echoing over the beating of the ravens’ wings and the occasional German laughter.