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Sleep in a mountain refuge above the treeline

The dormitory at the rifugio held forty bunks, and every one had a body in it by eight. Dinner had already happened — a long table, barley soup, someone's polenta, all of it gone by seven-thirty — and by nine the lights were off because half the room planned to leave before five. No wifi, no signal. The room smelled of wet wool and sunscreen. We lay listening to strangers breathe in six languages. At 4:45 an alarm went off two bunks over, and through the window the glacier had already turned the colour of a healed bruise.

Practical

Cost
$40–70 per night, half-board
Best time
Summer, when huts are staffed and fully open
Difficulty
Moderate
Time it takes
One overnight, with a hike of several hours each way
What people get wrong
People assume they can turn up in July or August without booking, or expect a shower and phone signal; many huts also require your own sleeping bag liner and cash for extras.
With
One other person

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