We had glimpses of Cortina and its surrounding mountains throughout the trip, but this was our first direct view of the Cortina basin. Rifugio Croda da Lago is not visible in the shadows to the left, but you can see a reflection off tiny Lago Federa (the rigufio sits on the lake shore). It didn't take long to reach the rifugio from the forcella. As we were hiking down we didn't see any lights or movement at the rifugio. Given the erratic schedules of the other huts, we were worried that this one had decided to close early too. We were relieved to find it was open. We had two nice, quiet nights there.