Colfosco - Rifugio Edelweiss

Access to starting point:
A) From Kranjska Gora over Korensko sedlo to Austria, where at the first larger crossroad we continue left towards Podklošter / Arnoldstein and Trbiž / Tarvisio. At the end of the settlement Podklošter signs for Šmohor / Hermagor point us right onto a regional road, on which past the mentioned settlement we drive to the end of the Gailtal valley, or more precisely to the settlement Kötschach-Mauthen, where we turn right towards the settlement Oberdrauburg. The road ahead leads us over the Alpine pass Gailbergsattel (982 m), after which we descend into the mentioned settlement. After crossing the bridge over the river Drau, we continue left towards the settlement Lienz. In the main roundabout in Lienz we continue "left" in the direction of the settlement Sillian and Italy. Further, we cross the border between Austria and Italy, and we follow the main road past settlements Dobbiaco / Toblach, Villabassa / Niederdorf, Monguelfo - Tesido / Welsberg - Taisten, Brunico / Bruneck. Only a little after the last-mentioned settlement, past which a bypass road leads, we turn left into the Alta Badia valley. Further, we drive through the mentioned valley and in the settlement La Villa we turn right towards the pass Passo Gardena. Further, we follow the ascending road by the signs for Passo Gardena. We follow the road to the settlement Colfosco. One turn before the sign for the settlement we park on a large paid parking lot on the left side of the road (4€ – June 2012).
B) From Nova Gorica we drive to Italy and further on the highway to the settlement Portogruaro, where at the highway junction we turn in the direction of the settlement Belluno. We follow the highway to its end (we do not turn towards Belluno), then we continue driving towards Cortina d'Ampezzo. When we arrive in Cortina d'Ampezzo, we follow the signs for the Alpine pass Passo Falzarego. At the pass Passo Falzarego (2105 m) we turn right in the direction of Alta Badia and first ascend to the neighbouring pass Passo Valparola (2192 m), from there we descend into the mentioned valley. In the settlement La Villa we turn left towards the pass Passo Gardena. Further, we follow the ascending road by the signs for Passo Gardena. We follow the road to the settlement Colfosco. One turn before the sign for the settlement we park on a large paid parking lot on the left side of the road (4€ – June 2012).

Path description:
From the parking lot we first cross the main road, then beside the bus parking lot we will notice signposts. We continue following the signs »Sassongher, Utia de Puez« on the path that runs along the main road. The path brings us to a sign that marks the settlement Colfosco / Calfosch. We continue on the sidewalk to the first crossroad, then we turn right onto an asphalt road. At the next crossroad we continue left, walking in the direction towards the church. At the crossroad by the church we will again notice signposts and continue right (towards the north) following the signs »Sassongher«. Further, the road turns left towards the ski slope and then starts to ascend quite steeply.
Later when we leave the village the road is closed to traffic. A little after that the asphalt also ends and to the right a footpath branches off towards the hut Col Pradat. We continue straight on the macadam road that ascends along the ski slope and pastures. For some time we walk on the road from which there is a nice view of the Sella mountain group and the nearby Sassongher, then soon we arrive at the Edelweiss hut.

Trip can be extended to: Rifugio Col Pradat ( 20 min) , Rifugio Puez (2 h 35 min) , Sassongher (2 h 50 min) , Muntejela de Puez (3 h 5 min) , Sas Ciampac (2 h 50 min) , Piz de Puez / Puezspitz (4 h 5 min)