Malborghetto - Cima Alta (Due Pizzi) (path 605)

Access to starting point:
Over the border crossing Rateče or Predel we drive to Trbiž / Tarvisio, and then we continue driving on the old road towards Videm / Udine. This road we follow to the settlement Cucco. We follow the main road to the turn-off for settlement Ombrico. Here we leave the main road and we go left on a narrower road which at first runs slightly downwards. The road over the bridge crosses the wide riverbed of the river Fiuma Fella and brings us to a crossroad. At the crossroad, we continue sharply left and proceed along a narrow road, where we will also notice signs for path number 605. For about a kilometer, we continue on this road parallel to the river, then turn sharply right and proceed on an ascending road, which later crosses a cycling path and brings us below the highway viaduct. The road then brings us to the other side of the highway, where, just before the highway fence, we turn left onto a rough macadam road, alongside which there is a signpost for the notch Fchia di Chianalot. We park at a suitable spot at the beginning of the mentioned macadam road.
Since the starting point is located in close proximity to the highway viaduct, be careful when using the starting coordinates for navigation to ensure that the navigation system does not lead you onto the highway but to the correct starting point beside the highway.

Path description:
From the starting point, we continue past a nearby cottage and head slightly left onto a cart track that runs alongside the stream Rio Palug in the direction of the south. Later, the cart track crosses the stream and ascends through the forest. After a short ascent, we reach a crossing where we continue on the right cart track, guided by signs on a tree.
The cart track ascends more steeply and leads us to a mountain hut by the path. We continue walking on the cart track, which becomes quite overgrown and transitions into a footpath. Further on, we walk along a poorly trodden and quite overgrown path, which we can follow without major difficulties. Higher up, the path crosses steep slopes during the ascent and leads us past an abandoned cottage. We continue ascending through the forest high above the valley of the stream Rio Palug. Occasionally, a slight view opens toward the stream, where we can observe some waterfalls. Higher up, the path briefly emerges from the forest and brings us near the stream again. Here, the forest becomes thinner, and later our path mostly runs alongside dwarf pines and larches, becoming increasingly panoramic. On this path, we ascend all the way to the notch Forchia di Cjanalot, where a view opens up to the peaks above the valley Dunja.
At the notch, where a marked crossing is located, we turn right toward the bivouac Bernardinis. From the crossing, the path ascends a slope covered with dwarf pines. Higher up, the dwarf pines become sparser, and the path leads us to more grassy terrain. Only a short ascent remains to bivouac Bernardinis.
From the bivouac ahead, the path becomes very interesting, at first we are ascending on grassy slopes by which there are a lot of ruins from the first world war, after that follows tunnel through the eastern peak of Dve špici (Cima Vildiver). While crossing the tunnel we need a lamp because a winding tunnel is long 70 meters. From the tunnel we come on the northern slopes of the mountain from where on a quite steep crumbly slope between the both peaks we descend on the south side. Here the path at first runs through the natural window, and then on a 150 meters long carved ledge in the vertical south wall of western peak (Cima Alta).
The path on an exposed ledge is secured with a steel cable and then brings us to the western slopes of the mountain, where we reach a crossroad. We go right following the signs Due Pizzi (Dve špici) and the path at first through dwarf pines and then over a grassy slope in 15 minutes brings us on the western peak of Dve špici.
Description and pictures refer to the condition of September 2023 and June 2022.

On the way: Forchia di Cjanalot (1830m), Bivouac Bernardinis (1907m)