Passo Gardena - Col de Puez / Puezkofel

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. By the end of the settlement Podklošter signs for Šmohor / Hermagor point us to the right on a regional road, on which past the mentioned settlement we drive to the end of the valley Gailtal, or more precisely to the settlement Kötschach-Mauthen, where we turn right towards the settlement Oberdrauburg. The path ahead leads us over an Alpine mountain pass Gailbergsattel (982 meters), after which we descend into the mentioned settlement. After we cross the bridge through 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 / Brunec. Only a little after the last-mentioned settlement, past which leads a bypass road, we turn left into a valley Val Badia. Further, we drive through the mentioned valley and in the settlement La Villa we turn right towards the mountain pass Passo Gardena. Further, we follow an ascending road all the way to mountain pass Passo Gardena where we park on a payable parking lot (4€ – June 2012).
B) From Nova Gorica, we drive to Italy and drive forward 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 don't turn in the direction towards Belluno), and then we continue driving towards Cortina d'Ampezzo. When we get into Cortina d'Ampezzo, we follow the signs for Alpine mountain pass Passo Falzarego. On the mountain pass Passo Falzarego (2105 meters) we turn right in the direction of Val Badia and at first ascend on the neighbouring mountain pass Passo Valparola (2192 meters), from there we descend into the mentioned valley. In the settlement La Villa we turn left towards the mountain pass Passo Gardena. Further, we follow an ascending road all the way to mountain pass Passo Gardena where we park on a payable parking lot (4€ – June 2012).

Path description:
From the mountain pass Passo Gardena we go towards the north on a footpath following the signs »Baita Jimmy Hütte«. The path leads us on grassy slopes from which is a breathtaking view on a mountain group Sella on the south and towards Sassolungo on the west. The path on grassy slopes then soon brings us on the road. We continue right on a macadam road which we follow all the way to the mountain hut Jimmy Hütte.
From the mountain hut, we continue on a footpath towards the northeast and we start ascending through dwarf pines. The path soon brings us out of the dwarf pines and continues relatively steeply ascending. Higher, the path then turns to the left and then follows an ascent to the notch Forcella Cier where a view opens up towards the north.
On the saddle, we cross the fence, and then in a gentle descent, we cross the scree. Such a path then brings us to a marked crossing where from the left joins the path through the valley Val de Chedul.
From the crossing, the path again starts slightly ascending and is still crossing slopes towards the northeast. Later, the path turns slightly to the left and then follows a little steeper ascent to the notch Forcella de Crespeina.
On the notch where a view opens up on a larger part of the mountain group Puez we continue straight, right leads the path over the peak Sas Ciampac. The path further starts descending and brings us on a little less steep grassy terrain. From the path, we have a nice view towards the lake Lech de Crespeina and on Sas Ciampac. Our path then for a short time again a little steeper ascends, and then not that steep path brings us to a crossing, where from the right side joins the path over the peak Sas Ciampac.
The path further slightly descends and it brings us to another crossing. Right downwards leads the path towards the settlement Calfosch, left leads the path into a valley Langental, and we continue straight following the signs »Puezhütte«.
The path little after the crossing turns to the left and starts slightly ascending towards the north. Not that steep path later brings us to another crossing, where the path on Sassongher branches off to the right.
Here the path again turns a little to the left and in front of us, we can already see a flag, which is situated near the mountain hut. Panoramic path is still gentle and soon brings us to the hut, which is situated on grassy slopes below the summit Puezkofel.
At the mountain hut, we continue towards the west following the signs »Pizes de Puez, Puezspitz«. After few ten meters we come again to a crossing where the path number 2 towards the valley Langental branches off to the left. We continue slightly right and start ascending steeper. The path brings us on shorter ridge which brings us below the southern slopes of the peak Col de Puez. Here the path turns left and then some time crosses steep slopes towards the northwest. Slopes are on some spots pretty steep, there's also some gravel on the path therefore some caution is needed on this part. Such a path then brings us on the west side of the peak Col de Puez where there is also a little poorly visible crossing.
Left leads a marked path towards the peak Piz de Puez, and we go right on an unmarked path towards peak Col de Puez. The path here runs on the western slope of the mountain, which isn't too steep. The path otherwise isn't best beaten but we can follow it without problems all the way to the top.

On the way: Jimmy Hütte (2222m), Forcella Cier (2469m), Forcella de Crespeina (2528m), Forcella de Ciampei (2366m), Rifugio Puez (2475m)