Ponte de Ru Curto - La Rocchetta

Access to starting point:
Access from Gorenjska: From Rateče or Predel we cross the border to Trbiž / Tarvisio and then we continue on a highway in the direction of Videm / Udine to exit Tolmezzo. From Tolmezzo we follow the road in the direction of village Ampezzo and mountain pass Passo Mauria. The road then descends and it brings us to a crossroad, where we continue left (possible also right) in the direction of Cortina d'Ampezzo. At all next crossroads, we follow the signs for Cortina d'Ampezzo.
In Cortina d'Ampezzo then we follow the signs for Alpine mountain pass Passo di Falzarego. This ascending road we then follow to a crossroad at an altitude of approximately 1400m. At the crossroad, we continue left in the direction of Alpine mountain pass Passo di Giau and Marmolada. From the mentioned crossroad, we continue driving for 4km, after that few hundred meters before the bridge Ponte de Ru Curto we park on a parking lot on the left side of the road.
From Primorska: We drive on the highway towards Venice / Benetke / Venezia. At town Portogruaro we leave the highway towards Venice and continue right on the highway towards Pordenone. At the next highway junction near Conegliano, we continue right towards Belluno. Near Belluno the highway ends and at the next crossroads we continue in the direction of Cortina d'Ampezzo. Further, we follow the description above.

Path description:
From the parking lot, we go left on a footpath following the signs »Rif. Croda da Lago«. The footpath at first slightly descends and crosses a stream Rio Costeana. After that, the path turns left and mostly in a gentle ascent crosses slopes towards the east. The path here runs through the forest, in spite of that occasionally a nice view opens up towards Tofanas. After that, the path turns slightly to the right and crosses another stream and then it starts slightly steeper ascending through the forest. The path then brings us to a marked crossing.
From the left joins the path from the bridge Pezie de Paru, right leads the path through the valley Val Formin, and we continue straight following the signs »Rifugio Croda da Lago«. From the crossing, the path is still ascending through the forest and then turns a little to the left, so that it brings us below east slopes of the peak Ciadenes. From the path also views towards the east starts to open up, where mountain groups Cristallo, Sorapiss and Antelao stand out. After that, the path becomes less steep and crosses a grazing fence. Further, we walk through the valley named Val Negra and occasionally we also slightly descend. Such a path then brings us to the lake Lago Federa. At the lake from the left joins the path from the mountain hut Rifugio Lago de Aial and to the hut Rifugio Croda da Lago follows only some easy walking by the lake.
From the mountain hut, we continue on the path 434 towards the notch Forcella Ambrizola. Wide and not that steep path here runs towards the south below the slopes of the peak Croda da Lago. Soon the last trees vanish and from the path, we have a breathtaking view on the mountain groups east from Cortina d'Ampezzo and on the nearby Croda da Lago and Becco di Mezzodi. Panoramic path continues slightly ascending all the way to the notch Forcella Ambrizola, which is located on northwestern side of the peak Becco di Mezzodi.
On the saddle where there is a marked crossing we continue left towards the settlement San Vito di Cadore, right leads the path towards the notch Forcella Rossa and mountain pass Passo Giau. The path from the notch then crosses slopes below the summit Becco di Mezzodi and a view is starting to open up also towards the summit Monte Pelmo. The path then starts slightly descending and soon brings us to the notch Forcella Col Duro where we cross the fence.
Here we leave the marked path and go left upwards on a pathless terrain. Ascending on the scree towards the southern walls of a peak Becco di Mezzodi. At the ascent there are also cairns for help, when we get closer to the walls of the mentioned summit we will also notice a little worse beaten path. The footpath then from the south slopes leads towards the saddle on the eastern side of the peak. Slope towards the saddle becomes quite steep but in dry doesn't cause bigger problems.
When we come on the saddle we continue right on an undemanding ridge towards the summit La Rocchetta. Here we all the time walk on a very scenic ridge towards the southeast. On the ridge at first we reach the secondary peak from which we still continue on the ridge. The peak on which also stands a smaller cross we already see in front of us. To the top then follows only a short undemanding ascent.

On the way: Cason di Formin (1845m), Lago Federa (2038m), Rifugio Croda da Lago (2046m), Forcella Ambrizola (2277m), Forcella Col Duro (2293m)