Belopeška jezera - Mangart (Via Italiana)

Access to starting point:
From Kranjska Gora via the border crossing at Rateče we drive towards Trbiž / Tarvisio. Soon after the border crossing, the road in the direction of the Belopeška lakes / Laghi di Fusine branches off to the left, which in a moderate ascent we then follow to a large parking lot at the Upper Mangart (Belopeško) lake.

Path description:
From the parking lot, we continue on the left side of the inn following the signs for Bivacco Nogara. The path runs on the road and in a few minutes brings us to a crossroad, where the path towards the mountain hut Zacchi branches off to the left. We continue right on the road along which we walk for some time, then we turn slightly right onto a cart track. When the cart track ends, we continue on the path through a meadow, which brings us to a junction. Left leads path 513 towards the mountain hut Zacchi, while we continue right on path 517/A towards bivouac Nogara. The path then brings us into the forest through which we ascend quite steeply for quite some time. Out of the forest we come onto grassy slopes and soon we are at a junction again. We head right towards bivouac Nogara, while left the path goes slightly downhill towards the mountain hut Zacchi. We continue on grassy slopes slightly to the right and soon come to a somewhat more demanding part of the path. Here the path ascends steeply and several fixed protections assist us. This is followed by crossing steep grassy slopes, after which the path becomes flatter again and soon brings us to bivouac Nogara.
At the bivouac, where there is also a junction, we continue to the left following the inscription on the rock »Via Italiana«. The blazes on this section of the path are quite faded, but numerous cairns assist us. The path then crosses the slope to the left and brings us to the start of the climbing section. At the beginning, the path ascends steeply next to the steel cable to the left upwards and brings us to a small cavity. From the cavity, we then climb through a window onto a precipitous ledge and continue upwards along the wall. The path turns to the left and crosses a precipitous slope, then ascends almost vertically upwards and brings us to a somewhat less steep grassy slope. We cross the slope next to the steel cable to the left and soon we are before probably the most difficult part of the path. First we ascend vertically next to the steel cable, then along an extremely exposed wall with the aid of brackets we climb above the rocky overhang. Here we stand on a wide bracket, below us a deep precipice. We continue on brackets vertically upwards. The path then goes slightly to the right and ascends steeply several more times with the aid of brackets. This is followed by an exposed crossing along a narrow ledge to the left, then we ascend again with the aid of brackets and pegs along the vertical wall. Again we walk above a deep precipice on wide brackets from which we then ascend almost vertically upwards. This is followed by crossing to the left along a narrow exposed ledge and then a steep ascent with the aid of brackets. The path then becomes somewhat less steep and soon we reach the ridge from which a view opens towards Slovenia. A short descent follows next to the steel cable and we join the path from Mangartsko sedlo.
We continue to the left along the well-marked path and initially walk on smooth rocky slabs. After that, the path turns slightly left onto scree slopes below Mangart, which in early summer are still snow-covered. The path further ahead slowly turns to the right and soon we are at a junction, where we go right (left along the ridge to Kotovo sedlo, Loška Koritnica). The path continues turning right so that we almost encircle Mangart. An ascent awaits us along a panoramic grassy slope. Then we cross the gully and to the summit only the final steep section remains, which we overcome in zigzags.
The Via Italiana path is extremely demanding and suitable only for the most experienced mountaineers with mandatory self-belaying. The path is otherwise excellently secured but from a technical viewpoint it is among the more difficult in the Julian Alps and perhaps even the most exposed in the entire Julian Alps.
On Slovenian territory, we will not find such demanding high mountain paths.
We can descend to Mangartsko sedlo and then along the easier path (path 517) back to the Belopeška lakes.

On the way: Bivouac Nogara (1850m)