Colfosco - Col de Puez / Puezkofel

Access to starting point:
A) From Kranjska Gora over Korensko sedlo to Austria, where at the first major intersection we continue left towards Podklošter / Arnoldstein and Trbiž / Tarvisio. At the end of the settlement Podklošter signs for Šmohor / Hermagor direct us right onto a regional road, along 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 route ahead leads us over the Alpine pass Gailbergsattel (982 m), after which we descend into the mentioned settlement. After crossing the bridge over the Drava River, 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 state border between Austria and Italy, and we follow the main road past the settlements Dobbiaco / Toblach, Villabassa / Niederdorf, Monguelfo - Tesido / Welsberg - Taisten, Brunico / Bruneck. Just a little after the last-mentioned settlement, past which a bypass runs, we turn left into the Alta Badia valley. Further, we drive along the mentioned valley and in the settlement La Villa we turn right towards the Passo Gardena pass. Then we follow the ascending road following the Passo Gardena signs. We follow the road to the settlement Colfosco. One turn before the settlement sign we park on a large paid parking lot on the left side of the road (4€ – June 2012).
B) We drive on the highway towards Venice / Venezia. Near 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 following intersections we continue in the direction of Cortina d'Ampezzo. When we arrive in Cortina d'Ampezzo, we follow the signs for the Alpine pass Passo Falzarego. At the Passo Falzarego pass (2105 m) we turn right in the direction of Alta Badia and first ascend to the neighboring pass Passo Valparola (2192 m), from there we descend into the mentioned valley. In the settlement La Villa we turn left towards the Passo Gardena pass. Then we follow the ascending road following the Passo Gardena signs. We follow the road to the settlement Colfosco. One turn before the settlement sign 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 next to the bus parking lot we notice signposts. We continue following the signs »Sassongher, Utia de Puez« on the path that runs alongside the main road. The path brings us to a sign marking the settlement Colfosco / Calfosch. We continue along the sidewalk to the first intersection, then turn right onto the asphalt road. At the next intersection, we continue left walking in the direction towards the church. At the intersection by the church, we will again notice signposts and continue right (towards the north) following the signs »Sassongher«. Further on, the road turns left towards the ski slope and then begins to ascend quite steeply.
Later when we exit the village, the road is closed to traffic. A little further the asphalt ends too, and to the right a footpath branches off towards the Col Pradat hut. We continue straight on the macadam road, which ascends alongside the ski slope and pastures. For some time we walk along the road from which there is a nice view of the Sella mountain group and the nearby Sassongher, then soon we reach the Edelweiss hut.
From the hut we continue on the macadam road, which soon brings us to a junction where the path to the Sella Gardena pass branches off to the left. We continue right on the road and after a short ascent we are again at a junction. Straight ahead on the road the path leads to the Col Pradat hut, but we continue left uphill on the footpath following the signs »Sassongher«.
From the junction the path first ascends along the bed of a torrent, then follows a zigzag ascent that brings us to a junction, where the path from the Col Pradat hut joins from the right.
We continue left and begin ascending up the valley towards the northwest. The path then leads past a chapel and soon we are again at a junction.
To the right the path leads to the Sassongher summit, but we continue straight and continue ascending up the valley. The path then turns slightly left and brings us near Lake Lech de Ciampai, which often dries up. At the lake the path turns right and first crosses the slopes above the lake, then follows the ascent to the Forcella de Ciampei notch where there is a marked junction.
To the left the path leads to the Sas Ciampac summit and the Forcella de Crespeina notch, straight downhill the path leads into the Langental valley, but we continue right following the signs »Puezhütte«.
A little after the junction the path turns left and begins to ascend gently towards the north. The relatively flat path later brings us to another junction, where the path to Sassongher branches off to the right.
Here the path turns slightly left again and ahead of us we can already see a flag located near the hut. The panoramic path remains flat and soon brings us to the hut, located on grassy slopes below the Puezkofel summit.
At the hut we continue west following the signs »Pizes de Puez, Puezspitz«. After a few dozen meters we reach another junction where path number 2 branches off to the left towards the Langental valley. We continue slightly right and begin to ascend more steeply. The path brings us to a short ridge which takes us below the southern slopes of the Col de Puez summit. Here the path turns left and then crosses steep slopes towards the northwest for a while. The slopes are quite steep in places, and there is some scree on the path, so caution is needed on this section. The path then brings us to the west side of the Col de Puez summit where there is a somewhat poorly visible junction.
To the left a marked path leads to the Piz de Puez summit, but we head right onto the unmarked path to the Col de Puez summit. Here the path runs along the western slope of the mountain, which is not overly steep. The path is not particularly well-trodden but can be followed without difficulty all the way to the summit.

On the way: Rifugio Edelweiss (1730m), Lech de Ciampai (2173m), Forcella de Ciampei (2366m), Rifugio Puez (2475m)