Colfosco - Rifugio Col Pradat (by road)

Access to starting point:
A) From Kranjska Gora over Korensko sedlo to Austria, where at the first larger 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 path ahead leads us over the Alpine pass Gailbergsattel (982 m), after which we descend into the mentioned settlement. After crossing the bridge over the 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 / Bruneck. Only a little after the last-mentioned settlement, past which a bypass leads, we turn left into the Alta Badia valley. Further, we drive through the mentioned valley and in the settlement La Villa we turn right towards the pass Passo Gardena. Further, we follow the ascending road following the signs Passo Gardena. We follow the road to the settlement Colfosco. One turn before the sign for the settlement we park on a large paid parking lot on the left side of the road (4€ – June 2012).
B) From Nova Gorica we drive into Italy and further 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), then we continue the drive towards Cortina d'Ampezzo. When we arrive in Cortina d'Ampezzo, we follow the signs for the Alpine pass Passo Falzarego. At the pass Passo Falzarego (2105 m) we turn right in the direction of Alta Badia and first ascend to the neighbouring pass Passo Valparola (2192 m), from there we descend into the mentioned valley. In the settlement La Villa we turn left towards the pass Passo Gardena. Further, we follow the ascending road following the signs Passo Gardena. We follow the road to the settlement Colfosco. One turn before the sign for the settlement 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 by the bus parking lot we will notice signposts. We continue following the signs »Sassongher, Utia de Puez« on the path that runs along the main road. The path brings us to a sign that marks the settlement Colfosco / Calfosch. We continue on the sidewalk to the first intersection, then we turn right onto the asphalt road. At the next intersection we continue left so that we walk 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 the road turns left towards the ski slope and then starts to ascend quite steeply.
Later when we come out of the village the road is closed to traffic. A little after that the asphalt ends too and to the right a footpath branches off towards the hut Col Pradat. We continue straight on the macadam road, which ascends along the ski slope and pastures. For some more time we walk on the road from which there is a nice view of the Sella mountain group and the nearby Sassongher, then soon we come to the Edelweiss hut.
From the hut we continue on the macadam road, which soon brings us to a junction where the path towards 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. To the left upwards leads the footpath to Sassongher and towards the Puez hut, we however continue straight on the road towards the Col Pradat hut.
The road then in a gentle ascent crosses the slopes below the Sassongher summit, in the last part turns right again and only a short ascent remains to the hut where there is a very nice view of the surrounding peaks and the Sella mountain group.

On the way: Rifugio Edelweiss (1832m)