Landro - Monte Piano (Via Ferrata Bilgeri)

Access to starting point:
From the border crossing Rateče we drive to Trbiž / Tarvisio, where we head onto the motorway in the direction of Vidma / Udine. We leave the motorway at the exit for Tolmezzo and follow the road to the mentioned settlement. From Tolmezzo we continue in the direction of the settlement Ampezzo and the mountain pass Passo della Mauria. The road then starts descending and brings us into the Cadore valley, where we continue right (left Belluno and Cortina d'Ampezzo) in the direction of the settlement Auronzo. After a few more km of driving we come to the next larger intersection, where we turn right in the direction of Misurina (left Tre Croci pass). From here we descend along the road to a larger intersection where we continue right towards Toblach / Dobbiaco (left Cortina). From the intersection we continue past the lake Lago di Landro / Dürrensee. From the lake we follow the main road for approximately one more kilometre, then we turn right onto a larger macadam parking lot.

Path description:
From the parking lot, we head east on the macadam road (path 102) following the signs for »Monte Piano«. Already after a few tens of metres we come to a junction where we continue straight on the gently sloping macadam road. Here from the path a nice view opens up on the Cristallo mountain group and the nearby Monte Piano.
When we get somewhat closer to the slopes of Monte Piano we are again at a junction. Straight ahead the path leads to the Locatelli hut, we continue right on path no. 6 following the signs for »Monte Piano«. From the junction we walk along the gently sloping macadam road and soon come to a junction where the path from Lake Lago di Landro also joins from the right.
At the junction we continue straight and soon come near the stream where the road ends. Here the trail crosses the stream over a wooden bridge and soon brings us to yet another junction. This time we continue on the left upper path.
In the continuation we then ascend for a long time in zigzags along the old military path from which a view opens up on the Valle di Landro valley with Lake Lago di Landro and the Cristallo mountain group. The path here runs mostly through dwarf pine scrub and sparse larch forest, occasionally we also cross somewhat steeper slopes. The path runs slightly towards the southeast the whole time and higher up brings us to somewhat steeper slopes where some steel cables also assist us. A renewed ascent through dwarf pine scrub follows, bringing us to a vantage point next to which crosses are placed in memory of the fallen soldiers.
In the continuation the dwarf pine scrub becomes ever sparser and the path soon brings us to a marked junction.
Straight ahead leads the easier path to Monte Piano, which we will descend later. At the junction we head left towards the secured climbing path.
In the very beginning the secured path first ascends vertically for a short stretch, then for a while becomes somewhat less demanding and ascends in zigzags on an otherwise very steep slope. When we reach the bench located on a precipitous ledge, the path becomes somewhat more demanding again. Several times it steeply ascends alongside a steel cable and then runs through a steep gully. When we exit the gully the relatively short secured path soon ends.
The increasingly scenic path then turns slightly left and brings us to the ridge on the northern side of the mountain. Here we continue right and after a short ascent along the ridge soon reach the summit.
We descend along the easier path, which in the upper section runs along the eastern side of the mountain. We follow the signs for the Val di Landro valley.