Lech da Sompunt - Piz de Puez / Puezspitz (path 11)

Access to starting point:
A) Access from Gorenjska: Through the Karawanks Tunnel, we drive into Austria, and then we continue driving towards Spittal and further towards Lienz (a little after Spittal the highway ends). Further, we drive on a relatively nice and wide road through the Drava Valley, which brings us to Italy. The road further leads past Dobbiaco / Toblach and Brunico / Bruneck. Only a little after the last-mentioned town, past which a bypass road leads, we turn left into the Val Badia valley. Further, we drive through the mentioned valley to La Villa, where only a few meters after the sign, which marks the settlement, we turn right towards the lake Lech da Sompunt. Then we follow the ascending road to Hotel Sompunt, which is located by the mentioned lake.
B) From the Primorska side: From Nova Gorica, we drive into Italy and then continue on the highway to Portogruaro, where at the highway junction we turn in the direction of Belluno. We follow the highway to its end (we do not turn in the direction towards Belluno), and then we continue driving 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 towards the neighbouring pass Passo Valparola (2192 m), from there we descend into the Val Badia valley. In La Villa we turn right towards Brunico / Bruneck. Only a few meters before the sign, which marks the end of the settlement La Villa, we turn left towards the lake Lech da Sompunt. Then we follow the ascending road to Hotel Sompunt, which is located by the mentioned lake.

Path description:
At the parking lot by the lake we head left onto the footpath following the signs «Sponata, Ütia de Puez». The path quickly brings us to the road where there is a marked junction. We head right and continue on the road, which leads up the ski slope. Further, we ascend the ski slope from which increasingly beautiful views open towards the Val Badia valley and the Lavarella mountain group. Higher up, a mountain bike trail joins us briefly, as indicated by the signs along the path. We continue ascending the ski slope and soon spot the Rifugio Sponata hut, followed by only a short ascent.
From the hut, where a view towards Marmolada opens briefly, we continue for a short time on a gently sloping macadam road, then the signposts direct us right upwards onto the ski slope. After a short ascent, the marked path leaves the ski slope and follows the ascent through the forest to the right of the ski slope. The path then brings us to a junction where the path from the upper cable car station joins. At the marked junction, which is also the start of the mountain bike trail, we continue on path number 5 towards the Rifugio Gherdenacia hut.
Here we enter the Puez-Odle nature park and the well-maintained path begins to ascend steeply through the increasingly sparse forest. The path then turns slightly left and begins crossing fairly steep slopes to the south. During the crossing, the path initially continues ascending, later becoming flatter and even descending slightly in places. The path then brings us out of the forest onto the Munt de Gherdenacia pasture where the Gherdenacia hut is also located.
At the hut where there are signposts, we continue west following the signs «Ütia de Puez». The path soon begins to ascend and turns slightly right into the sparse larch forest, bringing us to a marked junction. Left leads the path to the Sassongher summit, while we continue straight ahead, ascending amid increasingly sparse larches. Briefly, we ascend gently on a scenic grassy slope, then reach a narrow valley with another junction.
Left leads path number 15 to the Puez hut, while we continue up the mentioned narrow valley on path number 11, which also leads to the Puez hut.
Further on, we ascend the mentioned valley for quite some time, occasionally enjoying beautiful views mainly towards the Lavarella mountain group. The path here runs northwest to a marked junction near the Ciampani summit.
At the junction we continue left, while right leads path number 1 to Badia Abtei. From the junction, the path runs west and becomes flatter. The increasingly scenic path then brings us below the slope of the Muntejela peak. Here the path turns slightly left and then descends slightly on grassy slopes on the south side of the mentioned peak. Further on, the path continues west, mostly descending gently all the way to the Puez hut.
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 left to the Langental valley. We continue slightly right and begin ascending more steeply. The path brings us to a short ridge which leads us below the southern slopes of the Col de Puez peak. Here the path turns left and then crosses steep slopes 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 peak where there is also a somewhat less visible junction.
Right leads an unmarked path to the Col de Puez summit, while we continue left on the marked path to the Piz de Puez summit. Further on, the path ascends continuously on the steep slopes of the mountain, which are not difficult in dry conditions. Just below the summit, we reach a small saddle from where a view also opens to the north. Here we continue left along the ridge and quickly reach the panoramic summit.
We descend back to the Puez hut and then can return via the ascent path or path number 15. Both paths are approximately equally long.

On the way: Rifugio Sponata (1730m), Rifugio Gherdenacia (2050m), Rifugio Puez (2475m)