Lech da Sompunt - Rifugio Gherdenacia

Access to starting point:
A) Access from Gorenjska: Through the Karawanks Tunnel, we drive to 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 Drau 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 valley Val Badia. 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 Primorska side: From Nova Gorica, we drive to Italy and further 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 don't 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. On the pass Passo Falzarego (2105 m) we turn right towards the neighbouring pass Passo Valparola (2192 m), from there we descend into the valley Val Badia. 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 go left on a footpath following the signs »Sponata, Ütia de Puez«. The path quickly brings us to the road where there is a marked junction. We go right and continue on the road which leads up the ski slope. Further, we ascend the ski slope from which increasingly beautiful views open up towards the Val Badia valley and the Lavarella mountain group. Higher up, a mountain bike track joins us for a short time, which is also 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 up, we continue for a short time on a gently sloping macadam road, then 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 where the mountain bike track also begins, 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 to the left and begins crossing fairly steep slopes to the south. During the crossing, the path initially still ascends, later becomes more level and slightly descends in a few places. The path then brings us out of the forest onto the Munt de Gherdenacia pasture where the Gherdenacia hut is also located.

On the way: Rifugio Sponata (1730m)

Trip can be extended to: Rifugio Puez , Muntejela de Puez , Ciampani (1 h 50 min) , Col de Puez / Puezkofel , Piz de Puez / Puezspitz