Passo Campolongo - Pizes dl Valun (path 672)

Access to starting point:
Through the Karawanks Tunnel, we drive into Austria, then 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. Just a little after the last-mentioned town, past which a bypass runs, we turn left into the Val Badia valley. Further, we drive through the mentioned valley past the places La Villa and Corvara. Next follows an ascent towards the pass Passo Campolongo. A few hundred meters before the pass, we will notice a macadam parking lot on the left side, on which we park. The parking lot is located behind the Hotel Laguscei, opposite the bus stop. By the road there is also the lower station of the chairlift. A smaller parking lot is also on the right side of the road before the bus stop.

Path description:
From the parking lot, we continue by the main road (towards the south) to the Hotel Boe, which is located on the right, western side of the road. At the hotel, where there are also signposts, we turn right onto a macadam road following the signs "Rifugio Lago Boe". Behind the hotel, the road turns right and slightly descends, then starts ascending and crosses the ski slope. Further, the road ascends for a short time through the forest and then brings us to the mountain pasture Malga Plan Fisti.
We continue on the road across the mountain pasture and a little after the mountain pasture we come to a marked junction where the footpath towards the mountain hut Kaiser Hütte branches off to the left. We continue right and continue ascending on the road. After a short ascent, the path 638A towards the summit Crep de Munt also branches off to the right. We continue left on the road from which beautiful views open up towards Marmolada and the mountains above the Val Badia valley. Here the road ascends somewhat more steeply and brings us back to the ski slope. Somewhat higher, the road turns right and continues ascending along mostly grassy slopes. The road then becomes gentler and soon brings us to the hut Rifugio Lago Boe. A circular cable car from the place Corvara in Val Badia also runs to the hut. Near the hut there is also the lower station of the chairlift that leads towards the summit Vallon (2530m). Both cable cars also operate in the summer months.
Near the hut where there is a junction, we continue left across the ski slope where signs direct us to the lake Lech de Boe and the hut Ütia Franz Kostner. The path runs along the right edge of the ski slope and after a short ascent brings us to the mentioned lake, which is located to the right of the ski slope below a rocky ridge.
From the lake we continue further on path 638, which turns left and crosses the ski slope. Further on, the path then runs somewhat left of the ski slope across partly grassy terrain. The path soon brings us to a marked junction where path 636 towards the hut Kaiser Hütte (Rifugio Bec de Roces) branches off to the left. We continue further on the path, which ascends the slope parallel to the ski slope, and soon path 646A towards the summit Boeseekofel (Piz da Lech) branches off to the right. We continue further on the path that runs left of the ski slope and slowly beautiful views begin to open up towards the hut Ütia Franz Kostner and the sheer walls of nearby peaks in the Sella mountain group. Further on, the slope becomes somewhat gentler and the path brings us to a marked junction.
To the right, the path branches off towards the upper station of the Vallon cableway and further towards the summit Boeseekofel (Piz da Lech), while we continue left on path 638 towards the hut Ütia Franz Kostner. The wide and panoramic path runs towards the west and quickly brings us to another junction.
If we do not visit the hut, we can continue straight on path 638 at the junction; otherwise, we turn left and after a short ascent reach the hut Ütia Franz Kostner.
At the hut we turn right onto path 637 and after a short descent come to a junction. To the left downward leads path 637 towards the place Arabba, while we continue right onto path 638. After a few tens of meters, the path towards the secured path Via Ferrata Vallon and towards path Roda de Valun branches off to the right. This time we continue left and the path begins to ascend diagonally across the scree. After a short ascent we are again at a junction.
To the left leads the path towards the pass Passo Pordoi and path 638 towards the summit Piz Boe. At the junction we turn right upward onto path 672 (Lichtenfels), which also leads towards the summit Piz Boe. From the junction, the path begins to ascend across the scree and runs up the right side of the valley. At the end of the valley, the path turns right into the rocks and becomes more demanding. The path, which is well secured with a steel cable here, runs across a steep rocky slope and ascends somewhat more steeply a few times. More experienced mountaineers will manage the ascent even without self-belaying. The relatively short secured section then ends and the path becomes less demanding.
Further on, the path then turns left and for some time mostly in a gentle ascent crosses the steep slopes on the eastern side of the peak Pizes dl Valun. After crossing, the path brings us to less steep slopes where we come to a marked junction.
At the junction we continue right on path 672 (Lichtenfels), straight ahead the path leads which later joins path 638. Our path then ascends somewhat to the left of the wide and relatively gentle valley and runs towards the west. When we reach the southwest side of the peak Pizes dl Valun we will notice a distinct saddle below the western slopes. Here we leave the marked path and head off-path towards the mentioned saddle. From the saddle a relatively easy passage is also clearly visible, which runs across the slope above the scree towards the ridge. At the saddle we turn right and begin to ascend the pathless scree and then across the mentioned passage slightly to the right to the ridge. The ascent is not overly demanding but due to the scree some caution is still needed. When we reach the ridge we continue left and across a gentle slope soon reach the summit on which there is a small cairn. From the summit there is a wonderful view of a large part of the Sella mountain group.
We descend along the ascent path.

On the way: Malga Plan Fisti (1930m), Rifugio Lago Boe (2185m), Lago Boe (2252m), Ütia Franz Kostner (2500m)