Passo Campolongo - Pizes dl Valun (Via Ferrata Vallon)

Access to starting point:
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 Val Badia valley. Further, we drive through the mentioned valley past the places La Vila 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 station. Along 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 station.

Route 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 the 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.
Near the mountain pasture, we continue on the road across the pasture and a little after the pasture we come to a marked junction where the footpath to the 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 towards Marmolada and the mountains above the Val Badia valley. The road here ascends somewhat more steeply and brings us again 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 cabin cable car from Corvara in Val Badia also runs to the hut. Near the hut there is also the lower station of the chairlift that leads to the Vallon summit (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 the signs direct us to Lech de Boe lake 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 the rocky ridge.
From the lake, we continue further on path 638, which turns left and crosses the ski slope. Further, the path runs somewhat left of the ski slope across partly grassy terrain. The path soon brings us to a marked junction where path 636 to 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 to the summit Boeseekofel (Piz da Lech) branches off to the right. We continue further on the path, which runs left of the ski slope, and slowly beautiful views begin to open towards the hut Ütia Franz Kostner and the steep walls of nearby peaks in the Sella mountain group. Further, the slope becomes somewhat gentler and the path brings us to a marked junction.
To the right, the path to the upper station of the Vallon cableway and further to the summit Boeseekofel (Piz da Lech) branches off, while we continue left on path 638 to the hut Ütia Franz Kostner. The wide and scenic path runs westwards and quickly brings us to another junction.
To the left there is only a short ascent to the hut Ütia Franz Kostner. If we also visit the hut, we return to the junction and continue right on path 638. A little after the junction, the path turns left and ascends towards the scree where we are again at a junction.
This time we leave path 638 and turn right onto the path named Roda de Valun. The path then runs northwest and through the scree brings us into a valley surrounded by precipitous peaks. Here the path first crosses the scree on the left side of the valley in ascent and then brings us to flatter terrain where there is also a junction.
To the right leads the easy circular path Roda de Valun, while we continue left towards the secured climbing path Via Ferrata Vallon where a larger inscription on the rock directs us. The path, which here is marked with red-blue blazes, then ascends the scree and brings us to the wall where the secured path begins. Before entering the secured section of the path, we equip ourselves with a helmet and a via ferrata set.
The secured path in the initial part turns right and steeply ascends several times along the steel cable. The steel cables in this part are quite loose and the distance between the pegs to which the steel cables are attached is also relatively large. The path then turns somewhat left for a short time and brings us below even steeper slopes. Here we continue right again and after several diagonal ascents on the exposed slope, the path brings us to a hanging bridge. Over the bridge we cross a small waterfall and then the ascent becomes somewhat more demanding. Behind the bridge, the path ascends almost vertically left upwards and some arm strength is also needed for progress (difficulty C). The demanding section is otherwise relatively short and the secured path soon ends and brings us to gentler slopes where there is also a small lake.
Here the path turns right and ascends an easy slope from which a view opens towards the summit Piz Boe and numerous other nearby peaks. The path then turns left and gently ascends the rocky slope on the right side of the valley. On the left side, we will also notice a somewhat larger lake here, located below the western slopes of the peak Pizes dl Valun.
Here we soon leave the marked track and turn left onto pathless terrain and continue gently downwards towards the saddle on the western side of the peak Pizes dl Valun. From here, a relatively easy passage is also clearly visible, running along the slope above the scree towards the ridge. From the saddle, we ascend pathless scree and then along the mentioned passage gently 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 along the gentle slope soon reach the summit where a small cairn is placed. From the summit there is a wonderful view of a larger part of the Sella mountain group.
From the summit we descend back to the mentioned saddle on the western side of the mountain and then continue down the small valley towards the south where we join path 672. Along the marked path we then descend left downwards.

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

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