Passo Gardena - Rifugio Puez

Access to starting point:
A) From Kranjska Gora over Korensko sedlo into Austria, where at the first major intersection we continue left towards Podklošter / Arnoldstein and Trbiž / Tarvisio. At the end of the settlement Podklošter signs for Šmohor / Hermagor direct us right onto a regional road, along which past the mentioned settlement we drive to the end of the Gailtal valley, or more precisely to the settlement Kötschach-Mauthen, where we turn right towards the settlement Oberdrauburg. The route ahead leads us over the Alpine pass Gailbergsattel (982 m), after which we descend into the mentioned settlement. After crossing the bridge over the river Drau, we continue left towards the settlement Lienz. In the main roundabout in Lienz we continue "left" in the direction of the settlement Sillian and Italy. Further, we cross the state border between Austria and Italy, and follow the main road past the settlements Dobbiaco / Toblach, Villabassa / Niederdorf, Monguelfo - Tesido / Welsberg - Taisten, Brunico / Bruneck. A little after the last-mentioned settlement, past which a bypass leads, we turn left into the Alta Badia valley. Further, we drive through the mentioned valley and in the settlement La Villa we turn right towards the pass Passo Gardena. We then follow the ascending road all the way to the pass Passo Gardena where we park at a paid parking lot (4€ – June 2012).
B) From Nova Gorica we drive into Italy and further along the motorway to the settlement Portogruaro, where at the motorway junction we turn towards the settlement Belluno. We follow the motorway to its end (do not turn towards Belluno), then continue the drive 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 Alta Badia and first ascend to the adjacent pass Passo Valparola (2192 m), from there we descend into the mentioned valley. In the settlement La Villa we turn left towards the pass Passo Gardena. We then follow the ascending road all the way to the pass Passo Gardena where we park at a paid parking lot (4€ – June 2012).

Path description:
From the pass Passo Gardena we head north on the footpath following the signs »Baita Jimmy Hütte«. The path leads us across grassy slopes from which there is a wonderful view of the Sella mountain group to the south and towards Sassolungo to the west. The path across the grassy slopes soon brings us to the road. We continue right on the gravel road, which we follow all the way to the hut Jimmy Hütte.
From the hut we continue on the footpath towards the northeast and begin to ascend through the dwarf pines. The path soon takes us out of the dwarf pines and continues relatively steeply upwards. Higher up the path turns left and follows the ascent to the notch Forcella Cier where a view opens to the north.
On the saddle we cross the fence, then in a slight descent we cross the scree fields. This path then brings us to a marked junction where the path from the Val de Chedul valley joins from the left.
From the junction the path begins to ascend gently again and continues traversing the slopes towards the northeast. Later the path turns slightly left and follows a somewhat steeper ascent to the notch Forcella de Crespeina.
On the notch, where a view opens onto much of the Puez mountain group, we continue straight ahead, while to the right the path leads over the summit Sas Ciampac. The path then begins to descend and brings us to somewhat flatter grassy terrain. From the path we have a fine view of the lake Lech de Crespeina and Sas Ciampac. Our path then ascends somewhat more steeply again for a short time, after which a relatively flat path brings us to a junction where the path over the summit Sas Ciampac joins from the right.
The path then descends slightly further and brings us to another junction. To the right downwards the path leads towards the village Calfosch, to the left into the Langental valley, while we continue straight ahead following the signs »Puezhütte«.
A short way after the junction the path turns left and begins to ascend gently towards the north. The relatively flat path later brings us to yet another junction, where the path to Sassongher branches off to the right.
Here the path turns slightly left again and ahead of us we can already see the flag located near the hut. The scenic path remains flat and soon brings us to the hut, located on grassy slopes below the summit Puezkofel.

On the way: Jimmy Hütte (2222m), Forcella Cier (2469m), Forcella de Crespeina (2528m), Forcella de Ciampei (2366m)

Trip can be extended to: Muntejela de Puez ( 30 min) , Col de Puez / Puezkofel (1 h) , Piz de Puez / Puezspitz (1 h 30 min)