Rifugio Castiglioni Marmolada - Belvedere

Access to starting point:
First, we drive to Cortina d'Ampezzo (you can get here via the Rateče or Predel border crossings to Trbiž/Tarvisio and then on the highway in the direction of Vidma/Udine to the Tolmezzo exit. From Tolmezzo, we follow the road in the direction of the village Ampezzo and the mountain pass Passo della Mauria. The road then descends and brings us to an intersection, where we continue left (also right is possible) in the direction of Cortina d'Ampezzo. At all subsequent intersections, we follow the signs for Cortina d'Ampezzo and then the signs for the alpine pass Passo di Falzarego. Already in the first part of the ascent towards the pass Falzarego, we will come to an intersection, where the signs for the pass Passo di Giau (2233 m) and Marmolada direct us left. The road after the pass Giau starts to descend, and we follow it through the settlements in the lower part in the direction of Marmolada or the pass Passo di Fedaia. The road, which then starts ascending again, brings us higher to the pass Fedaia, and we follow it to the other side of the lake, where we park on the parking lot near the mountain hut Rifugio Castiglioni Marmolada.
Access from Primorska: We drive on the highway in the direction of Padova, but only to the highway junction, where we continue in the direction of the Veneto region and Belluno. Near Belluno, the highway ends, and we follow the road ahead in the direction of the town Belluno, where at a larger intersection we continue right in the direction of the town Agordo. From the mentioned town onwards, we follow the frequent signs for Marmolada or the pass Passo di Fedaia. When we arrive at the mentioned pass, we follow the road to the other side of the lake, where we park on the parking lot near the mountain hut Rifugio Castiglioni Marmolada.

Route description:
From the parking lot at the mountain hut Rifugio Castiglioni Marmolada, we first carefully cross the road, then head onto the footpath in the direction of "Porta Vescovo" (the start of the path is on the northern side of Lake Lago di Fedaia). The path, which first runs along the road, quickly turns into a wide track that starts to ascend more steeply towards the north. During the ascent over extensive grassy slopes, increasingly beautiful views open up on Lake Lago di Fedaia and Marmolada, the latter additionally adorned by the largest glacier in the Dolomites.
The path, which runs on granite substrate, then brings us to an abandoned wooden hut, where there is a marked junction. We continue on path 698 (direction Porta Vescovo, left path 601 Viel del Pan), which further ascends somewhat less steeply towards the upper station of the cable car, which we can see from our starting point. The pleasant and panoramic path then brings us, after a good hour of walking, to the saddle Porta Vescovo, from which a nice view opens towards the north, where we can clearly see Piz Boe.
From the saddle, we continue westwards on the path, which starts to ascend steeply up the eastern grassy slope of the peak Belvedere (the start of the path is unmarked, and the markers further on are very rare, or completely absent towards the summit). Higher up, the path ascends even more steeply over a short granite slab (especially when wet, there is a high risk of slipping), then turns left, where it levels out somewhat. A traversing ascent towards the south follows, after a few minutes of further walking we step onto a nice viewpoint. Here the path completely levels out and turns sharply right. Only a few minutes of easy walking on the summit grassy ridge of the mountain follow.

Along the route: Porta Vescovo (2478m)

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