Rifugio Cercena - Bivacco Montanel

Access to starting point:
Access from Gorenjska: Through the border crossing at Rateče or Predel to Trbiž / Tarvisio and then continue on the highway in the direction of Udine to the exit Tolmezzo. From Tolmezzo we follow the road in the direction of the settlement Ampezzo and mountain pass Passo della Mauria. The road then descends and brings us to a crossroads, where we continue left in the direction of the town Belluno. We follow the main road, which runs through the valley of the river Piave, only to the town Domegge di Cadore. In the mentioned town we turn left downhill and then follow the signs for huts Rifugio Padova and Rifugio Cercena. The road after the descent crosses the river Piave, then soon starts ascending. The road which leads towards the mentioned huts is quite steep and very narrow. When we come to the crossroads near the hut Rifugio Cercena, the signposts direct us sharply left and to the hut there follows only 50 meters of steep ascent. We park on the large parking lot by the hut.
From Primorska: We drive on the highway towards Venice / Venezia. At the town Portogruaro we leave the highway towards Venice and continue right on the highway towards Pordenone. At the next highway junction near Conegliano we continue right towards Belluno. Near Belluno the highway ends, and at the next crossroads we continue in the direction of the town Auronzo and pass Passo Mauria. We follow this road to the town Domegge di Cadore. In the mentioned town we turn right downhill and then we follow the signs for mountain huts Rifugio Padova and Rifugio Cercena. The road after the descent crosses the river Piave, then soon starts ascending. The road which leads towards the mentioned huts is quite steep and very narrow. When we come to the crossroads near the hut Rifugio Cercena, the signposts direct us sharply left and to the hut there follows only 50 meters of steep ascent. We park on the large parking lot by the hut.

Path description:
At the end of the parking lot, we go left on a footpath following the signs »Biv. Montanel«. The path quickly brings us into the forest and then in ascent crosses slopes towards the north all the way to a junction by mountain pasture Dalego.
At the marked junction we continue sharply right and follow the signs for bivouac Montanel. The path further starts ascending a little steeper towards the southeast. The path here in ascent crosses relatively steep slopes and still runs through the forest. Despite the forest occasionally through the trees nice views open up towards the Dolomites. The path then turns to the left and soon brings us to another marked junction.
Left downwards leads the path towards the mountain hut Rifugio Eremo dei Romiti, and we continue right towards the bivouac Montanel. The path further becomes slightly less steep and brings us out of the forest on somewhat steeper slopes covered with dwarf pines and larches. Here also very beautiful views open up towards the north. The path for a short time still crosses steep slopes and then turns to the right and ascends for quite some time through the valley Val Moni on the eastern side of the peak Colle dell'Elma. The path at first runs on the right side of the valley below the steep rocky slopes of the mentioned summit. Further the path runs more in the middle of the valley and ascends through dwarf pines and larch forest. Later, the path again turns to the right and brings us to the ridge on the southeastern side of the peak Colle dell'Elma.
Here the path turns to the left and trees are becoming a little rarer so that from the path increasingly beautiful views are opening up on the west side where peaks Civetta, Pelmo and Antelao stand out. Further, the path runs mostly along dwarf pines and rare larches. Such a path runs all the way to a grassy plain on which there are two bivouacs. The smaller is permanently open, the bigger is locked.
In case we use a map for orientation be careful, because on some maps the bivouac is marked on the wrong location.
We descend on the ascent route.

On the way: Fienili Dalego (1315m)

Trip can be extended to: Crodon di Scodavacca (1 h 20 min) , Cima Montanel (1 h 40 min)