Passo Gardena - Cima Pisciadu (path 666)

Access to starting point:
A) From Kranjska Gora over Korensko sedlo to Austria, where at the first larger crossroad, we continue left towards Podklošter / Arnoldstein and Trbiž / Tarvisio. By the end of the settlement Podklošter signs for Šmohor / Hermagor point us to the right on a regional road, on which past the mentioned settlement we drive to the end of the valley Gailtal, or more precisely to the settlement Kötschach-Mauthen, where we turn right towards the settlement Oberdrauburg. The path ahead leads us over an Alpine mountain pass Gailbergsattel (982 meters), after which we descend into the mentioned settlement. After we cross the bridge through 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 border between Austria and Italy, and we follow the main road past settlements Dobbiaco / Toblach, Villabassa / Niederdorf, Monguelfo - Tesido / Welsberg - Taisten, Brunico / Brunec. Only a little after the last-mentioned settlement, past which leads a bypass road, we turn left into a valley Val Badia. Further, we drive through the mentioned valley and in the settlement La Villa we turn right towards the mountain pass Passo Gardena. Further, we follow an ascending road to a large parking lot some turns before the mountain pass Passo Gardena. At the parking lot is also a big sign with a caption »Via Ferrata – Klettersteig«.
B) From Nova Gorica, we drive to Italy and drive forward on a highway towards Venice / Venezia. At 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 Cortina d'Ampezzo. When we get into Cortina d'Ampezzo, we follow the signs for Alpine mountain pass Passo Falzarego. On the mountain pass Passo Falzarego (2105 meters) we turn right in the direction of the mountain pass Valparola and forward towards Val Badia. In the settlement La Villa we turn left towards the mountain pass Passo Gardena. Further, we follow an ascending road to a large parking lot some turns before the mountain pass Passo Gardena. At the parking lot is also a big sign with a caption »Via Ferrata – Klettersteig«.

Path description:
From the parking lot, we go towards the south following the signs »Utia de Pisciadu«. The path quite steeply ascends and it brings us to a crossing where transverse path towards the secured path Via Ferrata Tridentina branches off to the left. We continue straight and continue to ascend towards precipitous walls of peaks in the group Sella.
The path towards the mountain pass Passo Gardena then branches off to the right, we still continue straight upwards and start ascending on a narrow valley named Val Setus, which is surrounded by the precipitous walls. The path is here ascending on the scree upwards and runs below the cargo cableway. The slope is higher becoming increasingly steep and in the last part, the path is also secured with a steel cable and stemples. The path here few times steeply ascends and also some caution is needed. If we are not used this kind of paths then self belaying is highly recommended. The secured path then soon ends and brings us on less steep slopes where there is a crossing.
To the right leads the path towards the notch Forcela dei Camosci, and we continue left towards the mountain hut Rifugio Pisciadu. From the crossing, the path at first slightly ascends, after that a short descent follows towards the mountain hut, which we already see in front of us.
From the mountain hut, we continue towards the south following the signs »Cima Pisciadu, Rif. Boe« and we descend towards the lake. The path then turns to the right and in ascent crosses scree on the left side of the lake. The path here runs below the steep walls of the peak Pisciadu and brings us on little steeper slopes. Further, the path turns to the left and starts ascending a little steeper with the help of fixed safety gear. At the ascent some caution is needed, self belaying isn't necessary.
After that, the path becomes again less steep and through the valley named Val de Tita brings us to a crossing on the south side of the peak Pisciadu.
To the right leads the path towards the mountain hut Rifugio Boe, and we go left towards the summit Pisciadu. The path further becomes a little steeper and on some spots at the ascent, we will also have to use our hands. The path towards the summit is otherwise all the time quite steeply ascending and isn't secured therefore a little more caution is needed. The path with increasingly beautiful view then soon brings us to the summit.

On the way: Rifugio Pisciadu (2585m), Lech de Pisciadu (2564m)