Colfosco - Col de Puez / Puezkofel

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 following the signs Passo Gardena. We follow the road to the settlement Colfosco. One turn before the sign for settlement we park on a large payable parking lot on the left side of the road (4€ – June 2012).
B) We drive on the 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 the settlement 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 Val Badia and at first ascend on the neighbouring mountain pass Passo Valparola (2192 meters), from there we descend into the mentioned valley. In the settlement La Villa we turn left towards the mountain pass Passo Gardena. Further, we follow an ascending road following the signs Passo Gardena. We follow the road to the settlement Colfosco. One turn before the sign for settlement we park on a large payable parking lot on the left side of the road (4€ – June 2012).

Path description:
From the parking lot, we first cross the main road, and then we will by the parking lot for buses notice signposts. We continue by following the signs for »Sassongher, Utia de Puez« on the path which runs by the main road. The path brings us to a sign which marks settlement Colfosco / Calfosch. We continue on a sidewalk to the first crossroad, and then we go right on an asphalt road. At the next crossroad, we continue left so that we walk in the direction towards the church. At the crossroad at the church, we will again notice signposts and we continue right (towards the north) following the signs »Sassongher«. Further, the road turns left towards the ski slope and then starts quite steeply ascending.
Later when we come out of the village, the road is closed for traffic. A little after that ends also asphalt and footpath towards the mountain hut Col Pradat branches off to the right. We continue straight on a macadam road which is ascending by the ski slope and pastures. For some time we walk on the road from which there is a nice view towards the mountain group Sella and on the nearby Sassongher, and then we soon come to the hut Edelweiss.
From the mountain hut, we continue on a macadam road which soon brings us to a crossing where the path towards the mountain pass Sella Gardena branches off to the left. We continue right on the road and after a short ascent, we are again at the crossing. Straight on the road leads the path towards the mountain hut Col Pradat, and we continue left upwards on a footpath following the signs »Sassongher«.
From the crossing, the path at first ascends by the riverbed of a torrent, after that follows hairpin ascent, which brings us to a crossing, where from the right side joins the path from the mountain hut Col Pradat.
We continue left and we start ascending through the valley towards the northwest. The path then leads us past the chapel and we are soon at a crossing again.
To the right leads the path towards the summit Sassongher, and we continue straight and we are still ascending through the valley upwards. After that, the path turns a little to the left and it brings us near the lake Lech de Ciampai, which often dries up. At the lake path turns to the right and at first crosses slopes above the lake, and then follows an ascent to the notch Forcella de Ciampei where there is a marked crossing.
Left leads the path towards the summit Sas Ciampac and notch Forcella de Crespeina, straight downwards leads the path into a valley Langental, and we continue right following the signs »Puezhütte«.
The path little after the crossing turns to the left and starts slightly ascending towards the north. Not that steep path later brings us to another crossing, where the path on Sassongher branches off to the right.
Here the path again turns a little to the left and in front of us, we can already see a flag, which is situated near the mountain hut. Panoramic path is still gentle and soon brings us to the hut, which is situated on grassy slopes below the summit Puezkofel.
At the mountain hut, we continue towards the west following the signs »Pizes de Puez, Puezspitz«. After few ten meters we come again to a crossing where the path number 2 towards the valley Langental branches off to the left. We continue slightly right and start ascending steeper. The path brings us on shorter ridge which brings us below the southern slopes of the peak Col de Puez. Here the path turns left and then some time crosses steep slopes towards the northwest. Slopes are on some spots pretty steep, there's also some gravel on the path therefore some caution is needed on this part. Such a path then brings us on the west side of the peak Col de Puez where there is also a little poorly visible crossing.
Left leads a marked path towards the peak Piz de Puez, and we go right on an unmarked path towards peak Col de Puez. The path here runs on the western slope of the mountain, which isn't too steep. The path otherwise isn't best beaten but we can follow it without problems all the way to the top.

On the way: Rifugio Edelweiss (1730m), Lech de Ciampai (2173m), Forcella de Ciampei (2366m), Rifugio Puez (2475m)