Passo Campolongo - Cresta Strenta (Via Ferrata Vallon)

Access to starting point:
Through the Karawanks Tunnel, we drive to Austria, and then we continue driving towards Spittal and forward towards Lienz (a little after Spittal highway ends). Further, we drive on a relatively nice and wide road through Drau valley, which brings us in Italy. The road further leads past Dobbiaco / Toblach and Brunico / Bruneck. Only a little after the last-mentioned town, past which leads a bypass road, we turn left into a valley Val Badia. Further, we drive through the mentioned valley past settlements La Vila and Corvara. Next follows an ascent towards the mountain pass Passo Campolongo. Some hundred meters before the mountain pass, we will notice on the left side a macadam parking lot on which we park. The parking lot is located after the hotel Laguscei on the opposite side of the bus stop. By the road is also a bottom station of the chairlift. A smaller parking lot is also on the right side of the road before the bus stop.

Path description:
From the parking lot, we continue by the main road (towards the south) to hotel Boe, which is located on the right west side of the road. At the hotel where there are also signposts we go right on a macadam road following the signs »Rifugio Lago Boe«. Behind the hotel, the road turns to the right and slightly descends, and then starts ascending and crosses the ski slope. Further, the road is for a short time ascending through the forest and then it brings us on the mountain pasture Malga Plan Fisti.
We continue on the road over a mountain pasture and a little after the mountain pasture we come to a marked crossing where the footpath towards the mountain hut Kaiser Hütte branches off to the left. We continue right and continue to ascend on the road. After a short ascent then also the path 638A towards the summit Crep de Munt branches off to the right. We continue left on the road from which beautiful views are opening up towards Marmolada and on mountains above the valley Val Badia. The road here ascends a little steeper and again brings us to a ski slope. A little higher road turns to the right and continues to ascend by mostly grassy slopes. The road then becomes less steep and soon brings us to the hut Rifugio Lago Boe. To the hut also runs a cable car from the settlement Corvara in Val Badia. Near the mountain hut is also a bottom station of a chairlift, which runs towards the summit Vallon (2530m). Both cableways operate also in the summer months.
Near the mountain hut where there is a crossing, we continue left on a ski slope where signs point us to the lake Lech de Boe and mountain hut Ütia Franz Kostner. The path runs on the right edge of the ski slope and after a short ascent, it brings us to the mentioned lake, which is located right from the ski slope below the rocky ridge.
From the lake, we still continue on the path 638, which turns to the left and crosses a ski slope. Further, the path then runs a little left from a ski slope on partly grassy terrain. The path soon brings us to a marked crossing where the path 636 towards the mountain hut Kaiser Hütte (Rifugio Bec de Roces) branches off to the left. We still continue on the path which is ascending on a slope parallel with a ski slope and soon the path 646A towards the summit Boeseekofel (Piz that Lech) branches off to the right. We still continue on the path which runs left from the ski slope and slowly nice views are opening up towards the mountain hut Ütia Franz Kostner and on the precipitous walls of the nearby peaks in the mountain group Sella. Further, the slope becomes a little less steep and the path brings us to a marked crossing.
The path towards the upper station of the cableway Vallon and further towards the summit Boeseekofel (Piz da Lech) branches off to the right, and we continue left on the path 638 towards the mountain hut Ütia Franz Kostner. Wide and a panoramic path runs towards the west and it quickly brings us to another crossing.
Left is only a short ascent to the hut Ütia Franz Kostner. In case if we also visit the mountain hut then we return to a crossing and we continue right on the path 638. A little after the crossing, the path turns to the left and it ascends towards the scree where we are again at the crossing.
This time we leave the path 638 and go right on the path named Roda de Valun. After that, the path runs towards the northwest and on the scree brings us in a valley surrounded by the precipitous peaks. The path here at first in ascent crosses scree on the left side of the valley and then it brings us on more flat terrain where there is also a crossing.
Right leads easy circular path Roda de Valun, and we continue left towards the secured climbing path Via Ferrata Vallon where a bigger sign on rock points us to. The path which is here marked with red-blue blazes then ascends on the scree and it brings us to the wall where the secured path begins. In front of the entry into a secured part of the path, we equip ourselves with a helmet and a self-belay set.
The secured path in the initial part turns to the right and few times steeply ascends by the steel cable. Steel cables are in this part quite loose and also the distance between iron spikes on which steel cables are attached to is relatively long. After that, the path for a short time turns a little to the left and it brings us below even steeper slopes. Here we again continue to the right and after some diagonal ascents on the exposed slope path brings us to a hanging bridge. By the bridge we cross a smaller waterfall and then an ascent becomes even more demanding. The path behind the bridge ascends almost vertically left upwards and to move forward also some strength in arms is needed (difficulty C). Demanding part is otherwise relatively short and secured path then soon ends and brings us on less steep slopes where there is also a smaller lake.
The path here turns to the right and is ascending on an undemanding slope from which a view towards the summit Piz Boe opens up and on numerous other peaks nearby. The path then turns to the left and is slightly ascending on a rocky slope on the right side of the valley. On the left side, we will here also notice a little bigger lake, which is located below the western slopes of the peak Pizes dl Valun. We still continue on a relatively gentle path towards the south, which slowly turns slightly to the right. When we get closer to the summit Piz Lech Dlace we come to a crossing.
The right path bypasses the peak Piz Lech Dlace on the west side and then joins the path 672. We continue left and we cross a slope towards the eastern side of the mentioned summit. When we join the path 672 the slope becomes a little steeper and then follows an ascent towards the ridge. Here on a shorter part of the path, we also get help from steel cables. On the ridge, we then continue right and we soon reach the peak Piz Lech Dlace on which there is situated a bigger cairn.
From the top, we continue on the ridge and after a short descent, we come to a saddle where there is a crossing. From the right here joins also the other path from secured path Via Ferrata Vallon. Also, the diagonal path towards the mountain hut Rifugio Boe branches off to the right, and from the left joins unmarked footpath past the lake Eissee.
We continue straight and we again start ascending on a rocky slope. A little higher, the path slowly turns to the left and it brings us to the ridge from where a view opens up towards the west. We continue on the ridge towards the south and then we cross steeper slopes by the ridge. On the shorter part, there is also a steel cable for help. When we come again on a ridge we reach a little less known peak Cresta Strenta, which is with 3124 meters the second-highest peak in the mountain group Sella.

On the way: Malga Plan Fisti (1930m), Rifugio Lago Boe (2185m), Lago Boe (2252m), Ütia Franz Kostner (2500m), Piz Lech Dlace (3009m)

Trip can be extended to: Piz Boe