Plockenpass - Pilastro del Coglians

Access to the starting point:
From Trbiž / Tarvisio, take the motorway to Udine. Leave the motorway at the exit for Tolmezzo. Follow the signs for Austria and the Passo di Croce Carnico / Plockenpass. On the Italian side of the pass, park in a large parking lot.

Path description:
At the parking lot, take the narrow road marked Rifuggio Marinelli (route 146). After a few dozen metres, you will reach a crossroads where you turn right onto a military mulatier, which you then follow up through sparse woodland and meadows below the steep slopes of mountain Creta di Collinetta (2238m). The military mulatier becomes a track and soon you will reach a crossroads where the path to the top of the mountain branches off to the right.

We continue on the left path, which crosses the grassy slopes in a slight ascent and leads us to a small plain. An unmarked trail from mountain pasture Collinetta di Sotto joins us from the left, and just after this we reach a marked crossroads where the trail to Cresta Verde (2150m) branches off to the right. Continue along the 146 towards the Marinelli hut, which is still less than two hours away. Here the trail becomes a bit steeper and climbs through lightly overgrown bushes and tall grass. Once out of the scrub, the path becomes more level and a path branches off to the right to Creta di Collina (2659m).

Here, crossing quite steep slopes, we start to descend and some fixed safety gear is helpful. A slightly more challenging descent through a natural window and crossing steep slopes covered with nettles follows, leading to a junction.

The right-hand path leads to Cima di Mezzo (2713m), and we continue on the left-hand path towards the hut. The path climbs again through meadows and just before the hut we join a dirt track (route 148). Here we will also see the Laghetto di Plotta lake along the way. The cart track then ends shortly and it is only a few minutes' climb to the hut.

At the hut, head north-west, following the Monte Coglians markers, and start climbing over slightly steeper grassy slopes. The path quickly leads to an unmarked crossroads where the Sentiero Spinotti path branches off to the left towards the Lambertenghi-Romanin hut. Our route here turns right and climbs up to a grassy ridge. The path then passes slightly left of the ridge again and rejoins it below the summit of Pic Chiadin. The summit is just a few metres off the path.

Just after the summit, the path descends slightly and, after a short, slightly exposed ridge, leads into a whole new world. The grass-covered slopes are almost instantly replaced by bare rock. Here the path also leads us to a marked crossroads.

The path to the right leads to the top of Cima di Mezzo, we continue to the left and after a short crossing we are back at the crossroads.

This time we take the slightly less beaten track 143A to the right, towards the Pilastro del Coglians summit, and to the left is track 143 towards the summit of Monte Coglians. From the crossroads we start climbing on terrain that is at first still partly covered with grass in a few places. There is a steeper climb up a short gully, then the path becomes less steep again and the view opens up towards the summit of Pilastro del Coglians. Our route then follows the rocky terrain towards the valley on the right side of the summit. The path is mostly not visible in this part, so we have to pay a little more attention to the markings. We then continue up the left side of the valley between Pilastro del Coglians and Cima di Mezzo. Here we climb for some time, mostly on relatively steep and slippery scree. Towards the end of the scree, the path turns sharp left into the rocks. Here the climb becomes considerably more difficult and some easier climbing is required. The route goes straight up for a while, then turns right and crosses a slightly exposed slope. In the last part of the traverse, we are helped by a cable car.

After crossing, the path turns to the left and leads to a slightly less difficult slope. Continue ascending the slope and, as you approach the ridge, the path turns left again. This is followed by a shorter, again slightly more difficult climb to a narrow but very scenic summit.

Descend along the ascent route.

On the way: Laghetto di Plotta (1970m), Rifugio Marinelli (2122m), Forcella Monumenz (2307m)

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