Colfosco - Rifugio Col Pradat (by road)

Access to the starting point:
a) From Kranjska Gora via the Koren saddle to Austria, where at the first major junction continue left towards Podkloštro / Arnoldstein and Trbiz / Tarvisio. At the end of Podklošter, signs for Šmohor / Hermagor direct you to the right on the regional road, which takes you past the town to the end of the Ziljska Valley, or more precisely to Kötschach-Mauthen, where you turn right towards Oberdrauburg. The road continues over the Gailbergsattel Alpine pass (982 m), after which you descend into the above-mentioned town. After crossing a bridge over the River Drava, turn left towards Lienz. At the main roundabout in Lienz, turn left towards Sillian and Itali. Next we cross the national border between Austria and Itali, and we follow the main road past Dobbiaco / Toblach, Villabassa / Niederdorf, Monguelfo - Tesido / Welsberg - Taisten, Brunico / Bruneck. Just after the last mentioned town, which is passed by a bypass road, we turn left into the Alta Badia valley. Continue along the valley and turn right at La Villa towards Passo Gardena. Continue along the ascending road, following the signs for Passo Gardena. Follow the road to Colfosco. One bend before the sign for the village, park in the large pay parking area on the left side of the road (4€ - June 2012).
b) From Nova Gorica, exit into Itali and follow the motorway to Portogruaro, where at the motorway junction turn towards Belluno. Follow the motorway to its end (do not turn towards Belluno) and then continue driving towards Cortina d'Ampezzo. When you arrive in Cortina d'Ampezzo, follow the signs for the Passo Falzarego Alpine Pass. At the Passo Falzarego (2105 m), turn right towards Alta Badia and ascend the neighbouring Passo Valparola (2192 m) before descending into the valley. At La Villa, turn left towards Passo Gardena. Follow the ascending road, following the signs for Passo Gardena. Follow the road to Colfosco. One bend before the sign for the village, park in the large pay parking area on the left side of the road (4€ - June 2012).

Path description:
From the parking lot, first cross the main road and then you will see signs by the bus parking area. Follow the signs "Sassongher, Utia de Puez" to the trail that runs along the main road. The path leads to a signpost indicating the village of Colfosco / Calfosch. Continue along the pavement to the first crossroads and then turn right onto the tarmac road. At the next crossroads, turn left and walk towards the church. At the crossroads by the church you will see the signs again and continue to the right (north) following the signs "Sassongher". The road then turns left towards the ski resort and then starts to climb quite steeply.
Later, when you come out of the village, the road is closed to traffic. Shortly after this, the asphalt ends and the footpath to the right branches off towards the Col Pradat hut. We continue straight ahead on the dirt road, which climbs alongside the ski slope and pastures. We walk along the road for a while, which offers a fine view of the Sella mountain group and the nearby Sassongher, and then soon reach the Edelweiss hut.
From the hut, continue along the dirt road, which soon leads to a crossroads where the path to the Sella Gardena pass branches off to the left. We continue right along the road and after a short climb we are at the crossroads again. A footpath leads up to the left to Sassongher and the Puez hut, and we continue straight on along the road towards the Col Pradat hut.
The road then crosses the slopes below Sassongher in a gentle ascent, and in the last part it turns right again and there is only a short climb up to the hut with a very nice view of the surrounding peaks and the Sella mountain group.

On the way: Rifugio Edelweiss (1832m)

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